ADELBERT AND BASTEL;

OR,

EVERY MAN IN HIS PLACE.

A STORY FOR BOYS.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN

BY PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR,

FRANZ HOFFMANN.

———————— PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. ————————

LONDON:

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.

SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORIES: 77 GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS; 4 ROYAL EXCHANGE; 48 PICCADILLY; AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. NEW YORK: POTT, YOUNG & CO.

———————— LONDON: PRINTED BY JAS. TRUSCOTT AND SON Suffolk Lane, City.

CONTENTS. ——————

CHAPTER

I. A HAMBURG FAMILY

II. [THE HARTZ]

III. IN THE WIDE WORLD

ADELBERT AND BASTEL;

OR,

EVERY MAN IN HIS PLACE.

CHAPTER I.

A HAMBURG FAMILY.

DANIEL BROCKMANN was the most prosperous of the merchant-princes in the rich commercial city of Hamburg. He possessed two magnificent houses: one, conveniently situated near the harbour, containing the offices where his late and widely-extended business was despatched, the counting-house with its numerous clerks and accountants, and the enormous warehouses, in which were stored the products of every nation and climate; the other, quite regal in its grandeur, was an ornament to the "Young Ladies' Walk," a promenade on the banks of the "Alster Bassin," a kind of lake formed by an estuary of the little river "Alster" and whose beauty and style is peculiar to the city of Hamburg. This was his winter residence; in the summer he lived with his family in a beautiful villa on the banks of the Elbe, half-an-hour's drive from the town, surrounded by a magnificent garden, and commanding a fine view of the city and the shipping in the river.

The business connection of the rich merchant extended to all the inhabited countries of the globe. His ships sailed to every sea; his whaling-boats brought whalebone and train-oil from the distant Polar regions, his East India trading vessels were richly laden with spices, costly silks, and dyes. The West Indies contributed coffee, sugar, cocoa-nuts, tobacco and cotton. Africa sent ostrich feathers, ivory, and valuable medicinal herbs, besides all kinds of tropical fruits, such as dates, figs, &c., also skins, and rare wines. In short, whatever of most costly the earth produced flowed into the warehouses of Herr Brockmann, to be again distributed all over the world.

From this extensive business Herr Brockmann derived great riches, and God's blessing seemed to rest upon him, doubtless because he used his large share of this world's goods in a manner pleasing both to Heaven and his follow-men. He was a father to the poor and needy, and his liberal hand was always held out to assist those whose character and circumstances rendered them worthy of help. Idlers and loiterers asked alms of him in vain, but the widow and the orphan, honest craftsmen and labourers, poor but industrious young people of every condition, found him always ready with kind counsel and open purse, and the charitable institutions of his native city looked upon him as their most liberal benefactor, and blessed him for his good and generous heart.

As has been said, God had rewarded him on earth. As he was blessed in his business, so also was he blessed in his home and family. He had an excellent wife, who upheld him heartily in his care and thoughtfulness for the poor, the sick and the needy, and his son Adelbert, a happy-tempered, ingenuous youth of twelve or thirteen years of age, was deservedly his pride and delight; for he, by his natural disposition and abilities, his goodness of heart, and steadiness of purpose, admirable even in a man, promised fair to tread in his father's footsteps. Nevertheless, he had his little failings, tempers, and peculiarities, from which even the best children are never entirely free, but altogether his mind and conduct gave good foundation for the hopes which his parents entertained of his future career.

Only one trait in Adelbert's character gave his father cause for real anxiety, and that was a certain enthusiastic love of adventure that showed itself on several occasions, and had its origin in his lively imagination. He read willingly much that was interesting and instructive, but the books he liked most of all were those in which strange and uncommon adventures were recounted. This was not likely to amount to a fault in itself, for the only books he was allowed to read were most carefully selected by his parents and instructors; but the fault was in this—when Adelbert read tales of adventure, they so completely absorbed his senses, thoughts, and even dreams, that he, so to speak, identified himself with the characters, and burned to pass through their experiences.

For example, he had only the year before received from his father on his birthday a copy of "Robinson Crusoe," and, as usual, was soon deep in the charming book. It produced a wonderful effect on him; no tale had ever riveted his attention and enchained his whole soul like this. Twice, thrice did he read it, from the first page to the last, and poor "Robinson" on the desert island, in the far distant sea, alone, forsaken by all the world, aroused always anew his heartiest sympathy.

Thus far, all was well; but suddenly it occurred to him how charming it would be if he himself could become a second Robinson Crusoe, and from that moment he did not rest till he was allowed to make trial of that kind of life. His parents at first forbade it, and represented to him how foolish and absurd his wishes were; but Adelbert begged and entreated so earnestly and perseveringly, that at last they yielded.

"Well, since he insists upon it," said the father to the mother, when they were alone, "let him have his own way. At this time of year in the height of summer, during the warm nights, no harm can befal him, and besides, I am convinced the pleasure will not last long, and a storm of rain will soon cool the 'Robinson Crusoe' fever."

