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Page 56
Knapwurst, squatting in his arm-chair, with his head on a level with
Sperver's elbow, looked like a big pumpkin. Then came Tobias Offenloch,
so red that you would have thought he had bathed his face in the red
wine, leaning back with his wig upon the chair-back and his wooden leg
extended under the table. Farther on loomed the melancholy long face of
S�balt, who was peeping with a sickly smile into the bottom of his
wine-glass.
Besides these worthies there were present the waiting-people, men and
women servants, comprising all that little community which springs up
around the board of the great people of the land and belongs to them as
the ivy, and the moss, and the wild convolvulus belong to the monarch of
the forests.
Upon the groaning board lay a vast ham, displaying its concentric circles
of pink and white. Then among the gaily-patterned plates and dishes came
the long-necked bottles containing the produce of the vineyards that
border the broad and flowing Rhine--long German pipes with little silver
chains, and long shining blades of steel.
The light of the lamp shed over the whole scene its amber-coloured hue
and left in the shade the old grey and time-stained walls, where hung in
ample numbers the brazen convolutions of the hunting-horns and bugles.
What an original picture! The vaulted roof was ringing with the joyous
shouts of laughter.
Sperver, as I have already told, was lifting high the full bumper and
singing the song of Black Hatto, the Burgrave,
"I am king on these mountains of mine,"
while the rosy dew of Aff�nthal hung trembling from his long moustaches.
As soon as he caught sight of me he stopped, and holding out his hand--
"Fritz," said he, "we only wanted you. It is a long time since I felt so
comfortable as I do to-night. You are welcome, old boy!"
As I gazed upon him with surprise--for since the death of Lieverl� I had
never seen him smile--he added more seriously--
"We are celebrating the return of monseigneur to his health, and
Knapwurst is telling us stories."
All the guests turned my way, and I was saluted with kindly welcomes on
all sides.
I was dragged in by S�balt, seated near Marie Lagoutte, and found a large
glass of Bohemian wine in my hand before I could quite understand the
meaning of it all.
The old hall was echoing with merry peals of laughter, and Sperver,
throwing his arm round my neck, holding his cup high, and with an attempt
at gravity which showed plainly that the wine was up in his head, he
shouted--
"Here is my son! He and I--I and he--until death! Here's the health of
Doctor Fritz!"
Knapwurst, standing as high as he was able upon the seat of his arm-chair,
not unlike a turnip half divided in two, leaned towards me and held me
out his glass. Marie Lagoutte shook out the long streamers of her cap,
and S�balt, upright before his chair, as gaunt and lean as the shade of
the wild j�ger amongst the heather, repeated, "Your health, Doctor
Fritz!" whilst the flakes of silvery foam ran down his cup and floated
gently down upon the stone-flagged floor.
Then there was a moment's silence. Every guest drank. Then, with a single
clash, every glass was set vigorously down upon the table.
"Bravo!" cried Sperver.
Then turning to me--
"Fritz, we have already drunk to the health of the count and of
Mademoiselle Odile; you will do the same."
Twice had I to drain the cup before the vigilant eyes of the whole table.
Then I too began to look grave. Could it have been drunken gravity? A
luminous radiance seemed shed on every object; faces stood out brightly
from the darkness, and looked more nearly upon me; in truth, there were
youthful faces and aged, pretty and ugly, but all alike beamed upon me
kindly, and lovingly, and tenderly; but it was the youngest, at the other
end of the table, whose bright eyes attracted me, and we exchanged long
and wistful glances, full of affection and sympathy!
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