Clear the Track! Part 43

"Certainly. He was opposed to it in the beginning, on account of the great difference of age, but Oscar besieged him so long, and I, too, begged and besought him so hard to let us be happy, that at last he gave his consent."

Egbert was thunderstruck, and gazed upon the lovely young creature who so heedlessly spoke of her happiness, where misery in reality impended.

For the second time fate had imposed upon him the task of inflicting a deadly blow upon a being who was dear to him, and crus.h.i.+ng her supposed happiness with a ruthless hand. This had been spared Eric in his dying hour; he could be silent when he learned to know Cecilia as she really was; here he had no choice and could not keep silence.

"And you do not rejoice with me?" asked Maia, in a mortified and reproachful tone, as he still said nothing. "Oh, I remember you had something against Oscar, and he has a great deal against you. I have known this a long while, although neither of you will own it. But you can surely congratulate me, any way.--I am indescribably happy."

Runeck ground his teeth together. He could not wish her joy, even as a mere matter of ceremony, which under these circ.u.mstances would have been the bitterest mockery, and yet he felt that he dared not now and in this place keep his secret. Fortunately accident came to his a.s.sistance, for out in the pa.s.sage became audible the voice of Dr.

Hagenbach.

"Have you seen Fraulein Dernburg anywhere? We must hurry to the station,--the train will be here in ten minutes."

"I must!" whispered Maia, p.r.i.c.king up her ears. "Farewell, Egbert. I shall always hold you dear, whatever happens. And you cannot forget, either, that Odensburg was so long your home."

Once more the brown eyes were uplifted to him in fervent deprecation, and then the young girl glided quickly away. Runeck breathed a sigh of relief that he had no longer to withstand the battery of those happy, unsuspecting eyes, but, at the same time, great waves of rebellion came rolling over his tortured soul.

This, then, had been Wildenrod's aim. He had set his covetous eye upon Odensburg, and would never rest until the booty was his, and Maia's hand was to lay it within his grasp. And Cecilia knew this, and did not interfere. Indeed, he was her brother, whom she loved in spite of everything--it was only to save him that she had become Eric's wife.

And she did not know the truth. Oh, why had he concealed it from her that time? But now her feelings were no longer to be considered, either--the thing was to rescue Maia: now, to be silent any longer were a crime.

"No, I shall not forget that Odensburg was, for so long a time, my home," murmured Egbert, drawing himself up resolutely, "if I do have to prove it in a different way from what you expect, my poor little Maia.

Shall I write to Dernburg? Impossible. I am wholly out of favor with him--he believes the worst of me; he would deem the letter a wretched calumny, and Wildenrod would win his game nevertheless. There is no help for it, I must fight the battle face to face, and not give up either, until it is decided, until Maia is released from this bond. Be it so, then--I am going to Odensburg."

CHAPTER XXI.

FROM HEIGHTS OF BLISS TO DEPTHS OF WOE.

There prevailed at Odensburg the sultriness that portends the gathering storm. The air was heavy with it, and, according to every sign, when the tempest broke forth it would be a severe one.

This was the day when the workmen who had been discharged, in consequence of the proceedings of election-day, had to leave their workshops. There were hundreds of them, and all their fellows had declared that they, too, would lay down their work, if those dismissals were not withdrawn.

In Dernburg's office a conference had just taken place. There were present, besides the Baron von Wildenrod, who was never missing upon such occasions, the three highest officials; and they had tried, with all their might, to bring the chief to a milder view of what had happened. It had been in vain.

"The word stands, the orders given are to be carried through with the greatest exactness!" he declared. "You will see to it, gentlemen, that your subordinates conform precisely to the directions given. Every special event is to be immediately announced to me. We are going to have a serious, perhaps terrible time, and I calculate upon each one of you doing his duty in fullest measure."

"With us that is a matter of course, Herr Dernburg," replied the director, "and I believe that I can also answer for our subordinates.

And perhaps, after all, it will not come to the worst. Many signs go to show that the mood at the works is a very depressed one. Many are already repenting of the decision, into which they were half enticed and half forced. We know exactly what hands here have been active. The people have been put up to mischief, and goaded on in an unheard-of manner."

"I know that, but they have allowed themselves to be stirred up by strangers, and against me. Now, they can have their way."

This answer sounded so stern, that the director lost courage for making further representations; he cast a meaning glance at his colleague, and now the upper-engineer took up the theme.

"I also am convinced that the majority already begin to be conscious of having acted over-hastily. They will silently let drop that crazy pet.i.tion, in which Fallner's remaining was also included. A great part will quietly work on, the others will follow sooner or later, and the whole move come to nothing, if you could make up your mind, Herr Dernburg, to show the slightest disposition to conciliate."

"No!" said Dernburg, with cold severity.