So Adelbert received at last the much-desired permission, and went joyfully to work to carry out his plans. A distant corner of the garden was given up to him, and he built with his own hands a little hut of boughs, fenced it in all round, took a pair of goats with him for the sake of their milk, and condemned himself to spend many weeks in loneliness, and deprived of all his accustomed comforts. A bundle of straw and a blanket served him for couch, the milk of the goats, and a little bread he had directed to be given him daily over the fence, was to be his nourishment, and for amusement, he would manufacture all the tools he could possibly want in his hermit-life. He had coloured the whole scheme so brightly in his imagination that he did not doubt for one moment that he should spend at least some weeks of the greatest pleasure in this manner. But it proved the opposite of what he anticipated, and his father had judged rightly.

Adelbert, accustomed to his comfortable bed, with its soft mattress, spent a wretched night on his miserable couch of straw. The next morning the goats would not allow him to milk them, as he did not know how to set about it properly; so, for that day he was obliged to be content with bread and water for his food, and the following night, to complete his discomfiture, there came a heavy shower of rain, completely drenching everything. The wet penetrated through his loosely-constructed hut, and the blanket afforded but very slight protection. Before midnight he was wet to the skin, and his bed was soaking. He went out and looked at the sky, but not one little star twinkled encouragingly at him, only the rain-drops pattered faster and faster on the loaves of the trees.

"This is miserable," said he to himself; "I do not think the rain means to stop, and I find after all it is better to read 'Robinson Crusoe' than to act it. What folly it is! I will go home."

And so, without more ado, he left his romantic dwelling, broke down the carefully erected fence unceremoniously, and ran back to the house.

Dripping with wet, and rather shamefaced, he went in, and was received laughingly by his parents, who had expected this conclusion to the adventure. A slight cold was the only penalty, but Adelbert was cured for good and all of the "Robinson Crusoe" fever.

But other fevers attacked him from time to time, and one day they took a sea-going turn, because his imagination had been excited by some adventures at sea he had read. He could not rest, and begged so long that at last his father made a short voyage with him to Heligoland.

"If only a storm would come," thought Adelbert, as the steamer sped through the water off Cuxhaven, "how pleasant that would be, father; there is no fun in a sea voyage when it is so smooth."

"I expect you would not think it any joke, if your wish for a storm were fulfilled," answered his father drily. "The description of a storm at sea may be very fine to read at home in a comfortable room, but to experience one in reality is a very different thing, therefore I am thankful for a favourable wind and smooth water."

"But, my dear father," answered Adelbert pouting, "such a voyage is no better than a row in a pleasure-boat on the 'Alster Bassin.' No, no. I long for a storm which comes rushing over the surging waters, and roars through the shrouds, whilst wave after wave flings itself on the deck, and the ship shivers and trembles like a living thing, rising one minute high on a mountainous billow, to be cast the next moment into the deepest abyss of the ocean. Such a storm would be my delight, and undismayed I would take my stand by this mast."

"Well, my boy, I only hope your heroism will not be put to the proof," said his father.

"It is very likely to be the case though, sir," said the captain of the steamer, who standing near had been an amused but good-natured listener to the conversation. "Yes, Herr Brockmann, it is not unlikely that the young gentleman will soon have a taste of a real 'nor'-wester;' the clouds are coming up fast."

"But will there be any danger?" asked Herr Brockmann rather anxiously.

"Oh no, sir, none at all," answered the captain, "only a little squall, it will be all over in an hour. You can be quite satisfied of that, and the young gentleman may safely stay on deck, if he likes to see the fun."

"Oh that is glorious," cried Adelbert joyfully; "how delighted I am, if it will only get really rough, so that we may dance over the water."

"Well, I reckon we shall have dancing enough to please you, young gentleman," said the captain with a cunning twinkle of the eye; "hold fast by this mast till it is over, and then you will have something to tell mamma when you get home." And laughing slily, the captain turned away to give orders to prepare for the coming storm.

And in the meantime, Adelbert took up his position by the mast, and watched with eager looks the approaching gale.

"See, father, how grand, how beautiful it is!" said he with sparkling eyes. "See that heavy cloud sweeping over the sea, like a great, dark bird with outspread wings; it is a glorious sight."

"Not badly described," said his father, a little ironically; "but I had rather the great, dark bird flew away from us, with its outspread wings instead of coming over us. Here it comes, then; and I expect you will soon be of my opinion."

"Oh no, father, I would not for worlds have missed this grand sight," cried Adelbert, throwing up his head proudly. "Yes, here is the storm! Here come the foam-crested waves! What a magnificent sight! Can anything be more beautiful than—"

At this moment, one of the swollen waves reached the ship, pitched her somewhat roughly on her side, and flung itself in showers of glistening spray over the deck. The sudden shock came as unexpectedly to our little friend as did the salt water; his knees gave way under him, he staggered and would have fallen, if his father had not held him up with his strong arm. Adelbert appeared rather disconcerted as he clung in alarm to his father with both hands, the words died on his lips, and it was some little time before he recovered his presence of mind.

