eared, and through his cunning, which they dreaded even more, had
attained a certain preeminence in the village. The preeminence came to
be acknowledged more and more as people became conscious of the fact
that they neither knew him nor could guess of what he might be capable.
Only one young fellow in the village, Will Huelsmeyer, who realized his
own strength and good circumstances, dared to defy him. Since he was
also readier with his tongue than Frederick, and could always make a
pointed joke, he was the only one whom Frederick did not like to meet.

Four years had passed. It was the month of October; the open autumn of
1760, which filled every barn with corn and every cellar with wine, had
also lavished its riches on this corner of the earth, and more
intoxicated people were seen and more fights and stupid tricks were
heard of than ever before. Everywhere there were festivities; Blue
Mondays were the fashion, and whoever had laid aside a few dollars
quickly wanted also a wife to help him feast today and starve tomorrow.
A big, noteworthy wedding took place in the village, and the guests
could expect more than the one violin, generally out of tune, than the
single glass of whiskey, and higher spirits than they themselves brought
along. Since the early morning all had been astir; clothing had been
aired in front of every door, and all day B. had looked like a
frippery-stall. Since many outsiders were expected, everybody was
anxious to uphold the honor of the village.

It was seven o'clock in the evening and everything was in full swing;
fun and laughter were rampant on every side, and the low rooms were
crowded to suffocation with blue, red, and yellow figures, like
pen-folds into which too large a herd had been huddled. On the barn
floor there was dancing--that is, whoever succeeded in capturing a
two-foot space twirled around on it and tried to make up by shouting for
what was lacking in motion. The orchestra was brilliant, the first
violinist as a recognized artist drowned out the second, and a great
bass-viol with three strings was sounded _ad libitum_ by dilettantes,
whiskey and coffee flowed in abundance, all the guests were dripping
with perspiration--in short, it was a glorious affair.

Frederick strutted about like a cock in his new sky-blue jacket and
asserted his position as the first beau of the village. When the lord of
the manor and his family arrived he happened to be sitting behind the
bass-viol, sou