ABOUT half a mile from Zell, in a solitary house which is now uninhabited, lived, some twelve years ago, on his half-pay, and the interest of a reasonable amount of prize-money, a retired naval officer, named (or who shall here be named) Sturmgang. He was an austere and rugged-tempered man, despotic, it was said, in his house as he had been on the deck of his ship, and therefore instinctively averse to coming into contact with general society. In fact, he visited nobody, and the only visits he was known to receive were those of the Pastor Walding, sub-rector of the high-school in Zell, the brother of his deceased second wife, and a man whose severe character and chilling manners were the perfect counterpart of his own. Captain Sturmgang's domestic establishinent consisted of two females-a youngish housekeeper and an oldish maid; in addition to whom his house possessed one other inmate, in the person of Christian Schein, the son of his second wife by a former marriage. The old officer had himself had no children by the mother of this young man ; but his first wife had borne him a son, who, singular to tell, was now a shopkeeper in Zell, and supported himself, with his young wife and two children, in a struggling way, by the meagre profits of a retail busi

ness.

It was generally known that the two Sturmgangs, the elder and the younger, lived on a footing of great mutual exasperation, and the ground of this was believed to be a lawsuit in which they had been engaged some years beVOL. XXVIII.-No. 163.

fore, and in which the son had cast his father, with costs. Since that time, they had neither seen nor communicated with each other; more than one attempt, on the part of common friends, to bring about a reconciliation, had been repulsed by both parties with a degree of violence that seemed greatly disproportioned to the supposed cause of the quarrel; and the elder Sturmgang had at length peremptorily forbid all mention of his son's name in his presence, which, of course, had precluded any further attempt of the kind.

Matters were in this state when an application was made, on the part of Captain Sturmgang, to the Provincial Court, praying that a commission might be appointed, to visit him at his house of Dornfeld, to take cognizance of his testamentary dispositions, as his health did not permit him to come to Zell, for the purpose. This business was placed in my hands, and I went out to Dornfeld the following day, accompanied by a junior assessor and the clerk of the

court.

I found the old man (he was in his sixty-eighth year) sitting in an armchair, his feet and legs enveloped in flannel wrappers, sick in body, yet not in a state to give immediate apprehensions for his life. His stepson and his brother-in-law were with him.

We proceeded at once to business : the preamble of the testament was drawn up in the usual form, and I called on Captain Sturmgang to dictate his will.

"Well," said he, "write, in the first place, I disinherit my son, Ludwig

B

Sturmgang, merchant in Zell, for reasons which I need not mention: he knows them."

"It is my duty, Captain Sturmgang," said I, "to make you acquainted with the law on this point. The father who disinherits his son, without grounds which the law recognizes as valid, is considered as of unsound mind, and his will, on application of the injured party, at once set aside. I am aware that you have had disagreements with your son, which unfortunately could not be settled without an appeal to a court of justice; but I must tell you that the law does not admit this as a sufficient ground for the proceeding you meditate."

"Humph! and what grounds does the law admit as sufficient for such a proceeding?"

"To enumerate them all would exhaust your patience, if not my own; but I will mention a few, and you will see how little likely is it that any among them should apply to the present case. For instance, then, when a son has accused his father of an offence against the state, has treated him in a way that compromises his-the father's honour, has corporeally maltreated or assaulted him, has practised against his life, has-"

"Quite enough! I have legal grounds, and I disinherit him as I have said."

"But I must further inform you," proceeded I, "that the grounds of disinheritance must be expressly stated in the instrument, and must be sustainable by proof; otherwise the act is null and void."

"Does the law require that?"
"It does."

"In the devil's name, then, writeI disinherit my son Ludwig, because he has practised against my life."

I was mute for a moment with surprise and horror, and could only gaze blankly on the old man.

"And this accusation," said I at length, "is true?"

That's my affair. Let Ludwig Sturmgang contest the truth of it, if he has the courage. The proofs will

not die with me."

"The proofs? Let me remind you, Captain Sturmgang, that in a matter so improbable in itself proof should be of no common cogency."

"I have proof sufficient-proof con

clusive-proof that would satisfy any jury in Europe."

