Walda | Page 6

that begin the
chapters. I learned the secret of the colors long ago from a monk. It is
no sin to make the Holy Book beautiful, for I have put in it no images,
only the letters in colors that are symbolic."
He spoke as if he were making excuse for some transgression, but the
Herr Doktor laughed leniently.
"Surely Zanah hath no fault to find with thy book," Adolph Schneider
said. "I want the stranger to see the letters in it."
Gerson Brandt opened the Bible, and as he turned the pages Everett,
who stood beside him, felt an over whelming desire to possess the
volume. The old German text was printed upon parchment. The pages
had broad margins, and the letters beginning the chapters were
illuminated with designs so delicate and so minutely worked out that
each repaid long study. The coloring was exquisite, and gold, of a
brilliancy equalled in few books Everett had ever seen, was applied
with a generous hand.
"How long have you worked on it?" he asked.
"Five years," the school-master said, "and it is not finished yet." Gerson
Brandt loosened the linen that he might display the binding of calfskin.
On the front cover was a monogram, but before Everett could decipher
the letters the linen was replaced.
"This is a beautiful bo0k," said Everett, taking it in his hand and turning
the pages. "I would give much for it. Will you sell it to me?"
Gerson Brandt's thin face paled. He stretched out a trembling hand and

seized the Bible as he an swered, coldly:
"This book was not made to be bartered to any man. It is mine. If there
is aught in it that commands thy favor it is because the making of the
letters has been a pleasant labor done with all my heart."
The school-master held the volume close to his breast. The simple one,
who had not left his place on the stool, opened his eyes. The Herr
Doktor glanced from beneath his bushy brows with a look of surprise.
"Brother Brandt, thou speakest without proper forethought," said
Schneider; "thou knowest that in Zanah all things belong to the Lord
and that thou hast not the right to say my or mine."
A dull red swept over the face of the school-master, and in his eyes was
a look that told of rebellion in his soul.
"For the good of Zanah we might be persuaded to sell this Bible," the
Herr Doktor continued. "It is worth a great deal of money, for Brother
Brandt hath spent upon it much of the time that belonged to the colony.
How much wouldst thou give for it?"
"I should not think of buying the Bible if the artist who illuminated it is
unwilling to give it up," Everett declared. The fear in the
school-master's face touched his heart. For the moment Gerson Brandt
had lost the look of youth which strangely sat on features that told of
suffering. There was a new dignity in the gaunt figure, clad in its queer
garments. Gerson Brandt's head was thrown back and his lips were
tightly closed. The habit of repression, learned in the long years of
colony life, was not easily thrown off, and he stood motionless while
Adolph Schneider scowled at him.
"Wouldst thou think one hundred dollars too much for the Bible?" the
village president inquired. He had risen and was leaning on his cane.
Zanah needs money, for the harvests have been poor. Brother Brandt
will sell the book if thou canst pay the price."
"One hundred dollars is little enough for the Bible," said Everett; "but

we shall not discuss its purchase now."
"Yet thou wilt buy it if it is offered to thee by Brother Brandt?" Adolph
Schneider asked, persistently pressing the subject of the sale. Everett
looked straight at the school-master, and his friendly eyes gave Gerson
Brandt confidence.
"I would buy it if it was cheerfully offered by Mr. Brandt," he replied.
The village fool aroused himself and stretched lazily. Then, taking from
his pocket a little yellow gourd, he marked upon it with a big
pocket-knife.
As Schneider and Everett left the school-house they saw that something
unusual had happened, for a crowd was moving up the street. Women
were leaning over fences. Children followed the crowd at a distance.
The Herr Doktor stood for a moment as if uncertain what to do. It was
quite impossible for him to hasten, and he was of a phlegmatic nature
not easily excited.
"Some one must be hurt," Everett remarked. "I think they are carrying a
man."
In an instant Hans Peter had run down the hill. The school-master, who
had remained in the school-house to put away the precious Bible, came
to the door to look