CHAPTER XII.
AN OPEN COURT AND AN OPEN INVENTORY.
The fireworks were still crackling and snapping in their ears, thedazzling lights still gleaming in their eyes, and the music of the bandstill sounding in their recollection, when they were obliged to makeready for appearance at court, as witnesses in the affair of theburglary.
Pranken remained with the guests at the Villa, having undertaken toshow them the recently purchased country-house.
Sonnenkamp, Roland, and Eric, and also the porter, the coachman,Bertram, the head-gardener, the little "Squirrel," and two gardenersrepaired to the county town to attend the trial. They went by the houseof the Wine-count, now styled Baron von Endlich, where the remnants offireworks were still visible, scattered here and there; the house wasyet shut up, the family still sleeping their first sleep as members ofthe nobility.
Eric spoke of the beautiful and genuinely pious conduct of the priesttowards the prisoners. He was a living example of the grand doctrinethat religion required one to interest himself in the stumbling and theunfortunate, whether they were guilty or innocent. The Doctor, on theother hand, maintained in a very droll fashion that it was an extremelybeneficial thing for the Ranger to pass, once in his life, severalweeks within walls and under a roof.
There was little else said; they reached the county town in goodseason.
Sonnenkamp went to the telegraph office, in order to send somemessages, one of which was directed to the University-town for thewidow of the Professor.
"At that time--does it not seem to you as if it were ten years ago?--atthat time it was very different from to-day. Don't you think that therewere villains also among the singers, perhaps worse ones than those inprison yonder?"
It pained Eric grievously that Roland must be initiated so early intothe bitterness and the dissensions of life. They went together to thecourt-house.
The president and the judges occupied a raised platform; on the rightsat the jury, and on the left, the accused and their counsel; the roomwas full of spectators, for there was a general curiosity to hear themysterious Herr Sonnenkamp speak in public, and no one knew what mightbe picked up in the way of information.
The dwarf, the groom, and the huntsman sat on the criminals' seat. Thedwarf took snuff very zealously, the groom looked around imploringly,and Claus held his hands before his eyes.
The dwarf looked as if he had had good keeping, and thriven under it;he gazed around the ball with an almost satisfied bearing, as if hefelt flattered that so many people concerned themselves about him. Thegroom, whose hair had been very nicely dressed, regarded the crowd witha contemptuous glance.
Claus seemed to have pined away considerably, and when the dwarf wantedto whisper something to him, as he sat there at a little distance fromhis fellow defendants, he turned away displeased. He looked up to thespace occupied by the spectators, and saw among them his wife, two ofhis sons, and his daughter; but the cooper was not present. Thechildren appeared to have grown since he had last seen them, andthey were dressed in their Sunday-clothes, in order to witness thedisgrace--no, it must simply be the honor of their father.
The huntsman moved restlessly on the seat, and spoke to his wife withhis lips, uttering no sound. He meant to tell her to be undisturbed, asin a couple of hours they would go home together.
Sonnenkamp, Eric, and Roland were in the witnesses' seat.
Roland sat between his father and Eric, to whom he clung as if he wereafraid. Knopf sat next to Eric, and nodded to Roland.
"Before the law the testimony of all men is equal," said Roland in alow voice to Eric, who knew what was passing in Roland's mind.
His pride was a little touched that the testimony of the porter wouldbe of as much account as that of his father, but he had quicklyovercome the feeling.
The indictments were read. It had been found, on further investigation,that one compartment of the closet built into the wall, separate fromthe great safe, had been opened with a key and then closed again; aconsiderable sum of money had been taken from it, the greater part ofwhich was found in the groom's possession.
At his own request, Sonnenkamp was summoned first, to identify thestolen property.
Roland straightened himself up, when he heard his father give histestimony in so plain and gentle a manner.
Sonnenkamp expressed regret that people should meet with misfortune,but justice must have its course.
He was dismissed. He had already made his bow, and was about to leavethe courtroom, when the counsel of the accused groom asked thePresident whether he intended to let Herr Sonnenkamp off fromtestifying as to the amount of gold and valuable papers in the closet;if Herr Sonnenkamp did not know this, he could not tell exactly howmuch had been stolen from him in the part that had been broken into.
The whole assembly was breathless. Now it would be seen what was theamount of Sonnenkamp's wealth, reputed so immeasurable. A perfectsilence prevailed for a time; it was broken by Sonnenkamp's askingwhether the court could oblige him to testify on his conscience as tothe sum, or whether he could reply, or not, as he saw fit. ThePresident said, that he must express the opinion, that the amount ofwhat was stolen was certainly of great importance in reference to thesentence to be imposed upon the accused.
Again there was a pause. Sonnenkamp unbuttoned his coat, unbuttoned hiswaistcoat, and taking out a little memorandum-book, he approached thejudge's seat, and offered it to him, saying:--
"Here is an exact inventory of the notes payable to bearer, of thosepayable to my order, and of the sum in specie."
When half way up the steps of the platform where the president andthe judges sat, Sonnenkamp stopped, for the defendant's counsel nowcried:--
"We have an open court, entirely open, and there is nothing which theHerr President is to know, and we to be ignorant of."
"Well then," said Sonnenkamp, turning round, "it shall be told openly:Twelve millions of paper payable to the bearer, three millions to myorder, and only two hundred thousand in gold coin. Is thatsatisfactory?"
A bravo was uttered by the spectators, and the President was obliged tothreaten them with clearing the hall, if it were repeated.
