em, called down
his dogs, and opened the house door.

Anton entered with his companions. "And now, forester, that you have
opened the house," said he, "we will proceed to an arrangement at once.
What has hitherto been done here by you can not be altered, and shall
not be discussed; but from this day forth you will receive your regular
allowance, and matters must be put on a different footing. I now place
the forest, and all that belongs to the forest department, under your
charge. Your duty now is to stand up for your master's rights, and from
this time forward I make you responsible for them. I shall protect you
as far as I can, and shall claim for you the protection of the law. We
shall be severe in prosecuting all who damage this wood any further.
This estate shall be better managed henceforth, and your new master
expects that you will help him to do so, as a faithful and obedient man
should. And there must be an end of this wild life of yours in the bush;
we are fellow-countrymen, you know. You will come regularly to the
castle and report the state of things, and we will take care that you
shall not feel desolate in your old days. If you purpose honestly to
fulfill the requirements I have just been making, give me your hand on
it."

The forester had stood abashed, listening, cap off, to Anton's address,
and he now took the hand offered to him, and said, "I do."

"With this shake of the hand, then," continued Anton, "I take you into
the service of the present proprietor."

The forester held Anton's hand in both his, and at length exclaimed, "If
I live to see things improve on the estate, I shall rejoice. I will do
all I can, but I tell you beforehand we shall have a hard fight for it.
Owing to the agents and the rascally management, the people on the
estate are become a pack of robbers, and I am afraid that my old gun
will often be obliged to have the last word of the argument."

"We will neither do wrong nor suffer wrong, and we must take the
consequences," was the earnest reply. "And now, forester, show us your
house, and then accompany us into the wood."

Anton then went over the little building: it was entirely of rough wood.
The light fell dimly through the small windows, and the brown walls and
blackened beams increased the darkness, and gave the room a mysterious
aspect. It was difficult at first to distinguish the objects on the
walls: antlers, dogs' collars, huntsmen's horns, whips, and stuffed
birds.