ore notice of the [Pg 88] child. The
father rose from the bench when he heard the crack of Jendrek's whip,
as the carriage drove up to the front door. It was late. If they wanted
to be there in time they would have to start at once, as it would take
quite two hours to drive to Gradewitz to-night with the roads in such a
condition.

"_Dalej_, my dear," he said, holding his wife's fur cloak for her, in a
sudden fit of politeness.

Marianna drew her master's thickest woollen socks over her mistress's
dainty shoes. "Oh, what beautiful little shoes," she exclaimed
ingratiatingly. "Pani mustn't walk in the snow with her beautiful
feet."

As the woman bent forward in order to help the maid, her husband threw
a look at her low-necked dress and smirked. Then he pressed a
resounding kiss on her smooth, cool neck.

The maid screamed with laughter, and continued to do so long after the
carriage had jolted out of the gate. She and Jendrek had accompanied
them so far, each carrying a lantern for fear they should fall into any
of the dangerous holes in the unpaved yard made by the pigs and
poultry, and now covered with loose snow.

The child remained alone in the big, stifling room, into the dark
corners of which the light from the two flickering candles on the table
could not penetrate.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mrs. Tiralla sat with closed eyes behind her husband, whose broad back
kept off the wind. They could not have taken any other carriage, as it
would have been upset on the bad roads. It was difficult enough even
for this open conveyance, with its big, clumsy wheels, to get along,
for sometimes the wheels would be high up, sometimes low down, it all
depended on whether there was more or less ice in the ruts.

[Pg 89]

How awful it was to live in such a flat country. Mrs. Tiralla sighed,
as she sat wrapped up in her fur cloak and many shawls. The
schoolmaster was right, this was no place for her. Life in these
surroundings made one feel quite strange. She had, indeed, been born
for something else. Had not her priest said to her even in the old
days when she was still so young, "Thou art chosen amongst many"?
And what had been her lot? The woman flashed a furious look through
her half-closed lids at the man sitting in front. Now he was taking her
once more to be exhibited, just like a breeder who wishes to win a
prize for the animal he has kept in such good condition.

Mrs. Tiral