did they tell about it?"

"Oh, stupid nonsense. An old ship's captain with a granddaughter or a
niece, who one fine day disappeared, and then a Chinaman, who was
probably her lover. In the hall a small shark and a crocodile, both
hung up by strings and always in motion, wonderful to relate, but now
is no time for that, when my head is full of all sorts of other
phantoms."

"You forget that it may all turn out well yet."

"It must not. A while ago, Wuellersdorf, when you were speaking about
Crampas, you yourself spoke differently."

Soon thereafter they had passed through the "Plantation" and the
coachman was about to turn to the right toward the mole. "Drive to the
left, rather. The mole can wait."

The coachman turned to the left into the broad driveway, which ran
behind the men's bathhouse toward the forest. When they were within
three hundred paces of the forest Wuellersdorf ordered the coachman to
stop. Then the two walked through grinding sand down a rather broad
driveway, which here cut at right angles through the three rows of
dunes. All along the sides of the road stood thick clumps of lyme
grass, and around them immortelles and a few blood-red pinks.
Innstetten stooped down and put one of the pinks in his buttonhole.
"The immortelles later."

They walked on thus for five minutes. When they had come to the rather
deep depression which ran along between the two outer rows of dunes
they saw their opponents off to the left, Crampas and Buddenbrook, and
with them good Dr. Hannemann, who held his hat in his hand, so that
his white hair was waving in the wind.

Innstetten and Wuellersdorf walked up the sand defile; Buddenbrook came
to meet them. They exchanged greetings and then the two seconds
stepped aside for a brief conference. They agreed that the opponents
should advance _a tempo_ and shoot when ten paces apart. Then
Buddenbrook returned to his place. Everything was attended to quickly,
and the shots were fired. Crampas fell.

Innstetten stepped back a few paces and turned his face away from the
scene. Wuellersdorf walked over to Buddenbrook and the two awaited the
decision of the doctor, who shrugged his shoulders. At the same time
Crampas indicated by a motion of his hand that he wished to say
something. Wuellersdorf bowed down to him, nodded his assent to the few
words, which could scarcely be heard as they came from the lips of the
dying man, and then went toward Innstetten.

"Crampas wishes to