The Young Carpenters of Freiberg | Page 8

up a basketful of
sticks while we are slaving here without pay? Give the fellow a sound
drubbing! Down with him, if he does not pay for the basket straight
away!'
At these words fifty strong arms were raised threateningly, and
Jüchziger saw that if he meant to save his skin it would be prudent to
fetch out his purse and pay for the basket without loss of time.
'And a groschen[1] for each of the cuffs he gave her,' shouted a voice
from the crowd, and stingy Jüchziger had to obey this order too, which
he did with a very bad grace. Dollie's tears dried up with wonderful
quickness when she saw the shining silver really lying on her little
palm, and she skipped merrily away to the town without either basket
or wood.
While Hillner and Rudorf went quietly back to their work, Jüchziger
kept a watchful eye on the former. As the tiger glares at his victim, but
awaits impatiently the moment when he may safely spring upon it, so
did the town servant promise himself to take a terrible revenge on the

journeyman. As soon as the day's work was over, and the workers had
reached the Peter Gate on their return home, he would have Hillner
arrested by the guard and marched straight off to prison.
An unexpected incident hindered, for the time at all events, the
execution of this promising scheme. The activity of the citizens in
preparing to give the enemy a warm reception had by no means been
confined to their day's work in the forest. Such buildings without the
walls as had escaped in General Bannier's attack were now doomed to
destruction. Thus it came about that the returning wood-cutters found a
large number of people outside the Peter Gate, fetching the furniture
out of their houses, and moving all their goods and chattels into the
town as quickly as possible.
Two houses adjoining one another--one a handsome building and the
other of humbler appearance--had already been stripped of windows,
doors, roofing, and rafters, and busy hands were now at work tearing
down the walls.
When Jüchziger so unmercifully destroyed Dollie's basket, he did not
suspect that at that very moment the same fate was overtaking his
wife's inheritance. For a moment the sight he now saw almost
paralyzed him; then recovering his presence of mind, he hastened
towards the scene of destruction, forgetful of all his plans for revenge.
But his angry protestations were of no avail; even his prayers were all
in vain, which seemed to him very hard. The labourers went quietly and
steadily on with their work, as though it were a thing that had to be
done; and when Jüchziger laid his hand on one and another of them,
with the idea of hindering them by force, he soon found himself
repulsed in no very gentle fashion. While he stood in front of his little
house wringing his hands, the very picture of misery and irresolution, a
well-dressed man, of respectable appearance though he was covered
with dust and bits, came out of the door of the larger mansion.
'Oh, my dear neighbour Löwe!' cried Jüchziger, 'advise me, stand by
me, help me to send this rabble about their business! I only married the
old blind woman because she owned this house, and now that there's no

getting out of the bargain they are tearing my nest to pieces before my
very eyes. Come, my dear neighbour, let us hasten at once to the
burgomaster. You are a man of influence in the city, and your request
added to mine will, even now, soon put a stop to this shocking
business.'
'Our trouble would be all in vain,' replied Lowe quietly. 'These
buildings are being pulled down by order of the burgomaster himself
and of the town council; and quite right too, although I suffer a serious
loss by it. "Private rights must always give place to public necessities."
I was the first man to lay hands on my own house, and that makes it
less hard for me to bear.'
In his heart Jüchziger cursed the good man for a fool, and turned away
from him in a rage. 'If only Richzenhayn were not the acting
burgomaster,' he said to himself. 'If Herr Jonas Schönleben were only at
the head of affairs, he would be certain to listen to me. The cowardly
blockheads! There is not a single Swedish plume to be seen round the
whole horizon, and yet they must needs begin pulling down houses.
But I will have ample compensation, or the whole town shall smart for
it.'
'My poor, poor mother,' thought Conrad sorrowfully, as he watched the
destruction of her little property. 'Father will make her pay dearly for
all this that he