"I will not be beaten, sir," remonstrated the man.
"You won't be beaten, you rascal," replied the other, never stopping for a moment; "I dare say not, but you'll get your beating notwithstanding."
Oswald, who suffered witnessing the scene, although he knew well how fully the man had deserved his punishment, begged Mr. Wrampe to let him go now. The latter gratified his wrath by a few last blows of great energy, and then said, as if concluding a quiet argument:
"Well, now come along, John, we'll get the wagon right again."
Then he put his broad shoulders to the wagon and got it into the road as if it had been a child's carriage; the horses, who had had time to recover, pulled heartily, and the servant could go on his way.
"Drive slowly home, you hear, and don't forget what I have told you," the steward cried after him.
"But you have told him nothing; you have only beaten him," said Oswald, smiling.
"And do you think these people understand any other kind of talking?"
"Have you ever tried it?"
Mr. Wrampe seemed to be slightly embarrassed by this question. He said, in reply: "That has made me warm."