] I'll
take the first thing that comes handy-
A Man has entered, wearing a threadbare brown cloak.
take the first thing that comes handy-
A Man has entered, wearing a threadbare brown cloak.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v12 - Gre to Hen
[The Angel slowly
raises his great sword. ] He's going to-going to-destroy me
utterly. [In an agony of terror. ] Help! help, Sister!
Sister [interposing with dignity between the Angel and Han-
nele, and laying both her hands in an attitude of protection upon
Hannele's heart, speaking loftily, solemnly, and with authority]-
He dare not! I lay my consecrated hands upon thy heart!
――
-
The Black Angel disappears. Silence. The Sister folds her hands and
looks down upon Hannele with a gentle smile: then she becomes ab-
sorbed in thought, and moves her lips in silent prayer. The strains
of the funeral march have in the mean time continued without inter-
ruption. A sound as of many lightly pattering feet is heard. Pres-
ently the figure of the schoolmaster Gottwald appears in the middle
doorway. The funeral march ceases. Gottwald is dressed in black
as though for a funeral, and carries in his hand a bunch of beau-
tiful lilies of the valley. He has reverently taken off his hat, and
while still on the threshold turns to those who follow him, with a
gesture commanding silence. Behind him appear his School-Children
-boys and girls in their best clothes. In obedience to his gesture
they stop their whispering and remain quite silent. They do not vent-
ure to cross the threshold. With solemn mien Gottwald now ap-
proaches the Sister, who is still praying.
Gottwald [in a low voice]-Good-day, Sister Martha!
Sister Mr. Gottwald, God's greeting to you!
Gottwald [looking at Hannele, shakes his head sadly and pity-
ingly] Poor little thing!
## p. 7032 (#424) ###########################################
7032
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Sister-Why are you so sad, Mr. Gottwald?
Gottwald- Because she is dead.
Sister-We will not grieve for that; she has found peace, and
for her sake I am glad.
Gottwald [sighing]-Yes, it is well with her. Now she is
free from all trouble and sorrow.
Sister [sunk in contemplation] - How beautiful she looks as
she lies there.
Gottwald-Yes, beautiful. Now that you are dead, you bloom
forth in all your loveliness!
Sister-God has made her so beautiful because she had faith
in him.
Gottwald-Yes, she had faith and she was good. [He heaves
a deep sigh, opens his hymn-book and looks sadly into it. ]
Sister [also looking into the hymn-book]-We must not mourn.
We must be still and patient.
Gottwald-Ah, my heart is heavy.
Sister Because she is set free?
Gottwald-Because my two flowers are withered.
Sister What flowers?
Gottwald-Two violets here in my book. They are the dead
eyes of my dear Hannele.
Sister-In God's heaven they will bloom again far more
sweetly!
Gottwald-O God! how much longer will our pilgrimage last
through this vale of darkness and of tears? [With a sudden
change, briskly and busily, producing sheets of music. ] What do
you think?
I thought we might begin, here in the house, by
singing the hymn 'Jesus, oh, I trust in thee. '
Sister-Yes, that is a beautiful hymn; and Hannele Mattern's
heart was full of faith.
――――
Gottwald-And then out in the church-yard we will sing
'Set me free. ' [He turns, goes to the school-children, and says:]
Number 62, 'Set me free. ' [He intones softly, beating time:]
"Set me free, oh, set me free,
That I may Jesus see. ”
all
[The children have joined in softly. ] Children, are you
warmly dressed? It will be very cold out in the church-yard.
Come in for a moment. Look at poor little Hannele once more.
[The children crowd in and range themselves solemnly round the
bed. ] Just see how beautiful Death has made the poor little girl!
## p. 7033 (#425) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7933
She ran
Soon she
Here
She was huddled in rags; now she wears silken raiment.
about barefoot; now she has glass slippers on her feet.
will dwell in a golden palace and eat roast meat every day.
she lived on cold potatoes, and often she had not enough of them.
Here you always called her the beggar princess; now she will
soon be a princess in very deed. So if any of you have any-
thing that you want to beg her pardon for, do it now, or she
will tell the dear God all about it, and then it will go ill with
you.
A Little Boy [stepping forward] - Dear Princess Hannele, don't
be angry with me, and don't tell the dear God that I always
called you the beggar princess.
All the Children [in a confused murmur]-We are all so very,
very sorry!
Gottwald-So! Now poor Hannele has already forgiven you.
Now go into the other room and wait for me there.
Sister-Come, I'll take you into the back room, and there I'll
tell you what you must do if you want to become beautiful
angels, as beautiful as Hannele will soon be. [She leads the way;
the children follow her; the door is closed. ]
Gottwald [now alone with Hannele. He lays the flowers at her
feet, with emotion] - Hannele dear, here I've brought you another
bunch of beautiful lilies of the valley. [Kneeling by her bed with
trembling voice. ] Don't quite, quite forget me in your glory!
[He sobs, with his face buried in the folds of her dress. ] It breaks
my heart to part from you.
[Voices are heard; Gottwald rises and covers Hannele with a sheet.
Two
old women, dressed for a funeral, with handkerchiefs and gilt-edged
hymn-books in their hands, enter softly. ]
First Woman [looking around]—I suppose we're the first.
Second Woman-No, the schoolmaster is here already. Good-
day, Mr. Gottwald.
Gottwald-Good-day.
First Woman-Ah, this'll be a sore trouble to you, Mr. Gott-
wald! She was such a good pupil to you; always industrious,
always busy.
Second Woman-Is it true what people are saying? Surely it
can't be true: they say she took her own life.
A Third Woman [who has entered] — That would be a sin
against the Holy Spirit.
## p. 7034 (#426) ###########################################
7034
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Second Woman- A sin against the Holy Ghost.
Third Woman-And the pastor says such a sin can never be
forgiven.
Gottwald-Have you forgotten what the Savior said? “ Suf-
fer the little children to come unto me. "
――――
A Fourth Woman [who has entered]-O good people, good
people, what weather! It's enough to freeze the feet off you! I
only hope the pastor won't be too long about it. The snow is
lying a yard deep in the church-yard.
A Fifth Woman [entering]-The pastor is not going to bury
her, good people! He's going to refuse her consecrated ground.
Pleschke [also appearing]- Have you heard? have you heard?
A grand gentleman has been to see the pastor-has been to see
the pastor-and has told him—yes, told him that Hannla Mat-
tern is a blessed saint.
