the people of kaligaweh were quiet folk, and did as they were told. very soon the dessa had resumed its ordinary peaceful appearance, and the little group of european gentlemen were once again seated under the widely-spreading crown of the gigantic wild-fig tree. but if, a short time ago, they had paid but very little attention to the wondrous beauties of the tropical night, their visit to the opium-den made them still more indifferent to its attractions. as soon as they were again seated, the conversation, naturally enough, turned upon the terrible scenes which they had witnessed.
“in that passage,” said grashuis, who, as surveyor, was accustomed [189]to take in local details at a glance, “there were twenty-four doors and therefore there must be twenty-four such hideous pens. if all of them—what a pity it is that we allowed ourselves to be scared and that we did not carry out our investigation to the end.”
“no, no, my friend,” said verstork, “i am glad we did not. almost all the recesses were occupied, and the scenes which they would have revealed would have differed only from those you saw in the degree of beastliness. i repeat it—it is much better that we did not go on. but, when i tell you that in the dessa kaligaweh there are some eighty households which number about six hundred souls, one hundred and thirty of which are able-bodied working men, and that such a den as we visited remains open for three-quarters of the four-and-twenty hours—and when i further tell you that if you had looked into the wretched huts all around you would have found many an opium-smoker in them also—then, i think you will be able to form some idea of the extent which the abuse of opium has attained.”
“do you happen to know,” asked grashuis, who was fond of statistics, “what percentage of the inhabitants is given to this abuse of opium?”
“well,” returned the other, “i do not think we shall do much good by troubling ourselves about figures which are generally misleading and only serve to prove how clever statisticians are in the art de grouper les chiffres.”
“yes,” said grenits, “and we know full well that treasury officials have very little scruples on such points.”
“it is a blessing that muizenkop does not hear you say that,” said van rheijn, with a laugh, “you would see him fire up at such a suggestion.”
“with regard to kaligaweh,” continued verstork, “i venture most confidently to assert that there are not ten men in the dessa who are free from the vice of opium smoking.”
“humph,” muttered van beneden, who, though a lawyer, was also fond of figures, “that is about 93 per cent.”
“i found that out,” continued the controller, “when, about a twelvemonth ago i was on the look-out for a man to put into the place of my former loerah; a good fellow enough, but one whom the opium-pipe had rendered totally unfit for any position of trust.”
“did you succeed?” asked grenits.
“yes, i did; but not without much difficulty. it was my [190]intention to appoint setrosmito, the poor devil who just now has got himself into trouble, and it was only because the man could neither read nor write that i had to give up the idea. the inquiries, however, which i then was forced to make, revealed to me the startling fact that women, and even children of eight or nine years of age use opium. they actually scrape out the father’s pipe in order to get hold of the fatal narcotic.”
“but,” remarked van beneden, “kaligaweh probably forms an exception.”
“not by any means,” rejoined verstork, testily; “during my official career i have been stationed in several residencies, and i venture to affirm that, as far as opium is concerned, their condition is much the same as that in santjoemeh. you will find hundreds of dessas in the island like kaligaweh.”
“i suppose,” put in grenits, “we must except the preanger districts?”
“oh yes, certainly,” assented verstork, “the use of opium is altogether forbidden there.”
“and does that work well?”
“excellently,” said verstork.
“that is, i have no doubt,” asked grashuis, “a tentative measure on the part of the government which, if it succeeds, will be extended to the whole of java?”
“not at all,” replied verstork. “in the first place the prohibition has been in force too long to be merely tentative for it dates back as far as 1824; and then, in the next, it was not at all adopted with the view of checking the abuse of opium; but merely because it was feared that the people would take to coffee-stealing in order to be able to satisfy their craving.”
“come,” said van rheijn, “that is not at all a bad idea.”
“is it possible,” exclaimed grashuis, “to conceive a more cynical confession of the fact that opium demoralises the people?”
“and if,” continued grenits, “you add that confession to the scenes which we have just witnessed, then put the question seriously to yourselves: is there any truth in the assertion made by van rheijn and backed up by van beneden, that the abuse of opium can in any way be compared to the abuse of alcohol, or put on the same level with it? no, no, in my opinion, it is infinitely more deplorable!”
