Suddenly he saw a wide ditch before him filled to the edge with water. He knew very well he could not get across, but obstinacy compelled him to prepare for a spring, and the next moment the thick and dirty water closed over him.
He reached land wet to the skin, covered with a layer of morass and weeds.
He tried to let his clothes dry, sat down on the grass, and looked over at the White House. He had grown quite despondent, and as he began to shiver very much, he turned sadly and slowly homeward.
CHAPTER IV.
The summer which followed brought nothing but grief and care to Meyerhofer’s house. The former owner wished to have the mortgage paid off, and there was no prospect of any one lending the necessary sum.
Meyerhofer drove to the town three or four times weekly, and returned home late at night dead drunk. Sometimes he stayed away for the whole night.
Frau Elsbeth meanwhile sat upright in her bed and stared into the darkness. Paul often woke when he heard her low sobs; then for a while he would lie as quiet as a mouse, because he did not want her to know that he was awake, but at last he would begin to cry, too.
Then his mother became quiet; and if he could not stop crying she got up, kissed him, and stroked his cheek; or she said,