Part 7 (2/2)

Reimers listened in an absent-minded way to his long-winded deliverances on the subject of acclimatisation, taking furtive glances the while at the other officers in the mess-room.

They also seemed in no way changed. Major Lischke and Captain von Wegstetten were still at loggerheads, Lischke bl.u.s.tering away in his loud voice, and Wegstetten a.s.suming his most ironical expression.

Captain Stuckardt was listening in a half-hearted way; he had quite recently been put on the list for promotion to the staff, and consequently wore a rather preoccupied look. Hitherto he had found the charge of one battery difficult enough, and now he would have to command three. Undisturbed by the dispute, the captain of the fifth battery, Mohr, had sat down to the table by himself; he was always thirsty, and had already disposed of half a bottle of champagne.

Madelung, fresh from the Far East, paced up and down with short nervous steps between him and the disputing officers. In pa.s.sing, he glanced at the two fighting-c.o.c.ks with a kind of scornful pity, and at the silent toper with contempt. Major Schrader and Captain von Gropphusen were whispering and chuckling together in a window nook. They had one inexhaustible theme--women; while forage was the favourite topic of the two men standing beneath the chandelier--Trager and Heuschkel, the officers commanding the first and second batteries. The third battery had the fattest horses in the regiment--”and the laziest,” said the colonel; nevertheless, it must be allowed, that when the inspector from the Ministry of War paid his visit, it was an uncommonly pleasant sight to see the hind-quarters of those horses s.h.i.+ning so round and sleek in their stalls.

”Carrots! carrots!” cried Heuschkel. ”They're the thing!” And Andreae, who, as a healer of men must also have some knowledge of the inside of beasts, was called on to endorse this view as to the excellence of carrots as fodder.

Thus Reimers felt himself rather out of it all, and was just about to leave the mess-room and join his younger comrades, when Madelung came towards him.

The lieutenant waited expectantly. He was interested, for it was almost an event when Madelung spoke to any one.

This lean, black-haired man, with the thin dark face and the deep-set penetrating eyes, was undoubtedly the most unpopular officer in the regiment. He was characterised as an unscrupulous place-hunter, and gave himself not the slightest trouble to disprove the accusation. The one excuse that could be offered for him was that, his father having been ruined through no fault of his own, he was almost entirely dependent on his pay, and had been able to keep up his position as an officer only by means of the strictest economy, and with the help of an extra allowance from the royal privy-purse. It may have been this that embittered him so that he avoided all social intercourse with the other officers, and devoted himself entirely to his profession. By means of relentless industry he had now won for himself the prospect of a brilliant career; on leaving the Staff College he had been presented by the king with a sword of honour, and he could look forward to a position on the general staff. Naturally he had volunteered for the expedition to Eastern Asia, and had recently returned from China decorated with an order, thinner and more pinched-looking than ever, and still less amiable.

Reimers stood before him in a strictly correct att.i.tude, for the captain was not to be trifled with. But Madelung put him at his ease with a nod, and said, glancing sharply at him, ”So you are the other exotic prodigy who is being feted to-day!”

He laughed drily.

The lieutenant made no response, and Madelung went on rapidly: ”I may tell you that I envy you!”

Reimers felt the captain take his hand and give it a quick, hearty shake; but before he could answer, Madelung had turned and walked away to the table.

At this moment the colonel appeared. He greeted each of the older officers with a couple of words, and the younger with a general nod.

Reimers alone, on the day of his return, had a special greeting and a hearty handshake.

Then they sat down to table. From the colonel in the seat of honour, downwards, the officers were placed according to rank and length of service. The youngest and the last was an _avantageur_[A] who had joined the regiment on October 1st. He had been on stable duty from half-past four that morning, and had to pull himself together now not to fall asleep; till at last a bottle of Zeltinger was placed before him by the orderly, and then he became livelier.

[Footnote A: A one-year volunteer who elects to remain on in the army and await promotion.--_Translator_.]

Reimers had chosen a place near the little lieutenant of doctor's degree, who was quite an amusing fellow, and chattered away so glibly that his neighbour hardly needed to contribute to the conversation.

Of course Froben had begun: ”Well, Reimers, fire away! Give us some leaves from your military diary. We are all ears!” But Reimers soon changed the subject. What he had seen and gone through down there among the Boers was still in his own mind a dim, confused chaos of impressions, and it was repugnant to him to touch on it even superficially, so long as he was not clear about it himself.

The little doctor began to dilate on the splendid German East-African line of steamers, which conveyed one for a mere trifle from Hamburg to Naples, by way of Antwerp, Oporto, and Lisbon, and he enlarged at great length on the educational influence of long journeys in general and of sea-voyages in particular.

Reimers listened patiently, letting his eyes wander round the table.

Just as of old, the various groups still kept together, and were continuing their conversations uninterruptedly. Falkenhein, in their midst, listened with amus.e.m.e.nt as the senior staff-surgeon chaffed Stuckhardt about that oldest and yet newest of nervous diseases--”majoritis.” Madelung was looking rather glum, and kept twirling the little silver wheel of the knife-rest. Next to him, Mohr was staring straight before him with gla.s.sy eyes, and Schrader leant back in his chair laughing, while Gropphusen still kept on talking to him.

”He's got something to laugh about!” said Froben to his neighbour, interrupting his discourse.

”How do you mean?” asked Reimers.

”Well, to put it delicately, Schrader has got a flirtation on with Frau von Gropphusen--a very intimate flirtation!”

”Indeed!” Reimer responded indifferently.

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