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Page 29
"Simpleton! you trespass upon my good nature!" exclaimed Mr. Fabian,
foaming with rage.
"Do I?" replied Carl, "perhaps I shall trespass upon something else. Do
you know, sir, what I shall say when the justice questions me?"
"What would you say, good Carl?" inquired Magde, encouragingly.
"I would say, for I know exactly how it will come to pass, I would
humbly say to the justice, that I did take the hares and partridges from
the proprietor of Almvik."
"Yes," interrupted Mr. Fabian, "you will be obliged to show your hand."
"'Now,' the judge will reply," continued Carl, without noticing the
interruption, "'My lad, why did you do so?' Then I will answer, because
it is not forbidden in my catechism; if the game had been an ox or an
ass, I would not have taken it. Then I would say to the justice, at the
same time looking at him in this way"--and Carl made such a ridiculous
grimace that Magde nearly laughed outright--"that there was no danger
that Mr. Fabian H---- would frighten such fierce animals as the ox and
the ass, for it is his custom to charm the hares and partridges by the
sweet sound of his snores, for your Honor must know that this huntsman
pursues his game while comfortably snoring in the grass."
"What do you say, clown?"
"And then I can call as a witness the very man whom you intend to use
against me, and finally I think that the justice will smile a little
when I tell him that Mr. Fabian H---- was willing to forget all harsh
measures for a kiss from Magde."
"Ha! ha! ha!" exclaimed Mr. Fabian, with a forced laugh, with which he
attempted to conceal his uneasiness, "you are a waggish rogue! Your last
words have afforded me so much amusement that I have not the heart to
injure you for such a trifle. But listen, you little simpleton; you must
not suppose that the justice would allow you to say all that. No, he
would have sent you away long before you could have had time to utter a
word about it."
Carl made no further reply than by applying his thumb to his nasal
organ; and gyrating his fingers in a manner so significant that we will
not endeavor to interpret his meaning. Having executed this manoeuver,
he hastily left the room, but remained at such a distance that he could
keep a watchful eye through the open door upon the unwelcome guest.
Mr. Fabian, who did not wish to appear vanquished, was at a loss how to
change the conversation to such a theme as would afford him a suitable
opportunity to take his leave in a dignified manner. But good Magde, who
had now entirely recovered her usual equanimity, soon assisted him--by
means of that instinct which sometimes puts superior knowledge to the
blush--out of his dilemma by saying:
"I am grateful to you, Mr. H----, for having forgiven Carl because his
words amused you; but what a simpleton the boy is!"
"It was because he was a simpleton that I forgave him; but now as my
visit is at an end, I will release you from your unwelcome guest. As for
the game, Carl can keep it. It would at all events create suspicion if
it was sent to Almvik."
"And you, Mr. H----, you will not be angry with us?"
"I, God forbid. When I forgive I forget everything."
Magde arose and courtesied as her visitor took his departure. She
accompanied him a short distance from the house, and waited till he
unfastened the horse's halter.
After mounting his animal, he drove his horse near the spot where Magde
was standing, and as he passed her he bowed deeply, but his face wore an
expression that caused her entire form to tremble with an undefined
fear.
CHAPTER X.
THE TRUANT.
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