Hanke [entering hastily] — Do you know what they are bring-
ing? a crystal coffin!
Several Voices-A crystal coffin! - A crystal coffin!
Hanke-O Lord! It must have cost a pretty penny!
Several Voices-A crystal coffin! -A crystal coffin!
Seidel [who has appeared]-We're going to see fine things,
that we are! An angel has passed right through the village, as
tall as a poplar-tree, if you'll believe me. And two others are
sitting by the smithy pond; but they're small, like little children.
The girl was more than a beggar-girl.
Several Voices-The girl was more than a beggar-girl. —
They're bringing a crystal coffin. -
crystal coffin. -An angel has passed through
the village.
Four white-robed Youths carry in a crystal coffin, which they set down near
Hannele's bed. The mourners whisper to each other, full of curi-
osity and astonishment.
Gottwald [raising the sheet a little from Hannele's face] — Look
at the dead child too.
First Woman [peering curiously under the sheet] - Why, her
hair is like gold.
Gottwald [drawing the cloth right away from Hannele, who is
illumined with a pale light]—And she has silken garments and
glass slippers. [All shrink back as though dazzled, with exclama-
tions of the utmost surprise. ]
## p. 7035 (#427) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7035
Several Voices - Ah, how beautiful she is! -Who can it be?
Who can it be? - Little Hannla Mattern? - Hannla Mattern? -
No, I don't believe it!
Pleschke-The girl-the girl-is a-a saint.
[The four youths with tender care lay Hannele in the crystal coffin. ]
Hanke - They say she isn't to be buried at all.
First Woman Her coffin is to be set up in the church.
Second Woman-I believe the girl isn't really dead. She
looks as alive as ever she can be.
Pleschke- Just give me just give me a down feather.
We'll try - we'll try-holding a down feather to her mouth,—
yes, and we'll see - and we'll see if she's still-if she's still
breathing, we will. [They give him a down feather and he
holds it to Hannele's mouth. ] It doesn't stir. The girl is dead!
She hasn't a breath of life in her!
―――――
-
too.
Fourth Woman -
―
--
Third Woman-I'll give her my bunch of rosemary. [She
lays it in the coffin. ]
She can take my bit of lavender with her
―――――
-
Fifth Woman-But where is Mattern?
First Woman - Yes, where is Mattern?
Second Woman - Oh, he! he's sitting over there in the ale-
house.
First Woman Most like he doesn't know a word of what
has happened.
Second Woman-He cares for nothing so long as he has his
dram. He knows nothing about it.
Pleschke Haven't you - haven't you told him then - told
him that there's death-in his house?
—
――
Third Woman-He might know that without any telling.
Fourth Woman- I don't say anything, Heaven forbid! But
every one knows who has killed the girl.
Seidel-You're right there! The whole village, as you might
say, knows that. There's a lump on her as big as my fist.
Fifth Woman No grass grows where that fellow sets his feet.
Seidel-I was there when they changed her wet clothes, and
I saw it as plain as I see you. She has a lump on her as big
as my fist- and that's what has killed her.
First Woman-It's Mattern must answer for her, and no one
else.
## p. 7036 (#428) ###########################################
7036
GERHART HAUPTMANN
All [speaking all at once and vehemently, but in a whisper]-
No one else, no one else.
Second woman. He's a murderer, he is.
All [full of fury, but in a low tone]-A murderer, a mur-
derer!
[The harsh voice of the tipsy Mattern is heard:]
"A conscience from all trou-ble free,
What so-ofter pillow can there be ? »
[He appears in the doorway and shouts:]
are-
Hannele! Hannele! You brat! where are you hiding? [He
staggers in, leaning against the door-jamb. ] I'll count up to five,
and I'll wait not a moment longer. One, two- Three and one
I tell you, my girl, you'd better not make me wild. If I
have to search for you and find you, you hussy, I'll pound you
to a jelly, I will! [Starts as he notices the others who are present,
and who remain as still as death. ] What do you want here? [No
answer. ] How do you come here? Was it the Devil sent you,
eh? Just clear out of this, now! Well, are you going to stop all
night? [He laughs to himself. ] Wait a minute I know what
it is. It's nothing but that. I have a little too much in my
noddle That's what brings 'em. [He sings:]
"A con— science from all trou
་
What so
ouble free,
ofter pillow can there be? "
-
-
—
-
[Starts in fear. ] Are you still there? [In a sudden outburst
of fury, looking around for something to attack them with.
] I'll
take the first thing that comes handy-
A Man has entered, wearing a threadbare brown cloak. He is about
thirty, has long black hair, and a pale face with the features of the
schoolmaster Gottwald. He has a slouch hat in his left hand and
sandals on his feet. He appears weary and travel-stained. He
touches Mattern lightly on the arm, interrupting his speech. Mattern
turns sharply round. The stranger looks him straight in the face,
gravely and quietly, and says humbly:
Stranger-Mattern, God's greeting to you!
Mattern-How have you come here? What do you want?
Stranger [in a tone of humble entreaty]—I have walked till
my feet are bleeding; give me water to wash them. The hot
sun has parched me; give me wine to drink, and to refresh me.
## p. 7037 (#429) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7037
I have not broken bread since I set forth in the morning; I am
hungry.
――――――
Mattern What's that to me?
round here ? Go and work. I have to work too.
What brings you tramping
Stranger-I am a workman.
Mattern-You're a tramp, that's what you are. A workman
need not go about begging.
Stranger-I am a workman without wages.
Mattern-You're a tramp, you are.
Stranger [diffidently, submissively, but at the same time impress-
ively]-I am a physician. It may be that you have need of me.
Mattern - I'm all right; I don't need any doctor.
Stranger [his voice trembling with inward emotion]- Mattern,
bethink you! You need give me no water, and yet I will heal
You may give me no bread to eat, and yet, God helping
me, I will make you whole.
you.
Mattern-You get out of this! Go about your business. I
have sound bones in my body; I need no doctor: do you under-
stand?
Stranger - Mattern, bethink you! I will wash your feet for
you; I will give you wine to drink; you shall eat white bread;
tread me under foot, and yet, God helping me, I will make you
whole and sound.
Mattern-Now, will you go or will you not? If you won't
get out of this, I tell you I'll—
Stranger [in a tone of earnest admonition]- Mattern, do you
know what you have in your house?
Mattern - All that belongs there; all that belongs there; all
that belongs there: you don't belong there. Just get out, now!
