cavaliers danced about merrily to a couple of fiddles,
and the room was filled with the fumes of tobacco. Then Frau von K.
began, 'I have taken a fancy for this foreign cavalier, and have hopes
that my son, who is also an officer, will be as much loved and esteemed
in other places.' Frau Ilse von der B. answered, 'I, dear and honoured
sister, am quite of another opinion. I could never exercise such
tyranny on those belonging to me as to thrust them among these fierce
soldiers, for I hear that they sometimes fare badly enough--have no
warm beds for many nights, and besides, have no one to make them a mug
of warm beer or bring them a glass of brandy. If I should hear that my
son had been devoured by a long-necked Tartar, such as I have lately
seen painted at Kretschem, I should be choked with grief. Therefore, I
have thought it better to maintain my Junker Hans Christoph as well as
I can on our little property at home. I must acknowledge that he has
already cost me more than enough; for when I fitted him out as became a
noble, my two best cows went, and I have not been able to replace the
loss. But what does that matter; I see with pleasure that he knows how
to behave himself like a nobleman. Only see, dear honoured sister, does
he not dance nimbly, and hasn't he got a capital knack of whirling
round with the ladies; he does not refuse to drink a glass of beer or
brandy with any one; tobacco is his only pleasure in life; in all
societies he makes himself so agreeable, that he sometimes does not
come home for three weeks, possibly with a black eye. From that I can
quite believe that he lays about him, and defends himself valiantly
like a cavalier. Such also shall my Junker Martin Andres become.' The
Junker who was standing by her, laid his head on the lap of his dear
mother. 'The wild lad knows already that he is a Junker, therefore he
does not desire to learn, but prefers riding in the fields with the
young horsemen; he has already got into his head that he must wear a
sword. This is a new anxiety to me, for I well know that in the end it
will cost me a horse, and without special help from God, I shall have
to part with a couple more cows. I must, however, buy him an alphabet,
for his father always wished him to become a thorough scholar, as he
himself was. Yes, if it cost nothing, and it were not necessary to buy
so many expensive books for the learned lad, it would delight me. My
eyes run with tears when I think how beau