_ It was past seven o'clock that evening when Poons returned to Von Barwig's apartment on his way to the Gewandhaus concert. His old overcoat buttoned tightly over his well-worn dress suit covered a palpitating heart; for Poons was afraid. A few minutes before, when he had kissed his motherly wife good-bye and told her to take good, extra good care of their little son August, she had noticed that his hand was trembling. And when he tried to account for his nervous condition by reminding her that Anton Von Barwig's new symphony was to be played that night and that a member of the Royal family was to be present on the occasion, she had shaken her head gravely, accusing him of being a foolish, timid old boy. It needed all the courage he could muster up to enable him to ring the door-bell of Von Barwig's dwelling. There was such a death-like stillness that Poons thought for a moment no one was there; he dreaded he knew not what. As he stood listening to the silence, he thought he heard a child's laughter, and he sighed in relief. The servant came to the door, a sleepy-eyed German
maedchen as strong as an ox and nearly as stupid. "Oh, it's Herr Poons," she said. "Come in. I tell Herr Von Barwig----"
"Is he--is he?
How is he?" faltered Poons, much relieved that the girl showed no evidence of acquaintance with the real condition of her master's mind.
"I tell him," repeated the girl stolidly, without answering his question.
Closing the hall door, she ushered him into the studio and left him standing there. Poons looked at his watch; it was a quarter past seven. He still had fifteen minutes to spare before the concert engagement, which began at eight o'clock, called him to the Gewandhaus.
While he was wondering what he could say to his friend, the servant opened the door leading to the living apartments of the family and intimated that he should come in. Poons passed through a magnificently furnished drawing-room and library, and thence into the dining-room.
"This way," said the girl, opening the dining-room door, beyond which was a passage leading to the kitchen and bedrooms. Poons looked surprised, and the girl hastened to say:
"Herr Von Barwig is in the nursery."
"Ah, of course," nodded Poons, as he followed her.
Not very observant usually, Poons noticed that the dinner table was set for two persons. Both places were undisturbed and the food was untouched.
"He has not eaten," thought Poons. "Of course she is not here! Oh, God! that is the tragedy of it! The empty chair, always the empty chair--it is like death!"
As the nursery door opened Poons heard the sound of voices and laughter and, to his utter astonishment, saw his friend Von Barwig on the floor playing with little Helene's dolls' house. Helene was shrieking with childish laughter because Von Barwig pretended to be angry with one of her dolls which would not eat the cake he tried to make it swallow.
As Von Barwig saw his friend, a look of intense pain crossed his face, but he forced himself to smile and say:
"Come in, Herr Doctor Poons, and mend this little girl's eye. See, I've given her cake to eat, but it won't do her eye any good!"
Helene laughed gleefully at the idea of cake being good for a broken eye.
"Good gracious, how did the eye fall out?" said Dr. Poons, shaking his head gravely.
"She fell down and I kicked it," lisped the little one. "I kicked it," she laughed, unconscious that she had committed an unprovoked assault on her plaything. "Mend it; oh, please mend it!"
Poons shook his head gravely. The child mistook this for a confession of his inability to do what she wished.
"Mamma 'll fix it when she comes home. She won't be long, will she?" said the child, somewhat tearfully. She had asked the question many times, and her father seemed unable to answer her.
"I am trying to make her forget," said Anton savagely to Poons, in answer to his look of painful inquiry. "She must forget soon; I've been with her ever since you left me this morning." His arm stole around the child's neck, and drawing her to him gently, he kissed her again and again with such sad, lingering tenderness that the ever-ready tears welled up into Poons's eyes, and he turned his head to conceal them. The child struggled to free herself.
"Papa so rough, eh? Well, he won't be, or Herr Poons will beat him, eh?"
"Surely," assented Poons.
"Papa will be so gentle and so kind," went on Von Barwig tenderly. "He'll love his little girl as no little girl in this wide, wide world was ever loved before, eh?"
Little Helene did not understand, and as she had nothing at this precise moment to occupy her attention, she answered him by asking the one question that absorbed her mind, "Where's mamma?"
Von Barwig and Poons looked at each other helplessly. Apart from the tragedy of two men trying to comfort a little child that had lost its parent, there remained in Von Barwig's mind a sense of the utter inability of the masculine individuality to fill the place of mother in the child's heart. In after years, Von Barwig always remembered the sinking sensation he felt when this fact came home to him in full force.
"Well, one thing," said Anton, as he swallowed something that came in his throat and threatened to choke him, "one thing, she was kind to the little one; the was a kind mother, eh?"
"Kind? kind?" began Poons fiercely. "Is it kind to----"
Von Barwig silenced him with a look.
"Yes, she was a good mother," he admitted conciliatingly. "But, by God, if we don't go we shall be late! Phew!" he whistled as he looked at his watch, "half past seven." Von Barwig sat still for a moment.
"Half past seven? Yes." Then, as if it were slowly dawning upon him that he had duties, he arose, dusting his knees mechanically.
"Half past seven, yes. It begins at eight, eh? and I must dress. Yes, I suppose I must dress!"
The little girl was now putting her dolls back into the dolls' house; the doorway was blocked up and she was pushing one through a broken window in the little house as Von Barwig caught her in his arms and caressed her.
"How can I leave her? Good God, how can I leave her?" he groaned. He stroked her face, her hair, and kissed her again and again.
"She's all I have, all; she's all I want. I won't go to-night, I won't leave her, do you hear? Let Ruhlmeyer conduct to-night. I can't go, I can't leave her alone! Suppose something were to happen to her?"
"But you must go!" said Poons firmly; desperation had given him courage. "You must go!"
Von Barwig looked at him in surprise; Poons's tone sobered him a little.
"For her sake you must work," went on Poons, gaining courage as he saw that his words had an effect on his friend.
"Yes, I must work," assented Von Barwig, feeling the force of Poons's words. "Shall I go, little Helene, my little darling? Shall I go?"
"Yes, go and tell mamma to come," was the little one's reply.
"Come, hurry, Anton! You must dress, you have barely five minutes: five to dress, ten to get to the Gewandhaus."
"Ha! they can wait!" said Von Barwig grimly. "Prince Mecklenburg Strelitz, the Kaiser, all Germany can wait, while I mend the strings of my heart!"
The nurse-maid came in and suggested that it was time to put little
Fraeulein to bed. Poons looked at her closely; her eyelids were red, for she had been crying.
"Take good care of the little
Fraeulein," said Von Barwig as he handed her over to the maid. It was long past her bedtime, and the little child had almost fallen asleep in her father's arms.
"Let me kiss her just once more; I won't wake her up!"
The girl burst into tears as Von Barwig bent over the child, kissing her tenderly; then she hurried into the next room with her precious charge.
"She knows?" inquired Poons.
"Yes," nodded Von Barwig; and then, with a sigh, "She knows."
Five minutes later, Von Barwig, accompanied by Poons, left the house and hurriedly took a cab to the concert hall. _