Stranger [simply] - Your daughter is ill.
Mattern- Her illness doesn't need any doctor. It's nothing
but laziness, her illness isn't. I can knock that out of her with-
out your help.
Stranger [solemnly]- Mattern, I come as a messenger to you.
Mattern - As a messenger, eh? Who from?
Stranger-I come from the Father, and I go to the Father.
What have you done with his child?
Mattern- How am I to know what's become of her? What
have I to do with his children? He's never troubled about her,
he hasn't.
Stranger [firmly]- You have death in your house.
## p. 7038 (#430) ###########################################
7038
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Mattern [now notices Hannele lying there; goes in speechless
astonishment up to the coffin, and looks into it; then murmurs:]
Where have you got the beautiful clothes? Who has bought you
the crystal coffin?
[The mourners whisper to each other vehemently but softly. The word
"Murderer! " is heard again and again, uttered in a threatening
tone. ]
Mattern [softly, trembling] - I've never ill-used you; I've
clothed you; I've fed you. [Turning insolently upon the Stran-
ger. ] What do you want with me? What have I to do with all
this?
Stranger - Mattern, have you anything to say to me?
[The muttering among the mourners becomes ever more vehement and angry,
and the word "Murderer! " "Murderer! " becomes more frequently
audible. ]
Stranger - Have you nothing to reproach yourself with?
Have you never torn her from her bed by night? Has she
never fallen as though dead under your blows?
Mattern [beside himself with rage]-Strike me dead if she
here, on the spot! Heaven's lightning blast me if I've
has
been to blame!
[A flash of pale-blue lightning, and distant thunder. ]
-
All [speaking together] — There's a thunder-storm coming!
Right in the middle of winter! He's perjured himself! - The
child-murderer has perjured himself!
Stranger [impressively but kindly] — Have you still nothing to
say to me, Mattern?
Mattern [in pitiable terror]-Who loves his child chastens it.
I've done nothing but good to the girl. I've kept her as my
child. I've a right to punish her when she does wrong.
The Women [advancing threateningly towards him] — Murderer!
Murderer! Murderer!
Mattern-She's lied to me and cheated me. She has robbed
me day by day.
Stranger-Are you speaking the truth?
Mattern-God strike me.
-
[At this moment a cowslip, "the Key-of-Heaven," is seen in Hannele's
folded hands, emitting a yellow-green radiance. Mattern stares at it
as though out of his senses, trembling all over. ]
## p. 7039 (#431) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7039
Stranger-Mattern, you are lying!
All [in the greatest excitement]-A miracle! a miracle!
Pleschke- The girl-the girl-is a-a saint. He has he
has sworn away-body-body and soul.
――――――――――
Mattern [shrieks]—I'll go and hang myself! [Clasps his head
between his hands and rushes off. ]
Stranger [goes up to Hannele's coffin, and turns so as to face
the others, who all draw back reverently from the Figure which
now stands in full majesty, addressing them] — Fear nothing. [He
bends down and takes hold of Hannele's hand. He speaks with
the deepest tenderness. ] The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth.
[With intensity and assured power. ] Johanna Mattern, arise!
[A gold-green radiance fills the room.
Hannele opens her eyes, and raises
herself by aid of the Stranger's hand, but without daring to look in
his face. She steps out of the coffin, and at once sinks to the ground
at the feet of the Awakener. Terror seizes upon all the others, and
they flee. The Stranger and Hannele remain alone. The brown
mantle has slipped from his shoulders, and he stands in a golden-
white robe. ]
Stranger-Who am I?
Hannele - Thou!
Stranger - Name my name.
Hannele [whispers, trembling with awe]- Holy! holy!
Stranger-I know all thy sorrows and thy sufferings.
Stranger [tenderly]-Hannele!
Hannele [in an ecstasy, her head bowed as low as possible]—
He is there.
Hannele - Thou dear, dear—
Stranger-Arise.
Hannele-Thy robe is spotless.
I am full of stains.
Stranger [laying his right hand on Hannele's head] - Thus I
take away all baseness from thee. [Raising her face toward him
with gentle force, he touches her eyes. ] Behold, I bestow on thine
eyes eternal light. Let them be filled with the light of countless
suns; with the light of endless day, from morning-glow to
evening-glow, from evening-glow to morning-glow. Let them be
filled with the brightness of all that shines: blue sea, blue sky,
and the green plains of eternity. [He touches her ear. ] Behold,
I give to thine ear to hear all the rejoicing of all the millions of
angels in the million heavens of God. [He touches her lips. ]
## p. 7040 (#432) ###########################################
7040
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Behold, I set free thy stammering tongue, and lay upon it thy
soul, and my soul, and the soul of God in the highest.
[Hannele, her whole body trembling, attempts to rise. As though weighed
down by an infinite burden of rapture, she cannot do so. In a storm
of sobs and tears, she buries her head on the Stranger's breast. ]
Stranger With these tears I wash from thy soul all the dust
and anguish of the world. I will exalt thy feet above the stars
of God.
___
To soft music, and stroking Hannele's hair with his hand, the Stranger
speaks as follows. As he is speaking Angelic Forms appear in the
doorway, great and small, youths and maidens; they pause diffidently,
then venture in, swinging censers and decorating the chamber with
hangings and wreaths.
The City of the Blessèd is marvelously fair,
And peace and utter happiness are never-ending there.
[Harps, at first played softly, gradually ring out loud and clear. ]
The houses are of marble, the roofs of gold so fine,
And down their silver channels bubble brooks of ruby wine.
The streets that shine so white, so white, are all bestrewn with
flowers,
And endless peals of wedding bells ring out from all the towers.
The pinnacles, as green as May, gleam in the morning light,
Beset with flickering butterflies, with rose-wreaths decked and dight.
Twelve milk-white swans fly round them in mazy circles wide,
And preen themselves, and ruffle up their plumage in their pride.
They soar aloft so bravely through the shining heavenly air,
With fragrance all a-quiver and with golden trumpet-blare;
In circle-sweeps majestical forever they are winging,
And the pulsing of their pinions is like harp-strings softly ringing.
They look abroad o'er Sion, on garden and on sea,
And green and filmy streamers behind them flutter free.
And underneath them wander, throughout the heavenly land,
The people in their feast array, forever hand in hand;
And then into the wide, wide sea filled with the red, red wine,
Behold! they plunge their bodies with glory all a-shine -
They plunge their shining bodies into the gleaming sea,
Till in the deep clear purple they're swallowed utterly;
And when again they leap aloft rejoicing from the flood,
Their sins have all been washed away in Jesus's blessed blood.
