Herr Beckmann stood in the outer row. Tears shone in his eyes, he raised his hat in the air and his voice joined in the general cry with which the citizens of Hanover took leave of their king.
The train moved slowly, the engine puffed, the wheels rolled faster, and there was one general cry: "Auf Wiedersehn!" The carriage rushed on, the king had left the capital.
The generals and court officials slowly departed, the crowd slowly and silently dispersed, and Herr Beckmann paced thoughtfully up and down the platform.
"Tiens, tiens," said he to himself, "voilà le revers de la médaille. What will not this war destroy? how deeply will it cut into human life, both high and low! Great events lie in the lap of the future: yes, but tears also--did not my eyes grow wet when the king took leave of his people. Well! what must happen, will happen, an individual can neither add nor take away. Fate seizes on us all!"
"The train is starting for Cologne," said a porter coming up to him.
"At last!" cried Herr Beckmann with a sigh of relief; and the whistling, puffing engine soon bore him away.
CHAPTER XII.
[CAMPAIGNING BEGINS].
King George V. arrived in Göttingen early in the morning of the 16th of June, to the no small amazement of the inhabitants, who had scarcely comprehended the grave position of the country the evening before, and arose the next day to discover that war had broken out, that the king was installed in the Crown Hotel, and the army concentrating in hot haste in and around Göttingen.
The old city of Georgia Augusta had scarcely ever before seen such varied active life within its walls.