Read Online Night Games: And Other Stories and Novellas by Arthur Schnitzler - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Arthur Schnitzler
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within
fourteen days I could find a way ..." The consul kept shaking his head,
mechanically, without any emotion.
"Consul," began Willi again, and against his will it sounded like
pleading, "Consul, my uncle, Robert Wilram-maybe you know the
name?" But the other continued to shake his head firmly. "I am not absolutely certain that my uncle, on whom I can otherwise positively rely,
has such a sum at hand. But of course, within a few days ... he is a
wealthy man, my mother's only brother, retired, living on his income."
And suddenly, with a queer catch in his voice which sounded like a
laugh: "It's really disastrous that you're going as far away as America so
soon!"
"Where I travel, Lieutenant," answered the consul calmly, "is of absolutely no concern to you. It's common knowledge that debts of honor
are to be paid within twenty-four hours!"
"I know. Consul, I know. But still it sometimes happens-I personally know some among my comrades who, in a similar position ... It depends entirely upon you, Consul, whether you are willing to content
yourself with a promissory note or my word of honor for the moment
until-until next Sunday at least."
"I am not willing to be satisfied that way, Lieutenant. Tomorrow, Tuesday at noon, that's the latest-or-notification to the commander of
your regiment!"
The carriage crossed over the Ring and passed by the Volksgarten,
whose treetops hung down in rich, green foliage over the gilded fence. It
was a glorious spring morning. Hardly a person was yet to be seen on the
street. Only a young, very elegant woman in a high-collared, tailored
coat was walking rapidly along the gilded fence with a small dog, as if in
fulfillment of a duty, and threw an indifferent glance toward the consul,
who turned around after her, despite the wife in America and Fraulein Rihoscheck in Baden, who, admittedly, really belonged more to the actor
Elrief. What business of mine is Elrief, thought Willi, and why should I
worry about Fraulein Rihoscheck? Who knows, had I been nicer to her,
perhaps she would have put in a good word for me. And for a moment he
considered seriously whether he shouldn't ride back to Baden at once in
order to beg for her intercession. Intercession with the consul? She
would laugh in his face. She knew him well, after all, the consul, it was
evident that she knew him.... And the only possibility of salvation was
Uncle Robert. That was certain. Otherwise there was nothing left for him
except a bullet in the head. That was clear.
A steady sound like that of the approaching steps of a marching column of men struck his ear. Wasn't the 98th having a drill today? On the
Bisamberg? It would be embarrassing for him to meet his comrades at
the head of the company now while he was in a carriage. But it was not a
military troop that was marching toward him; it was only a group of
boys, evidently schoolboys, on an outing with their teacher. The teacher,
a pale young man, looked with instinctive respect at the two gentlemen
in a carriage driving past him at such an early hour. Willi had never expected there would come a moment in which even a poor schoolteacher
would seem to him a creature worthy of envy. Then the carriage overtook
the first streetcar, whose only passengers were a man in work clothes and
an old woman. A street-cleaning wagon came toward them with a wildlooking fellow in rolled-up shirtsleeves on top who was swinging a hose
like a rubber band to and fro, spraying the street. Two nuns with lowered
eyes crossed the tracks in the direction of the Votiv Church, whose slim
light grey steeples pointed toward the sky. On a bench beneath a tree covered with white blossoms sat a young creature with dirty shoes, her
straw hat in her lap, smiling as if after a pleasant experience. A closed
carriage with drawn curtains whizzed past. A fat old woman was polishing the high windowpane of a cafe with a brush and cloth. All these people and things, which Willi
fourteen days I could find a way ..." The consul kept shaking his head,
mechanically, without any emotion.
"Consul," began Willi again, and against his will it sounded like
pleading, "Consul, my uncle, Robert Wilram-maybe you know the
name?" But the other continued to shake his head firmly. "I am not absolutely certain that my uncle, on whom I can otherwise positively rely,
has such a sum at hand. But of course, within a few days ... he is a
wealthy man, my mother's only brother, retired, living on his income."
And suddenly, with a queer catch in his voice which sounded like a
laugh: "It's really disastrous that you're going as far away as America so
soon!"
"Where I travel, Lieutenant," answered the consul calmly, "is of absolutely no concern to you. It's common knowledge that debts of honor
are to be paid within twenty-four hours!"
"I know. Consul, I know. But still it sometimes happens-I personally know some among my comrades who, in a similar position ... It depends entirely upon you, Consul, whether you are willing to content
yourself with a promissory note or my word of honor for the moment
until-until next Sunday at least."
"I am not willing to be satisfied that way, Lieutenant. Tomorrow, Tuesday at noon, that's the latest-or-notification to the commander of
your regiment!"
The carriage crossed over the Ring and passed by the Volksgarten,
whose treetops hung down in rich, green foliage over the gilded fence. It
was a glorious spring morning. Hardly a person was yet to be seen on the
street. Only a young, very elegant woman in a high-collared, tailored
coat was walking rapidly along the gilded fence with a small dog, as if in
fulfillment of a duty, and threw an indifferent glance toward the consul,
who turned around after her, despite the wife in America and Fraulein Rihoscheck in Baden, who, admittedly, really belonged more to the actor
Elrief. What business of mine is Elrief, thought Willi, and why should I
worry about Fraulein Rihoscheck? Who knows, had I been nicer to her,
perhaps she would have put in a good word for me. And for a moment he
considered seriously whether he shouldn't ride back to Baden at once in
order to beg for her intercession. Intercession with the consul? She
would laugh in his face. She knew him well, after all, the consul, it was
evident that she knew him.... And the only possibility of salvation was
Uncle Robert. That was certain. Otherwise there was nothing left for him
except a bullet in the head. That was clear.
A steady sound like that of the approaching steps of a marching column of men struck his ear. Wasn't the 98th having a drill today? On the
Bisamberg? It would be embarrassing for him to meet his comrades at
the head of the company now while he was in a carriage. But it was not a
military troop that was marching toward him; it was only a group of
boys, evidently schoolboys, on an outing with their teacher. The teacher,
a pale young man, looked with instinctive respect at the two gentlemen
in a carriage driving past him at such an early hour. Willi had never expected there would come a moment in which even a poor schoolteacher
would seem to him a creature worthy of envy. Then the carriage overtook
the first streetcar, whose only passengers were a man in work clothes and
an old woman. A street-cleaning wagon came toward them with a wildlooking fellow in rolled-up shirtsleeves on top who was swinging a hose
like a rubber band to and fro, spraying the street. Two nuns with lowered
eyes crossed the tracks in the direction of the Votiv Church, whose slim
light grey steeples pointed toward the sky. On a bench beneath a tree covered with white blossoms sat a young creature with dirty shoes, her
straw hat in her lap, smiling as if after a pleasant experience. A closed
carriage with drawn curtains whizzed past. A fat old woman was polishing the high windowpane of a cafe with a brush and cloth. All these people and things, which Willi
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