The Northern Light eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 408 pages of information about The Northern Light.

The Northern Light eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 408 pages of information about The Northern Light.

“Hartmut, you’ll be back in two hours?  You give me your word for it?”

“Yes, father.”  The answer sounded angry, but steadfast.

“Very well, then I will treat you as a man.  You have pledged your word and may go in peace; be punctual.”

The young man had only been gone a few minutes when Wallmoden entered.

“I knew you were alone,” he said.  “I would not have disturbed you, but I saw Hartmut hasten across the garden just now.  Where is he going so late?”

“To his mother, to take leave of her.”

The diplomatist looked up startled at this unexpected intelligence.

“With your consent?” he said surprised.

“Certainly, I gave him permission.”

“How unwise.  I thought you would have seen to it that Zalika did not accomplish her ends; and now, whether it’s right or wrong, you are sending your son to her.”

“Only for an hour, and only for a farewell, which I could not refuse.  What are you afraid of now?  Not that there will be any foul play?  Hartmut is no baby to be carried off in a carriage in spite of himself.”

“But if he were willing it would be a different matter.”

“I have his word that he’ll be back in a couple of hours,” said the Major with emphasis.

Wallmoden shrugged his shoulders:  “The word of a boy of seventeen!”

“Who has had a soldier’s education and knows the significance of his word of honor.  That gives me no anxiety; my fears are in another direction.”

“Regine told me you and he understood one another at last,” remarked Wallmoden, with a glance at his friend’s dark, gloomy face.

“For a few minutes; then I had to be the stern, hard father again, and this last hour has shown me how hard a task it will be to conquer and direct this unruly, undisciplined nature, but for all that, I must and will subdue it.”

His friend stepped to the window and looked out upon the garden.

“It is twilight already and the Burgsdorf fish-pond is half an hour’s walk from here,” he said, half aloud.  “You could have this last meeting held in your presence if you saw fit.”

“And see Zalika again?  Impossible!  I could and would not do that.”

“If this farewell does not end as you anticipate—­if Hartmut does not come back?”

“Then he would be beneath contempt, a liar,” said Falkenried, “a deserter too, for he already carries arms at his side.  But do not insult me with such thoughts, Herbert.  It is my son of whom you speak.”

“He is Zalika’s son also.  But we won’t discuss it any more.  They are waiting for you in the dining-room; you will not go to-night?”

“Yes, in two hours,” answered the Major, steadily and quietly.  “Hartmut will be back by then—­I’ll answer for it.”

The gray shadows of evening already lay on field and meadow, and they grew each moment thicker and darker.  The short hazy autumn day was at an end, and the clouded sky brought the night down more quickly than usual.  A woman’s figure could be seen pacing impatiently up and down on the shore of the little lake.  She had a dark mantle drawn closely around her shoulders, but she paid little heed to the frosty evening air which was blowing about her; she was feverish with expectation, and her ear was strained to catch the first echo of approaching footsteps.

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Project Gutenberg
The Northern Light from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.