of father and mother. And I have ever been truly thankful to the
Almighty that it was so; for as I have often seen, the life of children
who lack a mother's love is like a day when the sun is hidden by
storm-clouds. But the merciful God, who laid his hand on our mother's
heart, filled that of another woman with a treasure of love towards me
and my brothers.
Our cousin Maud, a childless widow, took upon herself to care for us.
As a maid, and before she had married her departed husband, she had
been in love with my father, and then had looked up to my mother as a
saint from Heaven, so she could have no greater joy than to tell us tales
about our parents; and when she did so her eyes would be full of tears,
and as every word came straight from her heart it found its way straight
to ours; and as we three sat round, listening to her, besides her own two
eyes there were soon six more wet enough to need a handkerchief.
Her gait was heavy and awkward, and her face seemed as though it had
been hewn out of coarse wood, so that it was a proper face to frighten
children; even when she was young they said that her appearance was
too like a man and devoid of charms, and for that reason my father
never heeded her love for him; but her eyes were like open windows,
and out of them looked everything that was good and kind and loving
and true, like angels within. For the sake of those eyes you forgot all
else; all that was rough in her, and her wide nose with the deep dent
just in the middle, and such hair on her lip as many a young stripling
might envy her.
And Sebald Kresz knew very well what he was about when he took to
wife Maud Im Hoff when he was between sixty and seventy years of
age; and she had nothing to look forward to in life as she stood at the
altar with him, but to play the part of nurse to a sickly perverse old man.
But to Maud it seemed as fair a lot to take care of a fellow-creature as it
is to many another to be nursed and cherished; and it was the reward of
her faithful care that she could keep the old man from the clutch of
Death for full ten years longer. After his decease she was left a
well-to-do widow; but instead of taking thought for herself she at once
entered on a life of fresh care, for she undertook the duty of filling the
place of mother to us three orphans.
As I grew up she would often instruct me in her kind voice, which was
as deep as the bass pipe of an organ, that she had set three aims before
her in bringing us up, namely: to make us good and Godfearing; to
teach us to agree among ourselves so that each should be ready to give
everything up to the others; and to make our young days as happy as
possible. How far she succeeded in the first I leave to others to judge;
but a more united family than we ever were I should like any man to
show me, and because it was evident from a hundred small tokens how
closely we clung together folks used to speak of us as "the three links,"
especially as the arms borne by the Schoppers display three rings
linked to form a chain.
As for myself, I was the youngest and smallest of the three links, and
yet I was the middle one; for if ever it fell that Herdegen and Kunz had
done one thing or another which led them to disagree and avoid or defy
each other, they always came together again by seeking me and through
my means. But though I thus sometimes acted as peacemaker it is no
credit to me, since I did not bring them together out of any virtue or
praiseworthy intent, but simply because I could not bear to stand alone,
or with only one ring linked to me.
Alas! how far behind me lies the bright, happy youth of which I now
write! I have reached the top of life's hill, nay, I have long since
overstepped the ridge; and, as I look back and think of all I have seen
and known, it is not to the end that I may get wisdom for myself
whereby to do better as I live longer. My old bones are stiff and set; it
would be vain now to try to bend them. No, I write this little book
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the
Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.