## p. 7041 (#433) ###########################################
7041
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
(1846-)
M
R. HAWTHORNE is to be added to the group of men who enter
into active literary life with the handicap of being the sons
of authors of such high distinction that only a brave strug-
gle insures individuality. The only son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, he
was born in Boston in 1846, the same year that gave to the American
reading public Mosses from an Old Manse. ' His early boyhood was
passed in Liverpool during his father's consulate, but on the return
of the family to America after 1860, Julian became a pupil in the
famous school of Frank Sanborn in Concord.
He entered Harvard in 1863, where he was,
on the whole, more distinguished for athlet-
ics than for application to study. He took
a course in civil engineering both at Har-
vard and in Dresden, and even practiced
that congenial outdoor occupation and prac-
tical hydrographics for some years, until lit-
erature as a profession engrossed him.
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
His first successful story was 'Bressant'
(1872), the forerunner of a long list of
novels, of which may be particularized
three: Garth' (1875), 'Sebastian Strome,'
and 'Archibald Malmaison' (1884). Mr. Haw-
thorne made his home in London for about
seven years, actively engaged in literary work in connection with the
English and the American press. He returned to the United States
in 1882, but presently went across the ocean again with an idea of
remaining in England indefinitely; and of late years his homes have
been London, Long Island, and the island of Jamaica,-in which last
convenient West-Indian retreat he resided for several seasons prior
to 1896. His novel 'A Fool of Nature,' which won him in 1896 a
prize of $10,000 in a literary competition arranged by the New York
Herald (the contest enlisting eleven hundred other competitors), was
written in that West-Indian hermitage.
Mr. Hawthorne's best work suggests more than one element that
distinguishes his father's stories. There is the psychologic accent, the
touch of mystery, the avoidance of the stock properties of romance.
XII-441
## p. 7042 (#434) ###########################################
7042
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
He is an expert literary craftsman. One cannot but feel that with a
firmer grip on his own fancy, and with an early discipline in style
and in methods of treatment, his fictions would be of a finer individ-
uality. But they hold the interest, and they show an aim at reaching
beyond the scope of the ordinary novel of human character. Garth'
and 'Archibald Malmaison have been cited as perhaps his two most
successful novels. Into Garth' is woven the history of a New Eng-
land home and family line, with a kind of curse upon them inherited
from the shadowy past of Indian days; and the career of a curiously
fascinating young hero, a survival or reincarnation of "primeval
man," who declares that he feels "as though the earth were my body
and I saw through it and lived through it, just as I do my human
body; . . . and then I was as strong as the whole world and as
happy as heaven. " In 'Archibald Malmaison' we have a brief, gloomy
drama, turning on a central character whose mental personality every
few years inevitably and shockingly "reverts. " At seven years the
little boy goes back to his boyhood of two or three, forgetting every-
thing that has been in his mind and life since that term; in his early
teens he lapses to nearly his development at mere babyhood, with the
intervening time a blank. At last, a man grown, this weird fatality,
combined with his knowledge of a hidden room (known only to him-
self) in his home, and a mad love affair, bring about a terrible mis-
adventure, closing the story.
THE EAST WING: ARCHIBALD IS A CHANGELING
From Archibald Malmaison. Copyright 1884, by Funk & Wagnalls
THE
HE room itself was long, narrow, and comparatively low; the
latticed windows were sunk several feet into the massive
walls; lengths of brownish-green and yellow tapestry, none
the fresher for its two centuries and more of existence, still pro-
tested against the modern heresy of wall-paper; and in a panel
frame over the fireplace was seen the portrait, by Sir Godfrey
Kneller, of the Jacobite baronet. It was a half-length, in officer's
uniform: one hand holding the hilt of a sword against the breast,
while the forefinger of the other hand pointed diagonally down-
ward, as much as to say, "I vanished in that direction! "
The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the side of the
room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the partition
walls. And what was on the other side of this partition? Not the
large chamber opening into the corridor- that lay at right angles
## p. 7043 (#435) ###########################################
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
7043
to the east chamber, along the southern front of the wing. Not
the corridor either, though it ran for some distance parallel to
the east chamber, and had a door on the east side. But this
door led into a great dark closet, as big as an ordinary room,
and used as a receptacle for rubbish. Was it the dark closet,
then, that adjoined the east chamber on the other side of the
partition? No, once more. Had a window been opened through
the closet wall, it would have looked, not into Archibald's room,
but into a narrow blind court or well, entirely inclosed between
four stone walls, and of no apparent use save as a somewhat
clumsy architectural expedient. There was no present way of
getting into this well, or even of looking into it, unless one had
been at the pains to mount on the roof of the house and peer
down. As a matter of fact, its existence was only made known by
the reports of an occasional workman engaged in renewing the
tiles, or mending a decayed chimney. An accurate survey of the
building would of course have revealed it at once; but nothing
of the kind had been thought of within the memory of man.
Such a survey would also have revealed what no one in the
least suspected, but which was nevertheless a fact of startling
significance; namely, that the blind court was at least fifteen
feet shorter and twenty-five feet narrower than it ought to have
been!
Archibald was as far from suspecting it as anybody; indeed, he
most likely never troubled his head about builders' plans in his
life. But he thought a great deal of his great-grandfather's por-
trait; and since it was so placed as to be in view of the most
comfortable chair before the fire, he spent many hours of every
week gazing at it. What was Sir Charles pointing at with that
left forefinger? And what meant that peculiarly intent and
slightly frowning glance which the painted eyes forever bent
upon his own? Archibald probably had a few of Mrs. Rad-
cliffe's romances along with the other valuable books on his
shelves, and he may have cherished a notion that a treasure or
an important secret of some sort was concealed in the vicinity.
Following down the direction of the pointing finger, he found
that it intersected the floor at a spot about five feet to the right
of the side of the fireplace. The floor of the chamber was of
solid oak planking, blackened by age; and it appeared to be
no less solid at this point than at any other. Nevertheless, he
thought it would be good fun, and at all events would do no
## p. 7044 (#436) ###########################################
7044
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
harm, to cut a hole there and see what was underneath. Ac-
cordingly he quietly procured a saw and a hammer and chisel,
and one day, when the family were away from home, he locked
himself into his room and went to work. The job was not an
easy one, the tough oak wood being almost enough to turn the
edge of his chisel, and there being no purchase at all for the
saw.
raises his great sword. ] He's going to-going to-destroy me
utterly. [In an agony of terror. ] Help! help, Sister!