“such is my opinion also,” assented verstork; “every attempt made to put down or to limit the extent of opium-smoking and to check its abuse, must be looked upon as an [191]act of much greater philanthropy than the efforts made by the friends of temperance or the preachers of total abstinence. but—”
“yes—but what?” cried another.
“but,” continued he, “every such attempt is a direct blow aimed at the revenue at home.”
“aye, aye, there you have it,” said grenits; “and whenever you raise such a question as that, our good friends at the hague are uncommonly hard of hearing.”
“well, i don’t blame them,” interrupted van rheijn, “they cannot afford to sacrifice the millions which the opium trade pours into the treasury.”
“god help us!” cried grenits, “did ever man hear such an argument as that? what would you say to a thief who would try to excuse his theft by saying that he was in need of the stolen money to go and fuddle himself in a beershop; or to a murderer who would try and justify his crime by stating that he poisoned his uncle only because he wanted the inheritance to—to—well, say to keep his mistress?”
“oh, oh, oh!” cried several voices, “what a comparison!”
“yes,” said verstork, “the comparison is certainly not flattering; but it has the advantage of being a perfectly just one. so long as our country indulges in the costly luxury of an administration such as ours; and so long as it maintains the opium trade in its present state to furnish funds for that costly administration: such proceeding may very justly be compared to the action of a thief who steals a banknote in order to go and spend it in a gin-palace.”
“or rather,” cried grenits, “to that of a man who poisons his uncle so that he may have the handling of his money. i consider the latter comparison to be a still more just one; because it cannot be denied that though holland has always treated her indian possessions as a milch-cow, the present system of scraping and squeezing is beginning to exceed all reasonable bounds and limits.”
“oh! oh!” again cried van rheijn and van beneden as in protest.
“well gentlemen,” asked grenits, “am i exaggerating? tell me now, are they not, at home, exceeding all limits and bounds in the heavy taxation which they heap on the shoulders of the industrial and commercial classes?”
“aye, but,” remarked van beneden, “you must remember that in holland people have to pay taxes as well as out here.” [192]
“if you will take the trouble to look into the matter,” said grenits, “you will find that they do not pay anything like what the people have to pay here. then again, i ask, do they not exceed all bounds and limits in increasing the burdens, already too heavy, which the poor native population has to bear?”
“i quite agree with you there,” said verstork.
“do they not,” continued grenits, “exceed all limits in the pitiful and niggardly way in which they treat their soldiers out here?”
“how so?” asked van rheijn.
“why, to give you but one instance, by loudly declaring that there is peace at atjeh—a peace which has no real existence whatever—and thereby robbing the poor soldiers and doing them clean out of their already too meagre pay?”
“oh, what need we bother ourselves about those soldier fellows!” cried van rheijn.
“do they not again,” continued grenits, “overpass all reasonable limits, by encouraging and fostering the abuse of opium?”
“now, that is too bad,” cried van beneden, “now you are going too far; that accusation of yours is not a fair one.”
“you think so, do you?” said grenits. “well then just take band’s book in hand. there you will find proof absolute of the fact that it is, and has always been, the policy at the hague to encourage and to foster the opium-trade as much as possible. figures are stubborn things—just listen to what they have to say. in 1832, the opium revenue amounted to three millions, in 1842 it rose to very nearly seven millions. in 1870 it was quite ten millions, in 1880 it amounted to thirteen millions. in 1885 that same revenue rose to nineteen millions; and new, in 1886, it is estimated at quite twenty one millions, and our house of representatives has accepted that estimate without the slightest demur, and without one word of protest. of course, every now and then, there is a great moan made in political and in other circles at home, and a great deal is said about the iniquities of the opium trade; but, for all that, the authorities have their hands perfectly free and are encouraged by all parties to squeeze out of that trade as much as it can be made to yield.”
“but, excuse me,” asked van rheijn, “is it not one of the first duties of every government to make an impost as productive as possible?” [193]
“certainly it is,—and it is precisely therein that lies the immorality and the demoralizing tendency of the opium-monopoly. you see, in order to enable the farmers to increase their bids, the abuse of the drug must be encouraged. thus the poor natives are driven, we may say, into the opium-den by any and by every means—the most illegal and the dirtiest means seem to have the preference. just read our local papers, and then you will be edified, i think, at the infamous annoyance which the chinese opium-factors are empowered to inflict upon the non-consumers, and at the unlimited control they are allowed to exercise, always in the most shameless and arbitrary fashion, over any poor wretch who, seeing, it may be, the error of his ways, tries to diminish his daily consumption.”
