28. XXVIII.
There was a general hubbub among the collegiates
when the discovery was made. All was
confusion and uproar.
“The coward!” several of them exclaimed,
“thus to fly from death.”
“Dishonorable!” cried others, “not to meet his
engagements.” Some proposed to pursue and
put him to death; and this opinion was about to
be carried, when Hans Busacher, who had, in all
this time, preserved the profoundest silence, now
interposed as follows:
“We may not do as you propose, my friends;
we are bound by our contract to a different course.
What says the will of Oberfeldt on this subject?
and how, under his directions, are we to punish a
member who flies from his honorable pledge?
We are not to harm a hair of his head; we are
not to shed a drop of his blood; we are not to
break a limb of his body; we are not to abridge
a portion of his breath; but we are to do all —
we are to compel him to the performance of the
deed by a will and act of his own.”
“How can that be done?” was the general
exclamation. They were astounded, for none of
them remembered any such requisitions in the
document.
“Does the will say so?” was the inquiry of one
and all.
“You shall see for yourselves,” was the reply.
They read, and, sure enough, there were plainly
written down the fatal requisitions. They were
aghast, and Hans Busacher smiled scornfully as
he beheld their confusion. After a brief pause,
he proceeded:
“Our task is not so difficult as you imagine.
Why does Rodolph Steinmyer fly from death?
Because he is in love with life! Why is he in
love with life? Because there are many things
in life which make it worthy of his love. What
do we, then, my friends? Evidently, we are to
deprive him of all those objects which make him
regardless of his honor. Our work begins from
this moment. Come all of you with me into the
private room of council. There let us confer together,
on the best plan for bringing our brother
back to the consideration of his duty.”
What they did, to what they pledged themselves,
and what they designed in that secret conference,
may not be said. They separated after
a brief interval; and the shade of Oberfeldt
growled at the passage of the anniversary without
yielding him any additional companion.
