Vanished Arizona | Page 5

hat as he
glanced at the sidewalk where I happened to be standing, my heart
seemed to stop beating, and I was overcome by a most wonderful
feeling--a feeling that in a man would have meant chivalry and loyalty
unto death.
In this beautiful old city, life could not be taken any other than leisurely.
Theatres with early hours, the maid coming for me with a lantern at

nine o'clock, the frequent Kaffee-klatsch, the delightful afternoon
coffee at the Georgen-garten, the visits to the Zoological gardens,
where we always took our fresh rolls along with our knitting-work in a
basket, and then sat at a little table in the open, and were served with
coffee, sweet cream, and butter, by a strapping Hessian peasant
woman--all so simple, yet so elegant, so peaceful.
We heard the best music at the theatre, which was managed with the
same precision, and maintained by the Government with the same
generosity, as in the days of King George. No one was allowed to enter
after the overture had begun, and an absolute hush prevailed.
The orchestra consisted of sixty or more pieces, and the audience was
critical. The parquet was filled with officers in the gayest uniforms;
there were few ladies amongst them; the latter sat mostly in the boxes,
of which there were several tiers, and as soon as the curtain fell,
between the acts, the officers would rise, turn around, and level their
glasses at the boxes. Sometimes they came and visited in the boxes.
As I had been brought up in a town half Quaker, half Puritan, the
custom of going to the theatre Sunday evenings was rather a
questionable one in my mind. But I soon fell in with their ways, and
found that on Sunday evenings there was always the most brilliant
audience and the best plays were selected. With this break-down of the
wall of narrow prejudice, I gave up others equally as narrow, and
adopted the German customs with my whole heart.
I studied the language with unflinching perseverance, for this was the
opportunity I had dreamed about and longed for in the barren winter
evenings at Nantucket when I sat poring over Coleridge's translations
of Schiller's plays and Bayard Taylor's version of Goethe's Faust.
Should I ever read these intelligently in the original ?
And when my father consented for me to go over and spend a year and
live in General Weste's family, there never was a happier or more
grateful young woman. Appreciative and eager, I did not waste a
moment, and my keen enjoyment of the German classics repaid me a

hundred fold for all my industry.
Neither time nor misfortune, nor illness can take from me the memory
of that year of privileges such as is given few American girls to enjoy,
when they are at an age to fully appreciate them.
And so completely separated was I from the American and English
colony that I rarely heard my own language spoken, and thus I lived,
ate, listened, talked, and even dreamed in German.
There seemed to be time enough to do everything we wished; and, as
the Franco-Prussian war was just over (it was the year of 1871), and
many troops were in garrison at Hanover, the officers could always join
us at the various gardens for after-dinner coffee, which, by the way,
was not taken in the demi-tasse, but in good generous coffee-cups, with
plenty of rich cream. Every one drank at least two cups, the officers
smoked, the women knitted or embroidered, and those were among the
pleasantest hours I spent in Germany.
The intrusion of unwelcome visitors was never to be feared, as, by
common consent, the various classes in Hanover kept by themselves,
thus enjoying life much better than in a country where everybody is
striving after the pleasures and luxuries enjoyed by those whom
circumstances have placed above them.
The gay uniforms lent a brilliancy to every affair, however simple.
Officers were not allowed to appear en civile, unless on leave of
absence.
I used to say, "Oh, Frau General, how fascinating it all is!" "Hush,
Martha," she would say; "life in the army is not always so brilliant as it
looks; in fact, we often call it, over here, 'glaenzendes Elend.' "
These bitter words made a great impression upon my mind, and in after
years, on the American frontier, I seemed to hear them over and over
again.
When I bade good-bye to the General and his family, I felt a tightening

about my throat and my heart, and I could not speak. Life in Germany
had become dear to me, and I had not known how dear until I was
leaving it forever.

CHAPTER II
I JOINED THE ARMY
I was put in charge of the