“or provide himself with smuggled opium,” remarked van rheijn, interrupting him.
grenits, however, paid no heed to the remark, and went on: “the opium-monopoly was originally established with the very laudable object of raising the price of the article and of thus leaving it within the reach of as few people as possible. on that principle, therefore, every regulation must be condemned which tends to augment the revenue by increasing, the sale. but, at present, our colonial secretary relies upon the system as a regular means of increasing the revenue. when we have such facts as these before us, facts which can be proved to demonstration, then we feel ourselves driven to pronounce this judgment: ‘our government and our representatives are fully convinced of the terrible and fatal effects of the abuse of opium by their indian subjects; but they will not consent to forego the profit which they obtain by the wholesale poisoning of an entire population.’?”
“come, come, poisoning! that is a rather strong word!” cried van beneden.
“yes,” continued grenits, very quietly, “i said poisoning—that was my word. if in holland an apothecary does not keep his opium in the proper poison chest, or if he is detected in selling it without the proper order from a medical man, he is fined—very heavily fined. am i not right, van nerekool?”
thus addressed van nerekool raised his head, looked up vacantly for a moment or two and gave an affirmative nod; it seemed very doubtful whether he had understood the question at all. grenits, however, accepted that nod as a gesture of assent, and continued:
“yet that same poison may here be procured without the [194]slightest difficulty, nay more than that, is actually forced upon the poor people in the most shameless manner by the chinese scoundrels who keep the opium dens. and that goes on under the eyes, and with the full cognizance, sanction, and under the protection of the dutch government.”
“you are growing tiresome,” sneered van rheijn, “you keep on harping on that one string—the dutch government—the fact is, my dear fellow, you are tarred with the self-same brush of discontent as all the manufacturers and merchants out here in india.”
“why should i not be?” cried grenits passionately. “i do not always agree with all their opinions; but yet i do form a part of that important commercial body; and when a question arises which effects the vital interests of industry and commerce—well, yes, then you may say that i am tarred with the same brush.”
“but have these grumblers really so very much to complain of?” asked grashuis in a bantering tone of voice.
“i should think they have,” replied grenits. “under our present system we are not only flayed; but we are sucked dry, in a manner which, elsewhere, would drive men to open rebellion. when the dutch revolted against spain, and when the belgians rose up in arms against the dutch, neither of them had anything like so much to complain of as we have here,—neither of them suffered anything like the extortion which the indo-europeans have to put up with at the hands of their present oppressors.”
“oh, oh, oh!” cried several voices.
“we have now to pay duties and taxes compared to which the tithes at which our ancestors rebelled were the merest child’s play. and then, in return, what rights do we enjoy?—if one could, on so serious a subject, be capable of indulging in a sorry joke—i might say that we have the privilege only of having absolutely no rights at all. for, that which here in india goes by the name of law and justice, is in reality nothing more than the merest burlesque; and that is especially true in all matters which concern the revenue. wherever there is a little money to be made, the state flings itself upon its victims as some ravenous beast leaps upon its prey, and then one may look in vain for the smallest protection—least of all in any case which concerns that imperium in imperio the terrible opium monopoly!”
“you are exaggerating, you are talking wildly!” cried van rheijn. [195]
“i wish i were,” continued grenits; “but just take up that terrible book ‘might versus right,’ a book written by a member of the high court of justice at batavia, who was formerly, for many years, attorney general in that same court, and for half an ordinary lifetime was president of the residential council. a man, therefore, who ought to know, and who does know what he is talking about, and then—when you have read what he has to say—tell me if i am exaggerating.”
“oh, the writer of that book is another grumbler!” said van rheijn, “whose only object is to set the whole world against the functionaries of our administration.”
“that is a very heavy accusation to bring against a man who, in my opinion, is thoroughly honest, and who has had the courage, and therefore deserves the credit, of having told the plain unvarnished truth. such, however, is our national gratitude!”
