Read Online Selected Prose of Heinrich Von Kleist by Heinrich von Kleist - Free Book Online

including the presence of the European fugitive. With a muffled voice the Negro ordered his men to be still in the yard. He asked the old woman where the stranger was at that moment, whereupon she told him the room the white man was in and promptly proceeded to report the curious conversation she had had with her daughter concerning him. She assured the Negro that the girl was a traitor and that because of her daughter her entire plan of capturing the fugitive’s family threatened to fall through. The little fox, she said, had secretly taken advantage of the cover of night to sneak off to his bed, where she was sleeping soundly at this moment; and in all likelihood, if the stranger hadn’t already flown the coop, she’d warned him and conspired to facilitate his escape. Having already tested the girl’s trustworthiness under similar circumstances, the Negro replied: “I can’t believe it!” And “Kelly!” he cried in a rage. And “Omra! Get your guns!” And without wasting another word, he scampered up the steps with his entire entourage and barged into the stranger’s room.
    Toni, before whose eyes and ears the entire scene had transpired, stood paralyzed in every limb, as though she’d been struck by lightning. At one point she thought of waking the stranger; but she immediately fathomed that, given the presence of Hoango’s troops, escape was no longer an option, and that since he was likely to reach for his weapons, and the Negro held the advantage by strength ofnumber, she already saw him stretched out dead on the floor. She was indeed compelled to take into account the likelihood of the poor man’s assumption, upon finding her beside his bed at that moment, that she had betrayed him, and so, instead of following her advice, of flying in a frenzy and rashly falling right into Hoango’s clutches. In this unspeakable paroxysm of terror she suddenly laid eyes on a rope that, God knows by what coincidence, hung from a hook on the wall. God himself, she felt, had placed it there to save her and her beloved. She took it and bound the young man’s hands and feet, tying several knots; and not concerning herself with the fact that he had begun to stir and struggle to break free, she fastened the rope ends tightly to the bed frame; and happy to have mastered the moment, pressed a kiss on his lips and hurried off to greet Hoango, who was already clambering up the steps.
    Still doubting the old woman’s account of Toni’s betrayal, upon seeing the girl rush out of the stranger’s room the Negro stood stunned and bewildered in the corridor with his armed and torch-bearing retinue. “The false-hearted turncoat!” he cried out, and turning to Babekan, who had taken several steps toward the door, asked her: “Has he escaped?” Finding the door open, without herself going in, Babekan turned back and howled like a lunatic: “The lying little cheat! She let him get away! Hurry up and man the gates before he makes it to the open fields!” “What’s the matter?” asked Toni, seeing the look of fury on the faces of the old woman and the blacks in attendance. “What the matter is?” Hoango replied, whereupon he seized her chest and dragged her into the room. “Are you all mad?” she yelled, breaking free of Hoango, who stood there stunned by what he saw. “Here’s your fugitive festooned by my ownhand in his bed; and, by God, it’s not the worst deed I’ve ever done in my life!” At these words, she turned her back to him and sat down at a table, pretending to burst into tears. The old man turned in a rage at the mother who stood to the side: “Oh Babekan, with what fairy tales have you deceived me?” “Thank heaven,” replied the bewildered mother, examining the rope with which the stranger was tied; “here he is, indeed, though I can’t for the life of me understand