"May I ask how long ago it is that your son committed this great crime?" "Three years ago.

"I wish, Captain Sturmgang, you would reconsider this matter. In the space of time you mention, what changes may have taken place in the character of your son. Will you not try what he is now, before you punish him for what he was then? Come, my dear sir, we have all of us need of forgiveness, and I do trust you will not carry your resentment against your son into another world."

"The learned assessor," interrupted the sub-rector in his grating voice, the driest that ever fell upon mortal ear, "seems inclined to dabble in our craft, and to preach instead of minding his protocols."

I looked at the man with astonishment. A sneer that I could not help thinking infernal, wreathed his thin lips, and his grey eyes looked hemlock at me from under their shaggy and overhanging brows. Behind him stood his nephew, with cheeks white as paper, and drops of sweat standing visibly on his forehead.

"Sir," said I, addressing the clergyman with looks, I believe, expressive of all the indignation I felt, "I know, if you do not, what belongs to my office. I am ignorant neither of its rights nor of its duties; and, to make you acquainted with one of the former, of which you are, perhaps, not aware-let me inform you that I am empowered to direct the removal of persons who thrust themselves, uncalled, into the business I am engaged in. Should you think proper a second time to interrupt me, I shall exercise this right, and insist on your quitting the room. You will be good enough

to bear that in mind."

The sub-rector replied to this threat only by a glance, which would have made a believer in the "evil eye" go home and take to his bed. The step. son could not control his agitation ; he trembled from head to foot, and seemed to grow positively sick with terror. These two persons made a singularly unpleasant impression on me, and I only wished that the uncle had indulged in another effusion of bile, to give me an excuse for getting rid of him. The old captain fidgeted

in his arm-chair; his brow portended storm; however, he put constraint on himself, and said coldly

"I beg that what I have dictated to the clerk of the court may now be written. I disinherit my son, Ludwig Sturmgang, because of his having practised against my life."

"It is written," said I, with equal coldness.

He proceeded

"I appoint my stepson, Christian Schein, here present, my sole heir, and bequeath to him all the property, real and personal, which I shall die possessed of."

The uncle and nephew exchanged a rapid glance. The young man's eyes blazed with triumph, and the blood, which had forsaken his very lips, flowed in a full tide back to his cheek and brow.

The invalid proceeded

"To my housekeeper, Theresa Frohberg, I bequeath thirty louis d'or, and to my maid Margareta Reuter the bed in which I shall die, with all its appurtenances."

After some other unimportant dispositions, he said he had nothing more to add. The clerk jumped up to call for a light to seal the instrument, and opened the door hastily, when a loud scream was heard from the antechamber: the Demoiselle Frohberg's ear had, it seeins, been rather near the keyhole, and the door and her head had come into somewhat ungentle contact. The captain was furious at this discovery, and it required the intercessions both of his stepson and the subrector to withhold him from adding a postscript to his will, revoking the legacy bestowed on the fair inquisitive.

The testament was signed and sealed, the captain invited us to lunch, but we declined, and returned to Zell, in no cheerful mood. As for me, I could not get the events of the morning out of my head: I had read stories by the dozen, in which one brother juggled the other out of his inheritance by diabolical machinations; I had seen plays, in which similar treason furnished the materials of the plot. Schiller's Franz Moor and this sneaking Christian Schein were blended by a curious association of ideas in my thoughts. Who knows, thought I, what devilry may be here at work? The reverend sub-rector seemed to me quite capable of playing

a

the Mephistopheles of the drama, and the eves-dropping housekeeper comely person, though not in the first bloom of youth-might fill the part of one of his ministering fallen angels. I determined to look farther into the matter.

My first step was to get information respecting the person and circumstances of Ludwig Sturmgang, and all that I heard told in his favour: he was known in the town for an upright, industrious, and well-conducted man, but had, it seemed, inherited the fiery, impetuous temper of his father. He was in his twenty-seventh year, and was the father of two children-a boy of eighteen months and an infant in the cradle: his wife was described to me as a good and gentle creature, devoted to her husband and her little ones: his business was not flourishing; he was able to live by it, but in a very straitened

way.