“oh yes!” cried van rheijn, “i am not at all surprised to find you commercial men in ecstasies about that man and about his book. to all grumblers it is of course meat and drink.”
“let me tell you, my good fellow,” said grenits, “that those whom you call grumblers have had good cause given them for discontent.”
“come, come,” said the other, “you talk very finely; but after all they are only a pitiful handful of very tame insurgents. depend upon it we shall manage very easily to keep order among them.”
“yes, yes, i know,” said grenits, bitterly, “that is the old stock phrase. it was used some little time ago by certain organs of the dutch press when the people, exasperated by vexatious extortions, strove—by perfectly legitimate means mind you—to resist acts of arbitrary injustice and exaction on the part of the dutch government.
“tame insurgents!” continued he, vehemently. “tame insurgents! by heaven! let them not at home taunt us much longer with that name. a very little more, and they will be at their wits’ end to deal with an insurrection which will prove itself anything but tame. don’t let them forget, yonder, that, to carry on a miserable war like that at atjeh, they had to sweep up the scum of europe; for you know that dutch heroism in our towns at home made the poor wretches whom they manage to press for that service sing the pleasant refrain:
‘my life is pain and woe,
to atjeh i will go …’?”
[196]
“grenits, grenits!” cried verstork, trying to calm his friend’s growing excitement.
“yes,” said he, “my dear verstork, i am wrong and i am going too far, i have very nearly done. but those heedless words, ‘tame insurgents,’ have worked a great deal more mischief than those who first uttered them could possibly foresee. they have proved to us that, in our lawful resistance to extortion, we have nothing to expect but only contempt and abuse. may god in his mercy protect holland! but i have good reason to know that if a man were to arise amongst us possessed of the necessary talent for organisation, and one who, at the same time, had sufficient tact to gather around him all that discontent which at present is powerless because it is divided amongst itself—if such a man, i say, were to arise who could make the most of the utter state of perplexity they are in yonder—we, the ‘tame insurgents,’ would make our mother country pass through very evil days indeed!”
“well,” said van rheijn, “all that is not so very formidable after all. in case matters came to the worst, the army would know how to do its duty.”
“its duty!” cried grenits. “that sounds well from you who just now were the first to scoff at those ‘soldier fellows’. but i ask you this one question:—has the government any right whatever to reckon upon the fulfilment of that duty? has it not neglected, in the most shameful manner, its duty towards that army? i will allow—i am indeed fully persuaded—that in spite of any treatment the officers would stick to their duty, and would do it strictly and honourably. but—! can one expect as much from all the foreigners, which have been shipped out hither? why, even now in atjeh, they are deserting to the enemy with bag and baggage, with arms and ammunition—and, in the case i was supposing, they would go over in entire companies. can one look for any sense of duty in these poor wretched native soldiers, who have almost to a man, by the most shameful means—by opium, by gambling, by the allurements of the vilest women—been pressed into the service. no, no, pray don’t go on deceiving yourselves.”
“there!” cried van rheijn, “now you are simply talking treason—your language is seditious.”
“treason, do you call it?” cried grenits, passionately. “when i do nothing more than lay my finger upon the wound?”
“gentlemen,” said verstork interposing, “methinks it is high time to close this discussion. such topics are very apt to [197]make men hot, and—moreover, why, it is just past midnight. we must go and get some rest, for to-morrow we must be up by day-break and we have a very fatiguing day before us. the djoerang pringapoes which you visited with me this evening, is no ball-room let me tell you—you will find that out to-morrow. come, let us all turn in and get some sleep!”
at these words all, except van nerekool, rose and prepared to retire.
“i am very glad,” said grashuis, “that old muizenkop was not present at this conversation. had he been here, by to-morrow evening the resident would have known all about it, chapter and verse, with no doubt the necessary additions and flourishes. and then, my good friend grenits, you would have had a ‘mauvais quart d’heure.’ who knows, they might have packed you off to atapoepoe or to tomini bay; perhaps they might have kicked you out of the island altogether. remember poor lawyer winckel!”
grenits shrugged his shoulders disdainfully.
“are you coming to bed?” asked verstork as he walked up to van nerekool who was still seated with his head resting on his hand outside the hut which the others had already entered.
van nerekool made no reply, he merely looked up and stared into the face of his friend with a strange dazed expression.
