At this every one burst out laughing. The lieutenant also laughed.
And so this scene came to an end. We sat down to table, and amidst the merry ring of glasses we made a good deal of fun out of the odd and mystical question of Ollendorf's, "Why does the Captain weep?" and the still more curious answer, "Because the Englishman has no bread."
The lieutenant's frame of mind remained an inexplicable enigma to me. In after years I discovered its true solution.
The cause of his weeping was altogether different from what Ollendorf had supposed.
CHAPTER XVI
SOLDIERING
The idyll did not last very long, and was quickly followed by the epic.
War broke out, not among the young married folks, but among the European Powers. This only so far concerned my ward as Kvatopil was also mobilized; with his dragoon regiment he went towards the eastern frontier. Bessy, naturally, went with him.
We parted abruptly. They both came to me to say good-bye. Kvatopil's face was radiant with joy, and the reflection of it was visible in the smiling face of the lady. There will be war. The soldier's harvest will now ripen.