s, and with blows and stabs
fell upon the castellan and the steward who were sitting, half
dressed, over the cards, Kohlhaas at the same time dashed into the
castle in search of the Squire Wenzel. Thus it is that the angel of
judgment descends from heaven; the Squire, who, to the accompaniment
of immoderate laughter, was just reading aloud to a crowd of young
friends the decree which the horse-dealer had sent to him, had no
sooner heard the sound of his voice in the courtyard than, turning
suddenly pale as death, he cried out to the gentlemen--"Brothers, save
yourselves!" and disappeared. As Kohlhaas entered the room he seized
by the shoulders a certain Squire, Hans Tronka, who came at him, and
flung him into the corner of the room with such force that his brains
spurted out over the stone floor. While the other knights, who had
drawn their weapons, were being overpowered and scattered by the
grooms, Kohlhaas asked where the Squire Wenzel Tronka was. Realizing
the ignorance of the stunned men, he kicked open the doors of two
apartments leading into the wings of the castle and, after searching
in every direction throughout the rambling building and finding no
one, he went down, cursing, into the castle yard, in order to place
guards at the exits.

In the meantime, from the castle and the wings, which had caught fire
from the out-buildings, thick columns of smoke were rising heavenward.
While Sternbald and three busy grooms were gathering together
everything in the castle that was not fastened securely and throwing
it down among the horses as fair spoils, from the open windows of the
castellan's quarters the corpses of the castellan and the steward,
with their wives and children, were flung down into the courtyard amid
the joyful shouts of Herse. As Kohlhaas descended the steps of the
castle, the gouty old housekeeper who managed the Squire's
establishment threw herself at his feet. Pausing on the step, he asked
her where the Squire Wenzel Tronka was. She answered in a faint
trembling voice that she thought he had taken refuge in the chapel.
Kohlhaas then called two men with torches, and, since they had no
keys, he had the door broken open with crowbars and axes. He knocked
over altars and pews; nevertheless, to his anger and grief, he did
not find the Squire.

It happened that, at the moment when Kohlhaas came out of the chapel,
a young servant, one of the retainers of the castle, came hurrying
upon his way to get the