? Mr. Tiralla had an excellent constitution in spite of
everything; he would not drink himself to death quickly enough. Now and
then he did not even care to drink, and he would sometimes push his
glass away as though he disliked it. But he must drink, must drink
more, even if she had to fill his glass herself! Martin must not leave
Starydwor, he must remain!

The woman raised her hands to the image, "Help, help!"

All at once she bethought herself of the schoolmaster. What if he were
to come more frequently and drink with her husband? He must have
somebody to drink with him, so that he got to like it better, so that
he felt an eager desire for beer, wine, and gin. Mr. Boehnke had come
once a week during the summer, and then Mr. Tiralla had always drunk an
enormous quantity, but the man had lately stopped away. He must come
again. Not once a week--no, often, often, every day if possible,
for--the woman started convulsively--for there were not many more weeks
before Martin Becker would be leaving.

[Pg 248]

If she could delay his departure, only for a little while, for one more
month, two months, for then, then--the woman rose from her knees and
drew a deep breath--then the difficult task would, nay, must, have been
accomplished.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

As they sat at supper that evening, Martin Becker began to speak of
going away. You could see that it was very difficult for him to give
notice, he could hardly get it out; his face was burning and he kept
his eyes fixed on the ground.

Mikolai had just returned from the fair in high spirits, but his good
humour now quickly disappeared. What, Martin wanted to leave--what was
the meaning of it? That was a nice piece of news! He had never
mentioned anything to him about it before. "What's the reason of this
all of a sudden, eh?"

He did not care to continue as a farmer, said Martin hesitatingly. He
wanted to look about him a little, perhaps look out for a mill.

But that could not be arranged so quickly, said Mikolai, who began to
stand up for his rights as master, after he had caught an imploring
look from his stepmother. He could not get away from his engagement in
that cool way, although they were friends and had always agreed. Was he
going to leave him in the lurch just when he had the autumn sowing to
do? Mikolai grew furious when he saw all his beautiful plans disappear
like bubbles. "It's a confounded nuisance!" he cr