Stories in Light and Shadow | Page 8

and a reserve verb in his pocket, rose to reply. Fully embarked upon
this perilous voyage, and steering wide and clear of any treacherous
shore of intelligence or fancied harbor of understanding and rest, he
kept boldly out at sea. He said that, while his loving adversary in this
battle of compliment had disarmed him and left him no words to reply
to his generous panegyric, he could not but join with that gallant soldier
in his heartfelt aspirations for the peaceful alliance of both countries.
But while he fully reciprocated all his host's broader and higher
sentiments, he must point out to this gallant assembly, this glorious
brotherhood, that even a greater tie of sympathy knitted him to the
general,--the tie of kinship! For while it was well known to the present
company that their gallant commander had married an Englishwoman,
he, the consul, although always an American, would now for the first
time confess to them that he HIMSELF was of Dutch descent on his
mother's side! He would say no more, but confidently leave them in
possession of the tremendous significance of this until-then-unknown
fact! He sat down, with the forgotten verb still in his pocket, but the
applause that followed this perfectly conclusive, satisfying, and logical
climax convinced him of his success. His hand was grasped eagerly by
successive warriors; the general turned and embraced him before the
breathless assembly; there were tears in the consul's eyes.
As the festivities progressed, however, he found to his surprise that
Karl had not only become the fashion as a military page, but that his
naive stupidity and sublime simplicity was the wondering theme and
inexhaustible delight of the whole barracks. Stories were told of his
genius for blundering which rivaled Handy Andy's; old stories of
fatuous ignorance were rearranged and fitted to "our Karl." It was "our
Karl" who, on receiving a tip of two marks from the hands of a young
lady to whom he had brought the bouquet of a gallant lieutenant,
exhibited some hesitation, and finally said, "Yes, but, gnadiges Fraulein,
that COST us nine marks!" It was "our Karl" who, interrupting the
regrets of another lady that she was unable to accept his master's
invitation, said politely, "Ah! what matter, Gnadigste? I have still a
letter for Fraulein Kopp [her rival], and I was told that I must not invite

you both." It was "our Karl" who astonished the hostess to whom he
was sent at the last moment with apologies from an officer,
unexpectedly detained at barrack duty, by suggesting that he should
bring that unfortunate officer his dinner from the just served table. Nor
were these charming infelicities confined to his social and domestic
service. Although ready, mechanical, and invariably docile in the
manual and physical duties of a soldier,--which endeared him to the
German drill-master,--he was still invincibly ignorant as to its purport,
or even the meaning and structure of the military instruments he
handled or vacantly looked upon. It was "our Karl" who suggested to
his instructors that in field- firing it was quicker and easier to load his
musket to the muzzle at once, and get rid of its death-dealing contents
at a single discharge, than to load and fire consecutively. It was "our
Karl" who nearly killed the instructor at sentry drill by adhering to the
letter of his instructions when that instructor had forgotten the
password. It was the same Karl who, severely admonished for his
recklessness, the next time added to his challenge the precaution,
"Unless you instantly say 'Fatherland' I'll fire!" Yet his perfect good
humor and childlike curiosity were unmistakable throughout, and
incited his comrades and his superiors to show him everything in the
hope of getting some characteristic comment from him. Everything and
everybody were open to Karl and his good-humored simplicity.
That evening, as the general accompanied the consul down to the
gateway and the waiting carriage, a figure in uniform ran spontaneously
before them and shouted "Heraus!" to the sentries. But the general
promptly checked "the turning out" of the guard with a paternal shake
of his finger to the over-zealous soldier, in whom the consul recognized
Karl. "He is my Bursche now," said the general explanatorily. "My
wife has taken a fancy to him. Ach! he is very popular with these
women." The consul was still more surprised. The Frau Generalin
Adlerkreutz he knew to be a pronounced Englishwoman,--carrying out
her English ways, proprieties, and prejudices in the very heart of
Schlachtstadt, uncompromisingly, without fear and without reproach.
That she should follow a merely foreign society craze, or alter her
English household so as to admit the impossible Karl, struck him
oddly.

A month or two elapsed without further news of Karl, when one
afternoon he suddenly turned up at the consulate.