Gotthold started and turned.
"Carl Brandow!"
There he stood, his slight, elastic figure resting against the very block upon which the serpent had lain that morning; and his round, hard eyes, whose piercing gaze was fixed upon him, reminded Gotthold of the staring eyes of the reptile.
"To be sure it is I," said Carl Brandow, as he came forward with a smile intended to be friendly, but which was as cold as the hand he held out to Gotthold, and in which the latter hesitatingly placed the tips of his fingers.
"How did you find me here?" asked Gotthold.
"I am an old hunter," replied Brandow, showing his white teeth. "Nothing escapes me so easily, especially on my own ground. But I will not boast. The matter was really simple enough. I knew several weeks ago that you were coming, and this afternoon I heard, when with Plüggen, of Plüggenhof, Otto Plüggen, we used to call him Straw Plüggen, you know, to distinguish him from his younger brother, Gustav, Hay Plüggen, who has inherited Gransewitz--I was saying: I heard from our new Pastor that you had been in Rammin yesterday evening, and had driven on to Prora. Of course Plüggen, at my request, instantly sent his carriage to bring you to Plüggenhof; you were no longer there, but had set out on foot with Jochen Prebrow for Dollan. Well, of course I did not remain in Plüggenhof a moment longer, although we had just sat down to the table to receive you with full glasses. I drove my horses half to death, and nearly killed my poor wife with fright, in order at least to meet you on the way, in case you had been cruel enough not to wait for our return. We arrived and asked for you before we got out of the carriage: no one had been there. My wife and I looked at each other in horror. 'There is somebody sitting on the giant's grave,' said my factotum, Hinrich Scheel, who now came up to the carriage; 'I saw him there this noon.' 'It's not impossible,' said my wife, that 'he has learned on the way that we were not at home, and, industrious as usual, is making use of the time. It was always one of his favorite spots.' I said nothing, but ran up to the gable-room with my spy-glass, and saw what Hinrich, in spite of his squint eyes, had seen without any glass; ran down again, jumped on a horse, and--find here what I sought. That painting is wonderfully beautiful, really splendid; but now pack up your traps, if you please! Another day is coming, and this is enough, and too much for the present. From noon until now is certainly long enough, even for an artist. How delighted my wife will be!"
Carl Brandow had already thrown Gotthold's travelling bag over his shoulder, and now seized the box which the latter had been arranging.
"One moment," said Gotthold.
"You can safely trust me with your treasures."
"That is not the point."