s
enough to tire out a man in health; and he was not in health, he was
ill, fasting, shaking in every limb. While he had been suffering
(_leidend und schwitzend_, he said to himself, grinding his teeth), this
comfortable man in the gaiters and the aggressively clean cuffs had no
doubt passed very pleasant and easy hours, had had three meals at least
where he had had none, had smoked cigars and examined horses' legs, had
ridden a little, driven a little, and would presently go round, now that
the cool of the evening had come, to Kleinwalde, and sit in the twilight
while Miss Estcourt called him _Schatz_. Oh, it was not to be borne!
Dellwig was right--he must be annoyed, punished, at all costs shaken out
of his lofty indifference. "Let me remind you," Klutz burst out in a
voice that trembled with passion, "that I am still here, and still
waiting, and that I have only two legs. Your horse, I see, has four, and
is better able to stand and wait than I am."

Axel turned and stared at him. "Why, what is the matter?" he asked,
astonished. "You _are_ Manske's vicar? Yes, of course you are. I did not
know you had anything very pressing to tell me. I am sorry I have kept
you--come in."

He sent the mare to the stables, and led the way into his study. "Sit
down," he said, pushing a chair forward, and sitting down himself by his
writing-table. "Have a cigar?"

"No."

"No?" Axel stared again. "'No thank you' is the form prejudice prefers,"
he said.

"I care nothing for that."

"What is the matter, my dear Herr Klutz? You are very angry about
something."

"I have been shamefully treated by a woman."

"It is what sometimes happens to young men," said Axel, smiling.

"I do not want cheap wisdom like that," cried Klutz, his eyes ablaze.

Axel's brows went up. "You are rude, my good Herr Klutz," he said. "Try
to be polite if you wish me to help you. If you cannot, I shall ask you
to go."

"I will not go."

"My dear Herr Klutz."

"I say I will not go till I have told you what I came to tell you. The
woman is Miss Estcourt."

"Miss Estcourt?" repeated Axel, amazed. Then he added, "Call her a
lady."

"She is a woman to all intents and purposes----"

"Call her a lady. It sounds better from a young man of your station."

"Of my station! What, a man with the brains of a man, the mind of a man,
the sinews of a man, is not equal, is not superior, whatever his station
may be, to a mere woman?"

"I will not discuss your in