My next step was to go to him, to see what light he could or would afford me on the affair. I found him in his shop, and requested to be permitted to speak a few words with him in private. Telling his shop-boy to attend to the business, he led me into his sitting-parlour, which looked very orderly and neat. An open door gave me a momentary glimpse into the bedroom, where I discovered the young wife, her foot rocking the cradle, her fingers occupied in needlework.

Sturmgang closed the door, and begged me to sit down.

"I don't know," said I, "whether I have to tell you who I am?"

"Oh! no, Mr. Assessor," cried he, "I know you very well. I have stood before now as a plaintiff at your green table."

"I will tell you, without preface, Mr. Sturmgang, what brings me here. I have got, without my seeking it, a peep into your family secrets."

:

"I know you have been with iny father about his will. Ay, ay, I have been expecting that; I was prepared for it, quite.'

"You know the tenor of the will?" "I can guess it."

"Mr. Sturmgang, I have a great desire to reconcile you with your father."

"That is impossible, Mr. Assessor; that is out of the question. After what has passed between us, I will

But I

"Who says I hate my father? God forbid I were so abandoned! don't love him: how could I, when he never loved me? And to humble myself before him, when I am the injured party! To own myself in the wrong, when I am not! And that for money! I would beg first-I would starve first."

"Well then, Mr. Sturmgang, do you not believe that your father would speak exactly as you do?-that he too would cry, What, humble myself where I have been injured-own myself wrong where I am right!' Where a quarrel is, my dear sir, there are two parties, and the cases are rare indeed in which the blame lies entirely on one side. But-suppose the present to be one of those rare cases--what does it come to? A father has offended his son; is it too much to ask the son to forgive his father ?"

"I would forgive with all my heart, if-in fact, let him take the first step, and there is no one readier for a reconciliation than I."

"If you and he were brothers, I should have no ground to urge you further, but you are the child, he the parent, and I must press it on you, my dear Sturmgang, I must indeed, to be yourself the first to make overtures of peace."

"Never! I have been too deeply offended, wounded, outraged, and without provocation-yes, I will say itwithout provocation on my part. Sir, he has cursed me! Do you feel the weight of that word? I see you do. Love! reconciliation! peace!-what is the meaning of such phrases between people whom the bottomless gulf of— a curse-divides?"

The young man was silent for some moments, and then resumed with more composure

"And you don't know my father, Mr. Assessor: he is a far more positive man than you suppose, and as violent as he is positive. Even if I could bring myself to make the first advance, he would reject it, and the breach would only be widened-though wider it could hardly be."

"Well," said I, "suppose I made the attempt with him, as I have done with you, and he were to speak just as you have done-were to say, 'I will not take the first step, but I will not repulse my son if he takes it,' what would you do then?"

Sturmgang wavered-he seemed to struggle with himself; at last he said

"I would take the step, if I had reason to believe it would not be taken in vain."

"You would go to your father?"
"I would."

"You would ask him to-forgive and forget?"

"Yes."

I shook him heartily by the hand, and declared my determination to make the attempt upon his father without delay.

The same day, in the afternoon, I went out to Dornfeld, praying on the way that I might find the old sailor alone, for I confess that I trembled at the thought that the stepson with his cattish sleekness, or the sub-rector, with his bearish roughness, might bar my access to him. Neither of these monsters, however, guarded the way, and the entrance to the enchanted castle lay free to my tread. I met nobody either in the court or the hall; the house door stood open, and I was obliged to walk in unannounced.

Proceeding to the room in which I had found the captain on a former occasion, I knocked at the door, and was answered by a "come in," that made me jump. The old gentleman had certainly been dreaming of a sea fight, and spoke as if he had had broadsides to out-thunder. As I entered, he rose from his arm-chair, in which, no doubt, he had been enjoying an after-dinner nap, and asked me in an angry growl, as he jerked off his night-cap, what I wanted, and why I had not sent up my name. Before I could reply, however, he had got better awake, recognized me, became more civil, and begged me to take a seat. Without ceremony I told him that, having been