Sister [interposing with dignity between the Angel and Han-
nele, and laying both her hands in an attitude of protection upon
Hannele's heart, speaking loftily, solemnly, and with authority]-
He dare not! I lay my consecrated hands upon thy heart!
――
-
The Black Angel disappears. Silence. The Sister folds her hands and
looks down upon Hannele with a gentle smile: then she becomes ab-
sorbed in thought, and moves her lips in silent prayer. The strains
of the funeral march have in the mean time continued without inter-
ruption. A sound as of many lightly pattering feet is heard. Pres-
ently the figure of the schoolmaster Gottwald appears in the middle
doorway. The funeral march ceases. Gottwald is dressed in black
as though for a funeral, and carries in his hand a bunch of beau-
tiful lilies of the valley. He has reverently taken off his hat, and
while still on the threshold turns to those who follow him, with a
gesture commanding silence. Behind him appear his School-Children
-boys and girls in their best clothes. In obedience to his gesture
they stop their whispering and remain quite silent. They do not vent-
ure to cross the threshold. With solemn mien Gottwald now ap-
proaches the Sister, who is still praying.
Gottwald [in a low voice]-Good-day, Sister Martha!
Sister Mr. Gottwald, God's greeting to you!
Gottwald [looking at Hannele, shakes his head sadly and pity-
ingly] Poor little thing!
## p. 7032 (#424) ###########################################
7032
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Sister-Why are you so sad, Mr. Gottwald?
Gottwald- Because she is dead.
Sister-We will not grieve for that; she has found peace, and
for her sake I am glad.
Gottwald [sighing]-Yes, it is well with her. Now she is
free from all trouble and sorrow.
Sister [sunk in contemplation] - How beautiful she looks as
she lies there.
Gottwald-Yes, beautiful. Now that you are dead, you bloom
forth in all your loveliness!
Sister-God has made her so beautiful because she had faith
in him.
Gottwald-Yes, she had faith and she was good. [He heaves
a deep sigh, opens his hymn-book and looks sadly into it. ]
Sister [also looking into the hymn-book]-We must not mourn.
We must be still and patient.
Gottwald-Ah, my heart is heavy.
Sister Because she is set free?
Gottwald-Because my two flowers are withered.
Sister What flowers?
Gottwald-Two violets here in my book. They are the dead
eyes of my dear Hannele.
Sister-In God's heaven they will bloom again far more
sweetly!
Gottwald-O God! how much longer will our pilgrimage last
through this vale of darkness and of tears? [With a sudden
change, briskly and busily, producing sheets of music. ] What do
you think?
I thought we might begin, here in the house, by
singing the hymn 'Jesus, oh, I trust in thee. '
Sister-Yes, that is a beautiful hymn; and Hannele Mattern's
heart was full of faith.
――――
Gottwald-And then out in the church-yard we will sing
'Set me free. ' [He turns, goes to the school-children, and says:]
Number 62, 'Set me free. ' [He intones softly, beating time:]
"Set me free, oh, set me free,
That I may Jesus see. ”
all
[The children have joined in softly. ] Children, are you
warmly dressed? It will be very cold out in the church-yard.
Come in for a moment. Look at poor little Hannele once more.
[The children crowd in and range themselves solemnly round the
bed. ] Just see how beautiful Death has made the poor little girl!
## p. 7033 (#425) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7933
She ran
Soon she
Here
She was huddled in rags; now she wears silken raiment.
about barefoot; now she has glass slippers on her feet.
will dwell in a golden palace and eat roast meat every day.
she lived on cold potatoes, and often she had not enough of them.
Here you always called her the beggar princess; now she will
soon be a princess in very deed. So if any of you have any-
thing that you want to beg her pardon for, do it now, or she
will tell the dear God all about it, and then it will go ill with
you.
A Little Boy [stepping forward] - Dear Princess Hannele, don't
be angry with me, and don't tell the dear God that I always
called you the beggar princess.
All the Children [in a confused murmur]-We are all so very,
very sorry!
Gottwald-So! Now poor Hannele has already forgiven you.
Now go into the other room and wait for me there.
Sister-Come, I'll take you into the back room, and there I'll
tell you what you must do if you want to become beautiful
angels, as beautiful as Hannele will soon be. [She leads the way;
the children follow her; the door is closed. ]
Gottwald [now alone with Hannele. He lays the flowers at her
feet, with emotion] - Hannele dear, here I've brought you another
bunch of beautiful lilies of the valley. [Kneeling by her bed with
trembling voice. ] Don't quite, quite forget me in your glory!
[He sobs, with his face buried in the folds of her dress. ] It breaks
my heart to part from you.
[Voices are heard; Gottwald rises and covers Hannele with a sheet.
Two
old women, dressed for a funeral, with handkerchiefs and gilt-edged
hymn-books in their hands, enter softly. ]
First Woman [looking around]—I suppose we're the first.
Second Woman-No, the schoolmaster is here already. Good-
day, Mr. Gottwald.
Gottwald-Good-day.
First Woman-Ah, this'll be a sore trouble to you, Mr. Gott-
wald! She was such a good pupil to you; always industrious,
always busy.
Second Woman-Is it true what people are saying? Surely it
can't be true: they say she took her own life.
A Third Woman [who has entered] — That would be a sin
against the Holy Spirit.
## p. 7034 (#426) ###########################################
7034
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Second Woman- A sin against the Holy Ghost.
Third Woman-And the pastor says such a sin can never be
forgiven.
Gottwald-Have you forgotten what the Savior said? “ Suf-
fer the little children to come unto me. "
――――
A Fourth Woman [who has entered]-O good people, good
people, what weather! It's enough to freeze the feet off you! I
only hope the pastor won't be too long about it. The snow is
lying a yard deep in the church-yard.
A Fifth Woman [entering]-The pastor is not going to bury
her, good people! He's going to refuse her consecrated ground.
Pleschke [also appearing]- Have you heard? have you heard?
A grand gentleman has been to see the pastor-has been to see
the pastor-and has told him—yes, told him that Hannla Mat-
tern is a blessed saint.
Hanke [entering hastily] — Do you know what they are bring-
ing? a crystal coffin!
Several Voices-A crystal coffin! - A crystal coffin!
Hanke-O Lord! It must have cost a pretty penny!