"But what is to be done with the men who go to work as usual to-morrow morning?"

"They have to make the express declaration that they are not in accord with their fellows, and intend to submit unconditionally to my requirements--then they shall be free to resume work."

"They will not come up to that," objected Winning, reflectively.

"Well, then, the workshops remain closed. We shall see who will hold out the longer--they or I!"

"Exactly my opinion," remarked Wildenrod. "That you owe to yourself and your position. You seem to be of a different opinion, gentlemen, but you will soon be convinced yourselves that this is the only right way whereby we may force the body of workmen into subjection, and that, indeed, in the shortest s.p.a.ce of time."

The officers were silent: they were already accustomed to the Baron's thus planting himself beside their chief, and the right being conceded to him. They certainly did not deem Wildenrod's influence as especially salutary, and here he was again doing every thing he possibly could to uphold Dernburg in the stand that he had taken. But gradually they had come to see in him Dernburg's future son-in-law and the future master of Odensburg: they did not attempt, then, to controvert his position, which would have been useless; and now when Dernburg gave the sign for them to disperse, while he rose to his feet, they parted with a silent bow.

"I do believe those gentlemen are apprehensive of some sort of an insurrection," mocked Oscar, when the door had closed behind them.

"They would make every possible concession for the sake of sweet peace.

I am so glad that you held firm here; any yielding would have been unpardonable weakness."

Dernburg had stepped to the window. He seemed to have grown older by years in these few days, but however bitter the experience might have been, it had not quelled his spirit,--that iron will of his was stamped upon every movement. There was something that awed in the stern rigidity of his features, whence every trace of mildness had flown. He silently gazed over at the works. The chimneys there were still smoking, the furnaces glowed, all the mighty forces of those restless activities were still astir, still toiled thousands of hands.

"To-morrow all this will lie there still and dead--for how long?"

Involuntarily he had spoken these last words aloud, and Wildenrod, who had drawn near, heard him.

"Why, it will not last long," said he confidently. "In your hands lies the power, and it can do the Odensburgers no harm, if at last they are made sensible of this. This riff-raff, that left you in the lurch without ceremony to run after the first hunter that whistled to them!

Such a set----"

"Oscar, you are speaking of my workmen!" interrupted Dernburg angrily.

"Yes, indeed, of your workmen, who showed you their devotion in such a touching manner! I can feel with you what was then pa.s.sing in your soul."

"No, Oscar, that you cannot," said Dernburg, with grave earnestness.

"You have come as a stranger to Odensburg. With you, your future position here is only a question of power. Perhaps, hereafter, it must be the same for me, but formerly it was different. I stood at the head of my workmen, but all that I did was done with them and for them, and as each one could depend upon me, in times of danger and distress, I believed that I could depend upon them, every one. That is all over now! Fool that I was! They want no peace, they want war!"

"Yes, that is what they want," remarked Wildenrod, "and they shall find us ready. We shall soon put down this rebellious Odensburg."

"Oh, certainly, we are going to conquer," exclaimed Dernburg with intense bitterness. "I shall force my workmen to subjection and they will submit; but with hatred and malice in their hearts--with hatred against me! Every apparent reconciliation will only be an armistice, during which they will gather new forces, in order to hurl them against me, and then I shall be obliged to quell them again, and thus the breach will become wider and wider, until one party is destroyed. Such a life I cannot bear!"

With an impetuous movement he turned away from the window, as though he could no longer endure the sight of his works over there, and his voice had a weary sound, as he continued:

"I have always thought that I would hold the reins at Odensburg as long as I lived, but for eight days past, I have been thinking differently.

Who knows, Oscar, whether I may not turn over the management to you.

even during my lifetime. In the crisis ahead of us, perhaps you would fill the place better than I."

"Heavens, what an idea!" cried Wildenrod, shocked, and at the same time dazzled by the unsuspected prospect that opened up before him. "You are not seriously thinking of retiring?"

"For the present--no!" said Dernburg, straightening himself up. "I have never yet avoided a battle when forced upon me, and shall fight this one through also."

"And depend upon me to stand by you!" said Oscar, offering him his hand. "But one thing more: the director seems to dread lest there be disturbances at the works to-day, when it comes to paying off and discharging the offenders. The necessary measures have been taken, indeed, but I place myself at your disposal, if the authority of the officers should not prove adequate. You yourself should not appear in person. You owe it to yourself and your station not to expose yourself to insults that, from words, might extend to acts. Leave that to me!"

An infinitely bitter smile played about Dernburg's lips, but he made a gesture of dissent.

"I thank you, Oscar. Of your courage I have never had a doubt, but in such affairs I allow no one to represent me. But you shall have your place by my side. People shall see and know that I concede to you the rights of a son. I no longer make any secret of that."