Sonnenkamp descended; he had desired to leave the court-room at once,but now he seemed otherwise determined, for he took a seat again on thewitnesses' bench. Roland cast down his eyes, and tremblingly seizedhold of Eric's hand, which he held firmly. There was a low talkingamong the crowd, a movement this way and that, so that the Presidentwas obliged to command quiet by violently ringing his bell; andSonnenkamp left the hall.
The head-gardener gave his testimony, which was scarcely listened to.When Eric was summoned, there was again silent attention.
Eric narrated the whole story, and the huntsman's uniform expressionsof bitterness at the difference between the rich and the poor, butprotested that he regarded the man as incapable of committing any crimeagainst society.
A strange whispering pervaded the whole assembly when Eric narrated theinquiry of Claus: What would you do, if you were the possessor ofmillions? The question had now, in a manner, gone forth to the wholeworld.
Knopf was summoned. He offered first a written testimony of the oldHerr Weidmann, with whom the huntsman had lived several years as aservant, who testified to his uprightness, his incapability of anydeceit, much less any positive crime. Then Knopf added from his ownknowledge, how the huntsman was always racking his brains over manymatters which he could not master.
Roland was summoned, and advanced with an erect attitude to thewitness-stand; Claus nodded to him.
Roland could not be sworn, as he was a minor; but it made a goodimpression when he said in an unembarrassed voice, that he consideredhis word as good as an oath.
He identified the articles that had been stolen from him; he assertedthat his father's rooms had been locked, but he should not be willingto swear to that, as he had not been near those rooms for several daysbefore the burglary. And now, without being
asked, he expressed hisconviction that Claus could have had no participation in the crime.
The huntsman got up at these words, and the forester, who sat behindhim, obliged him to sit down again, putting his hand upon his shoulder.
The evidence against Claus seemed to be only as the receiver of stolengoods. The two others could make no defence, and each sought to layupon the other the guilt of the burglary.
Eric was recalled, in order to testify more in detail concerning thehuntsman's request to be shown all over the house, a few days beforethe robbery. When Eric had sat down, Roland got up and asked:--
"Herr President, may I be permitted to say one word more?"
"Speak," replied the President encouragingly; "say all that you wishto."
Roland stepped forward quickly, with head erect, and said, in a voicethat had now a full, manly tone,--
"I here raise my hand in testimony, that my poor brother here is asinnocent as he is poor. It is true he has often complained that one manshould starve while another gormandizes; but before God and man Ideclare that he has often said to me: The hand must wither that graspsunjust possessions. Can a man do that, and then go away by night andbreak into another's house, and rob? I beseech you, I conjure youearnestly, to declare that this man is as innocent as all of you are;as innocent as I am!" He ceased, standing as if he were rooted to thespot, and for a while there was a breathless stillness in the assembly.
"Have you any thing more to say?" asked the President. Roland seemednow to wake up, and said,--
"No, nothing more. I thank you." He returned to Eric, who grasped hishand; it was cold as ice, and he warmed it in his own. On the otherside, Knopf also tried to grasp the hand of his former pupil, but hecould not, for he was obliged to take off his spectacles, which hadbecome wet from the great tears rolling from his eyes.
The proceedings were brief. The Headmaster was one of the jury, who nowwithdrew into their room for consultation. After a short absence theyreturned, and the head-master, who had been chosen foreman, laying hishand upon his heart, announced the unanimous verdict:--
The dwarf and the groom, guilty; the huntsman, not guilty.
Outside, in front of the court-house, as his wife and children,--thecooper among them now,--crowded round Claus, Roland pressed up to himand seized his hand.
The huntsman turned from them all, saying that he must speak to youngWeidmann, who had been one of the jury; the young man came up justthen, and Claus cried out to him, with a great flow of words, that hemust tell his father that all his troubles were wiped out, since everyone had heard what Herr Weidmann thought of him.
Young Weidmann went to Eric and congratulated him on having formed sucha pupil; others came also to offer congratulations and shake hands.Eric begged young Weidmann to remember him to his father, and say thathe should soon pay the promised visit to Mattenheim.
Knopf stood in the midst of a group of people, begging them not tospoil the boy with their praises; and, in his effort to keep othersback, he refrained from going himself to shake hands with Roland.
Sonnenkamp appeared, and all took off their hats to him respectfully.Here was the man possessed of such incredible wealth, and he wore acoat like other people, and had to stand on his own feet. Sonnenkampseemed a prodigy to them all. How was it possible for a man to possesssuch wealth? But there were some knowing scoffers who declared thatHerr Sonnenkamp had overstated his property, and others, still moreknowing, who were willing to swear that he was even richer than he hadsaid, but they were hardly noticed. Sonnenkamp, greeting all around ina most friendly manner, went to Claus to congratulate him, and thencalled Roland aside. Roland stood before his father for the first sincehe had learned his great wealth; his eyes fell; looking up to himseemed like looking up to a high mountain, but Sonnenkamp laid his handkindly on his shoulder, and told him that he might drive home alonewith Eric, as he was himself obliged to remain in town to wait for atelegram.
Roland begged Claus and his family most pressingly to ride home withhim; the huntsman refused, but Roland urged it so warmly that he atlast yielded, and entered the carriage with his wife, leaving thechildren to walk. Roland took the released prisoner in triumph throughthe town and villages; the wife was embarrassed at riding in suchstate, but Claus himself looked round without constraint, only sayingseveral times:--
"All has gone on very well without me, and will do very well, when I amacross the ocean."
To Eric he expressed his determination of emigrating to America withhis family.
Das landhaus am Rhein. English Page 88