Several Voices-A crystal coffin! -A crystal coffin!
Seidel [who has appeared]-We're going to see fine things,
that we are! An angel has passed right through the village, as
tall as a poplar-tree, if you'll believe me. And two others are
sitting by the smithy pond; but they're small, like little children.
The girl was more than a beggar-girl.
Several Voices-The girl was more than a beggar-girl. —
They're bringing a crystal coffin. -
crystal coffin. -An angel has passed through
the village.
Four white-robed Youths carry in a crystal coffin, which they set down near
Hannele's bed. The mourners whisper to each other, full of curi-
osity and astonishment.
Gottwald [raising the sheet a little from Hannele's face] — Look
at the dead child too.
First Woman [peering curiously under the sheet] - Why, her
hair is like gold.
Gottwald [drawing the cloth right away from Hannele, who is
illumined with a pale light]—And she has silken garments and
glass slippers. [All shrink back as though dazzled, with exclama-
tions of the utmost surprise. ]
## p. 7035 (#427) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7035
Several Voices - Ah, how beautiful she is! -Who can it be?
Who can it be? - Little Hannla Mattern? - Hannla Mattern? -
No, I don't believe it!
Pleschke-The girl-the girl-is a-a saint.
[The four youths with tender care lay Hannele in the crystal coffin. ]
Hanke - They say she isn't to be buried at all.
First Woman Her coffin is to be set up in the church.
Second Woman-I believe the girl isn't really dead. She
looks as alive as ever she can be.
Pleschke- Just give me just give me a down feather.
We'll try - we'll try-holding a down feather to her mouth,—
yes, and we'll see - and we'll see if she's still-if she's still
breathing, we will. [They give him a down feather and he
holds it to Hannele's mouth. ] It doesn't stir. The girl is dead!
She hasn't a breath of life in her!
―――――
-
too.
Fourth Woman -
―
--
Third Woman-I'll give her my bunch of rosemary. [She
lays it in the coffin. ]
She can take my bit of lavender with her
―――――
-
Fifth Woman-But where is Mattern?
First Woman - Yes, where is Mattern?
Second Woman - Oh, he! he's sitting over there in the ale-
house.
First Woman Most like he doesn't know a word of what
has happened.
Second Woman-He cares for nothing so long as he has his
dram. He knows nothing about it.
Pleschke Haven't you - haven't you told him then - told
him that there's death-in his house?
—
――
Third Woman-He might know that without any telling.
Fourth Woman- I don't say anything, Heaven forbid! But
every one knows who has killed the girl.
Seidel-You're right there! The whole village, as you might
say, knows that. There's a lump on her as big as my fist.
Fifth Woman No grass grows where that fellow sets his feet.
Seidel-I was there when they changed her wet clothes, and
I saw it as plain as I see you. She has a lump on her as big
as my fist- and that's what has killed her.
First Woman-It's Mattern must answer for her, and no one
else.
## p. 7036 (#428) ###########################################
7036
GERHART HAUPTMANN
All [speaking all at once and vehemently, but in a whisper]-
No one else, no one else.
Second woman. He's a murderer, he is.
All [full of fury, but in a low tone]-A murderer, a mur-
derer!
[The harsh voice of the tipsy Mattern is heard:]
"A conscience from all trou-ble free,
What so-ofter pillow can there be ? »
[He appears in the doorway and shouts:]
are-
Hannele! Hannele! You brat! where are you hiding? [He
staggers in, leaning against the door-jamb. ] I'll count up to five,
and I'll wait not a moment longer. One, two- Three and one
I tell you, my girl, you'd better not make me wild. If I
have to search for you and find you, you hussy, I'll pound you
to a jelly, I will! [Starts as he notices the others who are present,
and who remain as still as death. ] What do you want here? [No
answer. ] How do you come here? Was it the Devil sent you,
eh? Just clear out of this, now! Well, are you going to stop all
night? [He laughs to himself. ] Wait a minute I know what
it is. It's nothing but that. I have a little too much in my
noddle That's what brings 'em. [He sings:]
"A con— science from all trou
་
What so
ouble free,
ofter pillow can there be? "
-
-
—
-
[Starts in fear. ] Are you still there? [In a sudden outburst
of fury, looking around for something to attack them with.
] I'll
take the first thing that comes handy-
A Man has entered, wearing a threadbare brown cloak. He is about
thirty, has long black hair, and a pale face with the features of the
schoolmaster Gottwald. He has a slouch hat in his left hand and
sandals on his feet. He appears weary and travel-stained. He
touches Mattern lightly on the arm, interrupting his speech. Mattern
turns sharply round. The stranger looks him straight in the face,
gravely and quietly, and says humbly:
Stranger-Mattern, God's greeting to you!
Mattern-How have you come here? What do you want?
Stranger [in a tone of humble entreaty]—I have walked till
my feet are bleeding; give me water to wash them. The hot
sun has parched me; give me wine to drink, and to refresh me.
## p. 7037 (#429) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7037
I have not broken bread since I set forth in the morning; I am
hungry.
――――――
Mattern What's that to me?
round here ? Go and work. I have to work too.
What brings you tramping
Stranger-I am a workman.
Mattern-You're a tramp, that's what you are. A workman
need not go about begging.
Stranger-I am a workman without wages.
Mattern-You're a tramp, you are.
Stranger [diffidently, submissively, but at the same time impress-
ively]-I am a physician. It may be that you have need of me.
Mattern - I'm all right; I don't need any doctor.
Stranger [his voice trembling with inward emotion]- Mattern,
bethink you! You need give me no water, and yet I will heal
You may give me no bread to eat, and yet, God helping
me, I will make you whole.
you.
Mattern-You get out of this! Go about your business. I
have sound bones in my body; I need no doctor: do you under-
stand?
Stranger - Mattern, bethink you! I will wash your feet for
you; I will give you wine to drink; you shall eat white bread;
tread me under foot, and yet, God helping me, I will make you
whole and sound.
Mattern-Now, will you go or will you not? If you won't
get out of this, I tell you I'll—
Stranger [in a tone of earnest admonition]- Mattern, do you
know what you have in your house?
Mattern - All that belongs there; all that belongs there; all
that belongs there: you don't belong there. Just get out, now!
Stranger [simply] - Your daughter is ill.
Mattern- Her illness doesn't need any doctor. It's nothing
but laziness, her illness isn't. I can knock that out of her with-
out your help.
