Part 39 (1/2)

”You should not have done it,” interrupted the other almost pa.s.sionately. ”Held out your hand to that man! But I had forgotten, you know nothing as yet.”

”I should not?” repeated Arthur sharply. ”May I ask what you mean, sir?

Be satisfied that I am well able to maintain the dignity of my position even on such an occasion as that.”

The chief-engineer had already regained his composure.

”Excuse me, Herr Berkow, I intended in no way to criticise your conduct as master of the works, it was in your position as the son that I----but you are ignorant of the reports connected with your father's last moments. We agreed not to mention them before you; it was done with the best intention, but now I see that we were wrong, that you must be told. You would have offered Hartmann your hand, and that, I repeat, ought not to have been.”

Arthur looked at him fixedly. His face had grown colourless and his lips quivered.

”You speak of Hartmann and of my father's death. Is there any connection between the two?”

”I fear so, we all fear so. General suspicion rests upon the Deputy, not among us alone, but among his fellow-miners.”

”Down there in the shaft,” cried Arthur terribly agitated. ”A murderous a.s.sault on a defenceless man! I do not believe that of Hartmann.”

”He hated the deceased,” said the chief-engineer emphatically, ”and he has never denied his hatred of him. Herr Berkow may have exasperated him by some word, some command. Whether the ropes really broke, and he seized the moment of danger to save himself and hurl the other down into the depths below, or whether the whole thing were premeditated, is all a dark mystery, but innocent he is not, that I'll answer for.”

Arthur was evidently deeply moved by this disclosure; he leaned heavily on the table.

”At the inquest it was proved to be an accident,” said he in an unsteady voice.

”Nothing at all was proved at the inquest, so they concluded it was an accident and let it pa.s.s as such. No one dared make an open accusation, proofs were wholly wanting, and there would have been endless conflicts with the miners if their leader had been taken up on suspicion and then discharged, as he, no doubt, would have been. We knew, Herr Berkow, that, under existing circ.u.mstances, a struggle was inevitable between you and him, and we wished to spare you the bitterness of knowing your adversary for what he is. That was why we kept silence.”

Arthur pa.s.sed his hand across his brow.

”I never dreamt of that, never! Even though it be nothing more than a suspicion, you are right, I should not offer that man my hand.”

”That man,” broke in the official, speaking with much energy, ”that man, as leader of the rest, has brought the whole misfortune on us, that man has constantly heaped coals on the fire and kept up the strife, and now that he sees his power is on the decline he is doing all he can to make the breach irreparable, and a reconciliation impossible. Can you, will you, spare him still?”

”I spare him? No! I had done with him when he so roughly repulsed the overture I made him, but I cannot spare the others either after what has happened to-day. I am driven to take extreme measures. There were two hundred this morning who wanted to return to work, and they certainly have the right to require protection at their labour. The shafts must be secured at any cost, and I cannot do it alone, so”----

”So ...? We are waiting your orders, Herr Berkow?”

There was a pause of a minute, then the struggle visible in Arthur's face yielded to an expression of pained but firm resolve.

”I will write to M----. The letter shall go today. It must be.”

”At last!” murmured the chief-engineer, half reproachfully. ”It was high time!”

Arthur turned to his writing-table.

”Go over now and see that the Director and the other gentlemen remain at the posts I a.s.signed them when I was at the works. It would have been useless to interfere in all the clamour this morning; perhaps now it may be possible. In half-an-hour I shall be with you. Should anything particular occur before send me word over at once.”

Before leaving the room the official stepped up to his side again.

”I know what the resolution has cost you, Herr Berkow,” he said earnestly, ”and we none of us take the thing lightly, believe me, but we must not look on the dark side. Perhaps it may be settled without bloodshed after all.”

He bowed and left the room, much too hurried and too preoccupied to notice Eugenie, who, at his approach, retreated still farther behind the sheltering curtain. Without looking to the right or the left, he pa.s.sed rapidly through the adjoining room and closed the door after him. Husband and wife were alone together.