"And therefore shot him down?"
"Well, I don't know myself how it was," acknowledged Simmerl.
"So Kickel is mad?" I put in.
"Not mad, but a bit crazy, certainly; a bit crazy all his life, and people say one can't imagine how sharp he used to be, and what a fine keeper he was up there, and how well educated! But the people say that the many books he read must have sent him silly."
I quickened my steps.
"Why do you hurry so, Peter?"
"Supposing he runs after us!"
"Oh, Kickel won't do anything to us. People say he would not have killed his son if he hadn't been so fond of him."
"Oh, Simmerl, supposing he is fond of us?"
"Oh, not so fond as he was of his son!"