Stranger [solemnly]- Mattern, I come as a messenger to you.
Mattern - As a messenger, eh? Who from?
Stranger-I come from the Father, and I go to the Father.
What have you done with his child?
Mattern- How am I to know what's become of her? What
have I to do with his children? He's never troubled about her,
he hasn't.
Stranger [firmly]- You have death in your house.
## p. 7038 (#430) ###########################################
7038
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Mattern [now notices Hannele lying there; goes in speechless
astonishment up to the coffin, and looks into it; then murmurs:]
Where have you got the beautiful clothes? Who has bought you
the crystal coffin?
[The mourners whisper to each other vehemently but softly. The word
"Murderer! " is heard again and again, uttered in a threatening
tone. ]
Mattern [softly, trembling] - I've never ill-used you; I've
clothed you; I've fed you. [Turning insolently upon the Stran-
ger. ] What do you want with me? What have I to do with all
this?
Stranger - Mattern, have you anything to say to me?
[The muttering among the mourners becomes ever more vehement and angry,
and the word "Murderer! " "Murderer! " becomes more frequently
audible. ]
Stranger - Have you nothing to reproach yourself with?
Have you never torn her from her bed by night? Has she
never fallen as though dead under your blows?
Mattern [beside himself with rage]-Strike me dead if she
here, on the spot! Heaven's lightning blast me if I've
has
been to blame!
[A flash of pale-blue lightning, and distant thunder. ]
-
All [speaking together] — There's a thunder-storm coming!
Right in the middle of winter! He's perjured himself! - The
child-murderer has perjured himself!
Stranger [impressively but kindly] — Have you still nothing to
say to me, Mattern?
Mattern [in pitiable terror]-Who loves his child chastens it.
I've done nothing but good to the girl. I've kept her as my
child. I've a right to punish her when she does wrong.
The Women [advancing threateningly towards him] — Murderer!
Murderer! Murderer!
Mattern-She's lied to me and cheated me. She has robbed
me day by day.
Stranger-Are you speaking the truth?
Mattern-God strike me.
-
[At this moment a cowslip, "the Key-of-Heaven," is seen in Hannele's
folded hands, emitting a yellow-green radiance. Mattern stares at it
as though out of his senses, trembling all over. ]
## p. 7039 (#431) ###########################################
GERHART HAUPTMANN
7039
Stranger-Mattern, you are lying!
All [in the greatest excitement]-A miracle! a miracle!
Pleschke- The girl-the girl-is a-a saint. He has he
has sworn away-body-body and soul.
――――――――――
Mattern [shrieks]—I'll go and hang myself! [Clasps his head
between his hands and rushes off. ]
Stranger [goes up to Hannele's coffin, and turns so as to face
the others, who all draw back reverently from the Figure which
now stands in full majesty, addressing them] — Fear nothing. [He
bends down and takes hold of Hannele's hand. He speaks with
the deepest tenderness. ] The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth.
[With intensity and assured power. ] Johanna Mattern, arise!
[A gold-green radiance fills the room.
Hannele opens her eyes, and raises
herself by aid of the Stranger's hand, but without daring to look in
his face. She steps out of the coffin, and at once sinks to the ground
at the feet of the Awakener. Terror seizes upon all the others, and
they flee. The Stranger and Hannele remain alone. The brown
mantle has slipped from his shoulders, and he stands in a golden-
white robe. ]
Stranger-Who am I?
Hannele - Thou!
Stranger - Name my name.
Hannele [whispers, trembling with awe]- Holy! holy!
Stranger-I know all thy sorrows and thy sufferings.
Stranger [tenderly]-Hannele!
Hannele [in an ecstasy, her head bowed as low as possible]—
He is there.
Hannele - Thou dear, dear—
Stranger-Arise.
Hannele-Thy robe is spotless.
I am full of stains.
Stranger [laying his right hand on Hannele's head] - Thus I
take away all baseness from thee. [Raising her face toward him
with gentle force, he touches her eyes. ] Behold, I bestow on thine
eyes eternal light. Let them be filled with the light of countless
suns; with the light of endless day, from morning-glow to
evening-glow, from evening-glow to morning-glow. Let them be
filled with the brightness of all that shines: blue sea, blue sky,
and the green plains of eternity. [He touches her ear. ] Behold,
I give to thine ear to hear all the rejoicing of all the millions of
angels in the million heavens of God. [He touches her lips. ]
## p. 7040 (#432) ###########################################
7040
GERHART HAUPTMANN
Behold, I set free thy stammering tongue, and lay upon it thy
soul, and my soul, and the soul of God in the highest.
[Hannele, her whole body trembling, attempts to rise. As though weighed
down by an infinite burden of rapture, she cannot do so. In a storm
of sobs and tears, she buries her head on the Stranger's breast. ]
Stranger With these tears I wash from thy soul all the dust
and anguish of the world. I will exalt thy feet above the stars
of God.
___
To soft music, and stroking Hannele's hair with his hand, the Stranger
speaks as follows. As he is speaking Angelic Forms appear in the
doorway, great and small, youths and maidens; they pause diffidently,
then venture in, swinging censers and decorating the chamber with
hangings and wreaths.
The City of the Blessèd is marvelously fair,
And peace and utter happiness are never-ending there.
[Harps, at first played softly, gradually ring out loud and clear. ]
The houses are of marble, the roofs of gold so fine,
And down their silver channels bubble brooks of ruby wine.
The streets that shine so white, so white, are all bestrewn with
flowers,
And endless peals of wedding bells ring out from all the towers.
The pinnacles, as green as May, gleam in the morning light,
Beset with flickering butterflies, with rose-wreaths decked and dight.
Twelve milk-white swans fly round them in mazy circles wide,
And preen themselves, and ruffle up their plumage in their pride.
They soar aloft so bravely through the shining heavenly air,
With fragrance all a-quiver and with golden trumpet-blare;
In circle-sweeps majestical forever they are winging,
And the pulsing of their pinions is like harp-strings softly ringing.
They look abroad o'er Sion, on garden and on sea,
And green and filmy streamers behind them flutter free.
And underneath them wander, throughout the heavenly land,
The people in their feast array, forever hand in hand;
And then into the wide, wide sea filled with the red, red wine,
Behold! they plunge their bodies with glory all a-shine -
They plunge their shining bodies into the gleaming sea,
Till in the deep clear purple they're swallowed utterly;
And when again they leap aloft rejoicing from the flood,
Their sins have all been washed away in Jesus's blessed blood.