“what in the world is the matter with you, old fellow?” said verstork as he laid his hand on his shoulder and sat down by the side of his friend. “you have been so silent and so absent all day, you must be ill i fear!”
“no, william, i am not ill, but i feel so very—so very wretched.”
“wretched!” said verstork, “come now, tell us all about it, there’s a good fellow, let me bear some part of your sorrow!”
“ah!” sighed van nerekool, “i can tell you nothing—nothing that you could share with me. william, my dear friend, you recollect our conversation of last saturday night at santjoemeh?”
“every word of it,” replied verstork. “i then told you that in one week’s time i would give you my reasons why i considered your love affair with miss van gulpendam a very sad business. that week is up to-day—is it not?”
“yes, my friend,” said van nerekool very sadly. “but you can tell me nothing now. during the last week many things have happened. i suppose that even on saturday [198]last you knew that resident van gulpendam was not at all well disposed towards me?”
to that question verstork gave no direct reply; but he insisted upon being told all that had taken place.
“come,” said he, “come, charles, tell me all about it. you know perfectly well that you have in me a true friend. let us hear all about it.”
“but,” replied van nerekool, “you want rest. you ought to go to sleep. to-morrow you have a hard day before you.”
“oh!” said verstork, lightly, “never mind about that. i have often enough gone the rounds of the government coffee-plantations, and have passed many a sleepless night in the dessas with quite as hard a day in prospect as to-morrow is likely to be. i can very easily afford an old friend like you an hour or so of sleep. do pray speak out.”
charles van nerekool hesitated no longer. he felt indeed in great need of sympathy; and wanted, above all things, to pour out his heart to his friend. he began his story therefore, by telling him how, on the occasion of the state-ball, he had declared his love to anna.
in the most vivid colours he described to his friend that happy moment in which, carried away by the excitement of the dance and the glorious tones of weber’s waltz, he had allowed the long-treasured secret of his heart to escape from him; and his rapture when the girl, whom he so dearly loved, had uttered the one little word which assured him that she returned his affection. he told him of that sacred moment when their lips first met in the garden.
“oscula qui sumpsit, si non et caetera sumpsit
haec quoque quae data sunt, perdere dignus erat.”
muttered verstork to himself. he, in his youth, had studied the classics, and now he could not help smiling as he recalled the two well-known lines from ovid’s ars amandi. but when he saw with what a sorrowful shake of the head his friend answered the half audible quotation, he at once discovered how deep a wound had been struck into that poor heart. the story of that blissful love-scene and of those happy moments spent in the garden of the residence in the shade of the padan arbour, was followed by an equally graphic description of the rude awakening out of that dream of love and felicity. charles van nerekool went on telling his friend how mrs. van gulpendam had broken in upon the interview—he told him all [199]about the conversation which he afterwards had held with fair laurentia.
a very very bitter smile passed over the controller’s lips when he heard what means of seduction the resident’s wife had deigned to employ.
“my poor friend, my poor friend,” he muttered almost inaudibly; “but is this all?”
“oh, no!” cried van nerekool.
“well, go on, i am all ears.”
“the next day,” continued van nerekool, “i paid a visit to the residence, as i had promised anna i would do; in order to lay before her father my formal request for her hand. i had great difficulty in obtaining an audience at all; and it was not until after i had waited for a considerable time that i got to be admitted into the presence of the resident.
“?‘i have not very much time to spare, sir,’ were his first words of welcome when he saw me enter the office in which he sat to receive me.
“?‘i have not very much time to spare, therefore i beg you will at once get under weigh.’
“?‘mr. van gulpendam,’ i began, ‘yesterday i had some talk with miss anna—and—’
“?‘do pray set sail at once,’ cried he, interrupting my opening speech, ‘i tell you again i have no time for dawdling. i may at once tell you that i do not think it a very proper thing for a gentleman to get a young girl into a quiet corner. fair and above board is my motto, sir. an honest man sails straight into port. all that tacking and trimming are not to my taste, i can tell you.’
