pon
these travelers, who came so opportunely into his clutches. He jumped
into the path of the machine, the gentleman slowed down still more and
tooted his horn. But Florian Hausbaum did not yield his ground. So the
vehicle stopped.

And now it burst forth, the great speech of the old wine-carter; the
mightiest one in the life of the Styrian, Florian Hausbaum:

"You wind-belchers! You road-stinkers, who sent for you? D' you bring
any money into the land? Naw! D' you ever get out even once in
Grafenstein, in Voelkermarkt, in Lippitzbach? Or at Eis, at Lavamuend, at
Drauburg or Hohenmauten or Mahrenberg? Naw! You've come from the city,
you tiresome city-dudes and you women with your faces tied up as if you
had the tooth-ache, and you never stop till you're in Marburg again, or
maybe in Graz, 'cause the country inn-keeper's little bit o' grub ain't
good enough for you. But to run down the poor farmer's last goose, run
over children, drive horses crazy, torment their drivers, cover the
Lord God's grain with dust, and dirty up the hay so 't not a beast'll
take a mouthful of it, go bellowing past the church just when the
pastor's talking inside about the Kingdom o' Heaven, and not only that,
but stink like the devil, that's what you like! You're sent by the
devil, you look like the devil, you haven't got any more justice or
mercy than he has, and now go and drive to the devil and break your
necks, that's my wish for you. There, now you can go on stinking!"

The ladies in the automobile scolded, the farmers round about pressed
forward threateningly; but the gentleman driving, a quiet, composed
person, merely looked sadly at the gendarme who came hurrying up, and
said, "Did you hear all that? Make way for us at least, so that we
shall not be torn to pieces."

He had to crank again. Then he drove away, down into the deep valley
and up the hill beyond and away; but Florian Hausbaum stood like
Siegfried after the battle with the dragon.

The gendarme said to him with some reproach, "Right you were, Florie.
But if the gentleman goes to law, I'll have to testify against you.
Then it'll go hard with you; do be sensible in your old age!" And he
went.

But all the rest were of the opinion that it was quite impossible to be
sensible about this, and Florian was loudly applauded. "That was fine,
what you told 'em! Eyah, old Florie. That's right, Styrian folks know
how to use their tongues."

The old carter was quite intoxicated w