get out and walk; and the bodkin solution not commending itself to me it
was plain that if some one walked it must be myself.

In an instant the carriage was stopped, protestations filled the air, I
got out, the Professor was transferred to my place, the bishop's wife
turned deaf ears to his entreaties that he might go in the luggage cart
and hold his big umbrella over the two poor drowning maids, the hood
became vocal with arguments, suggestions, expostulations, apologies--and
'Go on, August,' I interrupted; and dropped behind into sand and
silence.

We were already beyond Putgarten, in a flat, uninteresting country of
deep sand and treeless, hedgeless cornfields. I had no umbrella, but a
cloak with a hood to it which I drew over my head, throwing Gertrud my
hat when she too presently heaved past in a cloud of expostulations. 'Go
on, go on,' I called to the driver with a wave of my hand seeing him
hesitate; and then stood waiting for Brosy who was some little way
behind pushing his bicycle dismally through the sand, meditating no
doubt on the immense difficulties of dealing with mothers who do things
one does not like. When he realised that the solitary figure with the
peaked hood outlined against the sullen grey background was mine he
pushed along at a trot, with a face of great distress. But I had no
difficulty in looking happy and assuring him that I liked walking,
because I really was thankful to get away from the bishop's wife, and I
rather liked, besides, to be able to stretch myself thoroughly; while as
for getting wet, to let oneself slowly be soaked to the skin while
walking in a warm rain has a charm all its own.

Accordingly, after the preliminary explanations, we plodded along
comfortably enough towards Wiek, keeping the carriage in sight as much
as possible, and talking about all the things that interested Brosy,
which were mostly things of great obscurity to myself. I suppose he
thought it safest to keep to high truths and generalities, fearing lest
the conversation in dropping to an everyday level should also drop on to
the Nieberleins, and he seemed quite anxious not to know why Charlotte
was at Wiek by herself while her husband and I were driving together
without her. Therefore he soared carefully in realms of pure reason, and
I, silent and respectful, watched him from below; only I could not help
comparing the exalted vagueness of his talk with the sharp clearness of
all that the old and wise Prof