“?‘my dear sir!’ cried i, ‘i have already told mrs. van gulpendam that the excitement and the surroundings had quite thrown me off my guard. it is now, and it always was, my intention to ask you fairly and openly for your daughter’s hand. there can, between us, be no question of any intrigues or mysteries, and my presence here, mr. van gulpendam, has no other motive than to declare to you my love to miss anna, and to obtain your sanction to our union as man and wife.’
“?‘so, so,’ said he, ‘does the wind sit in that quarter? you have pricked your chart very prettily indeed. now would you like to know what i have put down in my log, eh?’
“?‘mr. van gulpendam, i can assure you that i never was more serious in my life—the question is to me one of the utmost importance,’ said i, amazed and disgusted at all this [200]sea-jargon. ‘in heaven’s name let us lay aside all jesting. i simply have the honour of asking you for the hand of your daughter.’
“?‘mr. van nerekool,’ he replied, ‘i also am in a most serious mood.’ this he said in a somewhat nettled tone, however, not another nautical expression passed his lips during the interview. ‘how can you suspect me of jesting, when i ask you whether you can surmise to what decision i am about to come with regard to your question?’
“?‘i hope,’ cried i, ‘that your decision will not be unfavourable to me! oh, sir, i love miss anna with all my heart and with all my soul!’
“?‘of course, of course,’ said he, ‘these are the regular stock phrases of all lovers. now, are you really and seriously in love with her?’
“?‘how can you ask such a question?’ cried i, vehemently.
“?‘well,’ replied van gulpendam, ‘i have my reasons,—and they are very good reasons too—for doing so. you had an interview yesterday evening with my wife, had you not?’
“?‘yes, resident,’ was my reply.
“?‘and the conversation you then held with her opened up to you the prospect of a future career. i think i am right there?’ was his second question.
“i simply sat staring at the man in utter amazement. never, never, could it have come into my head that he and his wife were of the same way of thinking in such a matter as that.”
“why not, pray?” asked verstork, very quietly.
“why, my dear friend, i looked upon the resident as worldly and frivolous indeed; but i thought he was an honourable man, and one who kept himself altogether clear of the intrigues in which his wife appears to dabble.”
again the bitter smile curved verstork’s lips; but in the deep shadow of the the wariengien tree, van nerekool failed to perceive it.
“go on,” said verstork, who, though deeply moved, spoke in so perfectly quiet and composed a tone of voice, that his friend did not notice his feelings.
“to his last question,” resumed van nerekool, “i replied, ‘yes, resident, you are right. mrs. van gulpendam did make me certain proposals.’
“?‘she spoke to you then of your future prospects, as well as on the subject of your present request?’ asked the resident. [201]
“?‘yes, resident,’ was my reply,—indeed i was growing very nervous.
“?‘well, then,’ resumed he, ‘you see that you have the making of your career entirely in your own hands; and i do hope that you will now at length prove yourself a man of some practical common sense.’
“my dear william! at these words, which, you will notice, cast a grave suspicion upon the motive of my request, upon which, however, my entire happiness depended, i felt, as it were, the ground sinking away from under me.
“?‘but, resident,’ i cried, in despair, ‘do you really know what mrs. van gulpendam did propose to me?’
“?‘well, yes,’ he said, in a very off-hand and somewhat mocking manner, ‘pretty well, pretty well, i think. she held out to you the prospect of being appointed successor to the present chairman of the council at santjoemeh, which important position, i think she told you, might very probably be permanently conferred upon you. further she did not refuse you her daughter’s hand—whom you declare that you love so very dearly. you see i am pretty well informed. now, if you have called upon me this morning to ascertain what guarantees i can give you that these proposals will be realised—and allow me to tell you that is the course a sensible man would certainly take—then, i think i may say, you need not be uneasy.’
“this utterly false interpretation of my motives, stung me to the quick. what ignoble thoughts and sentiments must have been stirring in that bosom!
“?‘mr. van gulpendam!’ i cried out, interrupting him, very warmly, ‘i was not in the least thinking of those proposals. still less, if possible, did i call here this morning in order to ascertain your intentions—nothing of all this was present to my mind when i asked you whether you were aware of the offers mrs. van gulpendam made me last night.’
“?‘indeed,’ said he very coolly, ‘then i fear i have misunderstood you altogether, mr. van nerekool. in that case with what intention did you put that question to me?’
