Part 16 (1/2)
XXII
A league below me is the sea. It is raining, and I am up in the hills.
An overhanging rock shelters me from the rain. I smoke my pipe, smoke one pipe after another; and every time I light it, the tobacco curls up like little worms crawling from the ash. So also with the thoughts that twirl in my head. Before me, on the ground, lies a bundle of dry twigs, from the ruin of a bird's nest. And as with that nest, so also with my soul.
I remember every trifle of that day and the next. Hoho! I was hard put to it then! ...
I sit here up in the hills and the sea and the air are voiceful, a seething and moaning of the wind and weather, cruel to listen to.
Fis.h.i.+ng boats and small craft show far out with reefed sails, human beings on board--making for somewhere, no doubt, and Heaven knows where all those lives are making for, think I. The sea flings itself up in foam, and rolls and rolls, as if inhabited by great fierce figures that fling their limbs about and roar at one another; nay, a festival of ten thousand piping devils that duck their heads down between their shoulders and circle about, las.h.i.+ng the sea white with the tips of their wings. Far, far out lies a hidden reef, and from that hidden reef rises a white merman, shaking his head after a leaky sailboat making out to sea before the wind. Hoho! out to sea, out to the desolate sea...
I am glad to be alone, that none may see my eyes. I lean securely against the wall of rock, knowing that no one can observe me from behind. A bird swoops over the crest with a broken cry; at the same moment a boulder close by breaks loose and rolls down towards the sea.
And I sit there still for a while, I sink into restfulness; a warm sense of comfort quivers in me because I can sit so pleasantly under shelter while the rain pours down outside. I b.u.t.ton up my jacket, thanking G.o.d for the warmth of it. A little while more. And I fall asleep.
It was afternoon. I went home; it was still raining. Then--an unexpected encounter. Edwarda stood there before me on the path. She was wet through, as if she had been out in the rain a long time, but she smiled.
Ho! I thought to myself, and my anger rose; I gripped my gun and walked fiercely although she herself was smiling.
”_G.o.ddag!_” she called, speaking first.
I waited till I had come some paces nearer, and said:
”Fair one, I give you greeting.”
She started in surprise at my jesting tone. Alas, I knew not what I was saying. She smiled timidly, and looked at me.
”Have you been up in the hills to-day?” she asked. ”Then you must be wet. I have a kerchief here, if you care for it; I can spare it... Oh, you don't know me.” And she cast down her eyes and shook her head when I did not take her kerchief.
”A kerchief?” I answer, grinning in anger and surprise. ”But I have a jacket here--won't you borrow it? I can spare it--I would have lent it to anyone. You need not be afraid to take it. I would have lent it to a fishwife, and gladly.”
I could see that she was eager to hear what I would say. She listened with such attention that it made her look ugly; she forgot to hold her lips together. There she stood with the kerchief in her hand--a white silk kerchief which she had taken from her neck. I tore off my jacket in turn.
”For Heaven's sake put it on again,” she cried. ”Don't do that! Are you so angry with me? _Herregud!_ put your jacket on, do, before you get wet through.”
I put on my jacket again.
”Where are you going?” I asked sullenly.
”No--nowhere ... I can't understand what made you take off your jacket like that ...”
”What have you done with the Baron to-day?” I went on. ”The Count can't be out at sea on a day like this.”
”Glahn, I just wanted to tell you something ...”
I interrupted her:
”May I beg you to convey my respects to the Duke?”
We looked at each other. I was ready to break in with further interruptions as soon as she opened her mouth. At last a twinge of pain pa.s.sed over her face; I turned away and said: