d
about.

An hour later the sergeant-major opened the outer door. He took his
spurred boots off in the corridor, and slipped cautiously into the
bedroom.

Once more came a whispered, "Julie, are you asleep?" and the woman felt
as if she could have laughed aloud at the fools who let themselves be
thus led by the nose.

Heppner stripped his uniform off rapidly. Then he moved again to the
side of her bed and listened--as on that other night.

The invalid lay motionless.

The deceived wife suffered the tortures of the damned; and it seemed to
her that her agony must be as eternal as hell itself. She clutched so
hard at the knife-handle that her nails were driven into her flesh, and
she bit her lips until they bled to keep herself from shrieking with
frenzy. A thousand times she thought that morning must be breaking; yet
still the shameless pair were together.

At last came an end to the horror.

The woman was asleep already when the man left her. She did not reply
to the farewell which he whispered to her from the door. Then he lay
down, breathing heavily, and in a moment had fallen into a deep sleep.

Julie waited a little while. Then she got up, her husband's snores and
heavy breathing drowning the slight noise of her movements. Now she was
standing with her bare feet on the boards. She had the knife in her
right hand.

Which of the two should she punish first?

She must kill them both, that was certain. But before she died that
shameless creature should know the truth. A flood of abusive words, the
most obscene and filthy she could conjure up, lay on her tongue. She
would shriek them into the ears of her dying victims, would shout for
joy, would exult over them! Oh, how she would triumph! After all the
shame, after all the sorrow, she would at last remain the conqueror!

She dragged herself along by the bed carefully. With trembling steps
she crossed the threshold and went into the sitting-room. The feeble
light of breaking day struggled in, just clearly enough to enable her
to distinguish things. The room looked dreary, clothing was strewn
about, the chairs were out of their places, and the remains of the
evening meal were still on the table. A moist heat pervaded this scene
of disorder. The suffocating air seemed laden with a sense of the
horrible, unnatural crime.

The sick woman staggered. There was a mist before her eyes. But with an
effort she pulled herself together and moved towards the bed.