“?‘what was my intention?’ i replied. ‘why, my intention was simply this. are you aware that mrs. van gulpendam asked me to violate my oath and my duty?’
“?‘oh, come, come,’ said he all but laughing at me.
“?‘are you aware,’ i continued still more hotly, ‘that i was actually required to send a poor innocent man into banishment?’ [202]
“?‘my dear sir, you must be dreaming,’ said he in the same tone of banter.
“?‘are you aware,’ i still continued, ‘that the prospect of obtaining your daughter’s hand, that honours and promotion were offered me at the price of a human life?’
“?‘now mr. van nerekool,’ cried van gulpendam with much assumed indignation, ‘now you are going too far! i forbid you to utter such insinuations and to make such charges against my wife. what! you come here to me to ask me for my daughter’s hand, and you think you will obtain your request, i suppose, by heaping insults and slanders upon the mother of the woman you pretend to love!’
“?‘insults and slanders!’ i exclaimed.
“at these words of mine he cooled down immediately.
“?‘well’ said he, ‘perhaps the expression is too strong. there must be some misunderstanding.’ and then, very quietly, he went on: ‘your proposal, mr. van nerekool, is a great honour both to my daughter and to myself. it has, however, come upon me so very unexpectedly that i feel sure you will allow me some time for reflection. i must indeed take some little time to consider a matter upon which the entire happiness of my daughter will depend. moreover, you see there can be no hurry. anna is very young—she is indeed much too young to think of marriage just yet.’
“?‘you do not therefore deprive me of hope?’ i exclaimed and, in my excitement, i seized his hand and held it.
“he looked at me in astonishment. ‘i can promise you nothing, absolutely nothing, mr. van nerekool. anna has plenty of time before her, she can take a year—two years, perhaps—before she decides upon a step which involves a union for life. by that time we can talk over these matters again. meanwhile—’ he broke off hesitating.
“?‘meanwhile?’ i asked almost breathlessly.
“?‘meanwhile,’ he continued very coldly, ‘you will do well not to continue your visits at the residence. i know you do not wish to compromise a simple-hearted and honest young girl, i shall, therefore, not expect to see you here excepting, of course, at our official receptions.’
“that was plain speaking enough,—was it not william? it was tantamount to a refusal.”
verstork looked at his friend with very real and deep sympathy.
“i had a presentiment,” he said, “of the trouble that was [203]awaiting you. you remember in what manner i received your communication last week?”
“yes, and to-day you promised you would let me know why—”
“now tell me, charles,” said verstork, “is there any need for me to say anything more? you must, by this time, i presume, have been able to form a pretty accurate estimate of the family circle into which you would have been received in case your offer had been accepted.”
“but william, anna—!”
“oh, yes,” cried verstork, “i know anna is the purest and most amiable creature in the world. i know, as well as you do, that anna is absolutely innocent of all this intrigue and trickery. indeed i have often wondered how so fair a flower could have opened and developed in the midst of such surroundings. but, let the girl be—why simply what she is—however adorable she may be, if you marry her you cannot help being fettered to her parents, who are most certainly the most self-seeking and most corrupt beings which can possibly be found in any respectable society. my dear friend, just reflect how utterly and hopelessly wretched you would be tied to such a pair of schemers. that, my dear fellow, was the very thing i wanted to point out to you.”
van nerekool heaved a deep sigh and, lost in thought, did not answer a word. he sat as one in a dream, with his head resting on his hand, peering upwards into the vast crown of the wariengien tree through which the moon, now high up in the heavens, was casting her soft white beams.
for awhile verstork respected his friend’s silence. at length he said: “come now, charles, you have, i hope, somewhat relieved your breast. i have with a single word been able to draw your attention to that which it imported you much to know. now try and forget all this for a while in sleep. you have this day had a long—and to you who are unaccustomed to such exercise—a necessarily fatiguing ride. rest will, therefore, be most beneficial to you. to-morrow still greater fatigues are in store for you. these also i hope will be a distraction, and prove wholesome to your mind. if we would be fit for work to-morrow we must get some sleep. come along.”
van nerekool sighed again. without a word he rose, he pressed the hand of his friend and then followed him into the hut. the others were already fast asleep, and he stretched himself out by their side upon the wooden bench.