## p. 7041 (#433) ###########################################
7041
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
(1846-)
M
R. HAWTHORNE is to be added to the group of men who enter
into active literary life with the handicap of being the sons
of authors of such high distinction that only a brave strug-
gle insures individuality. The only son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, he
was born in Boston in 1846, the same year that gave to the American
reading public Mosses from an Old Manse. ' His early boyhood was
passed in Liverpool during his father's consulate, but on the return
of the family to America after 1860, Julian became a pupil in the
famous school of Frank Sanborn in Concord.
He entered Harvard in 1863, where he was,
on the whole, more distinguished for athlet-
ics than for application to study. He took
a course in civil engineering both at Har-
vard and in Dresden, and even practiced
that congenial outdoor occupation and prac-
tical hydrographics for some years, until lit-
erature as a profession engrossed him.
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
His first successful story was 'Bressant'
(1872), the forerunner of a long list of
novels, of which may be particularized
three: Garth' (1875), 'Sebastian Strome,'
and 'Archibald Malmaison' (1884). Mr. Haw-
thorne made his home in London for about
seven years, actively engaged in literary work in connection with the
English and the American press. He returned to the United States
in 1882, but presently went across the ocean again with an idea of
remaining in England indefinitely; and of late years his homes have
been London, Long Island, and the island of Jamaica,-in which last
convenient West-Indian retreat he resided for several seasons prior
to 1896. His novel 'A Fool of Nature,' which won him in 1896 a
prize of $10,000 in a literary competition arranged by the New York
Herald (the contest enlisting eleven hundred other competitors), was
written in that West-Indian hermitage.
Mr. Hawthorne's best work suggests more than one element that
distinguishes his father's stories. There is the psychologic accent, the
touch of mystery, the avoidance of the stock properties of romance.
XII-441
## p. 7042 (#434) ###########################################
7042
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
He is an expert literary craftsman. One cannot but feel that with a
firmer grip on his own fancy, and with an early discipline in style
and in methods of treatment, his fictions would be of a finer individ-
uality. But they hold the interest, and they show an aim at reaching
beyond the scope of the ordinary novel of human character. Garth'
and 'Archibald Malmaison have been cited as perhaps his two most
successful novels. Into Garth' is woven the history of a New Eng-
land home and family line, with a kind of curse upon them inherited
from the shadowy past of Indian days; and the career of a curiously
fascinating young hero, a survival or reincarnation of "primeval
man," who declares that he feels "as though the earth were my body
and I saw through it and lived through it, just as I do my human
body; . . . and then I was as strong as the whole world and as
happy as heaven. " In 'Archibald Malmaison' we have a brief, gloomy
drama, turning on a central character whose mental personality every
few years inevitably and shockingly "reverts. " At seven years the
little boy goes back to his boyhood of two or three, forgetting every-
thing that has been in his mind and life since that term; in his early
teens he lapses to nearly his development at mere babyhood, with the
intervening time a blank. At last, a man grown, this weird fatality,
combined with his knowledge of a hidden room (known only to him-
self) in his home, and a mad love affair, bring about a terrible mis-
adventure, closing the story.
THE EAST WING: ARCHIBALD IS A CHANGELING
From Archibald Malmaison. Copyright 1884, by Funk & Wagnalls
THE
HE room itself was long, narrow, and comparatively low; the
latticed windows were sunk several feet into the massive
walls; lengths of brownish-green and yellow tapestry, none
the fresher for its two centuries and more of existence, still pro-
tested against the modern heresy of wall-paper; and in a panel
frame over the fireplace was seen the portrait, by Sir Godfrey
Kneller, of the Jacobite baronet. It was a half-length, in officer's
uniform: one hand holding the hilt of a sword against the breast,
while the forefinger of the other hand pointed diagonally down-
ward, as much as to say, "I vanished in that direction! "
The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the side of the
room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the partition
walls. And what was on the other side of this partition? Not the
large chamber opening into the corridor- that lay at right angles
## p. 7043 (#435) ###########################################
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
7043
to the east chamber, along the southern front of the wing. Not
the corridor either, though it ran for some distance parallel to
the east chamber, and had a door on the east side. But this
door led into a great dark closet, as big as an ordinary room,
and used as a receptacle for rubbish. Was it the dark closet,
then, that adjoined the east chamber on the other side of the
partition? No, once more. Had a window been opened through
the closet wall, it would have looked, not into Archibald's room,
but into a narrow blind court or well, entirely inclosed between
four stone walls, and of no apparent use save as a somewhat
clumsy architectural expedient. There was no present way of
getting into this well, or even of looking into it, unless one had
been at the pains to mount on the roof of the house and peer
down. As a matter of fact, its existence was only made known by
the reports of an occasional workman engaged in renewing the
tiles, or mending a decayed chimney. An accurate survey of the
building would of course have revealed it at once; but nothing
of the kind had been thought of within the memory of man.
Such a survey would also have revealed what no one in the
least suspected, but which was nevertheless a fact of startling
significance; namely, that the blind court was at least fifteen
feet shorter and twenty-five feet narrower than it ought to have
been!
Archibald was as far from suspecting it as anybody; indeed, he
most likely never troubled his head about builders' plans in his
life. But he thought a great deal of his great-grandfather's por-
trait; and since it was so placed as to be in view of the most
comfortable chair before the fire, he spent many hours of every
week gazing at it. What was Sir Charles pointing at with that
left forefinger? And what meant that peculiarly intent and
slightly frowning glance which the painted eyes forever bent
upon his own? Archibald probably had a few of Mrs. Rad-
cliffe's romances along with the other valuable books on his
shelves, and he may have cherished a notion that a treasure or
an important secret of some sort was concealed in the vicinity.
Following down the direction of the pointing finger, he found
that it intersected the floor at a spot about five feet to the right
of the side of the fireplace. The floor of the chamber was of
solid oak planking, blackened by age; and it appeared to be
no less solid at this point than at any other. Nevertheless, he
thought it would be good fun, and at all events would do no
## p. 7044 (#436) ###########################################
7044
JULIAN HAWTHORNE
harm, to cut a hole there and see what was underneath. Ac-
cordingly he quietly procured a saw and a hammer and chisel,
and one day, when the family were away from home, he locked
himself into his room and went to work. The job was not an
easy one, the tough oak wood being almost enough to turn the
edge of his chisel, and there being no purchase at all for the
saw.