"Oh!" cried he as soon as he could speak. "That took me by surprise, I was not thinking of it; but never mind, when it comes again, I shall be better prepared, and I will stand as firm as if I were rooted to the spot."

"So much the better," said his father, "I am only curious to see how firmly the roots will hold."

"As firmly as those of an oak," answered Adelbert boastingly, as he clung to the ropes on the mast, "neither storm nor waves shall move me from this spot."

His father shrugged his shoulders as he thought to himself, "We shall see."

And the storm came rushing nearer and nearer on the wings of the wind.

The first wave that had caused Adelbert's giddiness was only the forerunner of what was to come; and now the storm broke over them with rain, flashing lightning, and rolling thunder. Adelbert, drenched through as he was by rain and spray, stood firm, the vivid lightning and loud thunder did not frighten him, and even the heavy rolling and pitching of the vessel did not seem to affect him, as he stood holding with both hands to the rigging. He joked and laughed aloud in the midst of the storm and beating rain, his long fair hair streamed on the wind, his cheeks glowed with excitement, and his eyes sparkled with pleasure and enjoyment, when suddenly in the midst of his joy, he became silent, the colour left his cheeks, his eyes were no longer bright, and he looked most truly wretched.

"What is the matter?" asked his father anxiously, as he took him in his arms.

"Oh dear!" groaned Adelbert. "All at once, I have become so sick and ill. I cannot think what it is. Oh dear, I shall die, I know I shall, I am so bad."

"Oho! As bad as that, is it?" cried the captain, who was standing near, with a short laugh. "It is only a slight attack of sea-sickness you have, young gentleman. How now? Don't the storm and the raging waves please you any longer? Ah, I expected as much; but cheer up, when the storm is over, the sickness will go off."

All pleasure in the beauties of the storm was past, and Adelbert thanked Heaven when, after two hours of suffering, he once more stood on "terra-firma," and felt the red cliffs of Heligoland under his feet.

For some time he had had enough of the sea, and although afterwards, he often made short voyages with his father, he never again wished, as at first, for hurricanes or gales. A pleasure trip in his little boat on the smooth and mirror-like Alster Bassin, seemed to him for many weeks to be far the best. There he need not fear the dreadful sea-sickness, which for weeks he never remembered without a shudder.

A month or two after the voyage to Heligoland, a book fell into Adelbert's hands, which soon kindled fresh desires in his breast. It was the description of a journey in the "Hartz" mountains, and by the time he had read it through two or three times, he could think of nothing but deep shady valleys, of wildly-cleft, rugged, and boldly projecting masses of rock, of rushing mountain torrents, magnificent forest glades, the lonely huts of the charcoal-burners and the woodmen, stately stags, and timid little roe-deer, dark caves in the mountain sides, and deep subterranean mines and shafts where the poor hill-men, in the sweat of their brow, brought costly metals to the light of day, and gathered the treasure they would never share.

"Oh, mother," said he for the hundredth time, "if I could only go there. To climb over mountain and valley, to ramble through the forest and listen to the murmuring of the brooks, and to go down deep into the bowels of the earth,—what pleasure it would be! I shall die of longing, if I do not behold all these wonders and beauties."

"People don't die so easily, foolish child," said his mother, smiling. "Besides, it is too late to undertake a journey to the 'Hartz' this year. In October it is cold in the mountains, and you would soon be wishing to leave the damp valleys and misty dales, and return home. Have patience till next spring, and then we will talk more about it, and perhaps, if you are good and diligent all the winter, it will give your father pleasure to grant your request, you know how kind he is."

It seemed a very long time till the spring, but Adelbert saw plainly that he must wait till then, for the next few days brought cold storms of rain and wind, making it anything but inviting for travelling. So he nourished and fed his longing to the utmost, reading eagerly all that he possibly could about the "Hartz," their beauties and peculiarities.

When, then, at last the spring really came, and clothed the trees once more with fresh green leaves, when winds breathed soft, and a cloudless blue sky smiled on the flower-covered fields, then Adelbert rested no longer.

"Mother, spring is here," said he; "do you remember what you promised me last autumn? How lovely and beautiful it must be now in the hills and valleys of the Hartz!"

"Patience, patience," said his mother, with a smile, "your birthday comes next week, who knows what may happen then?"

Adelbert was radiant with hope, his mother's words filled his heart with the sweetest expectations, and more eagerly than ever he read his books about the "Hartz" mountains, and dreamt of nothing else day or night.

"Yes, if I were only a charcoal-burner," thought he to himself,—"a charcoal-burner in the midst of the deepest forests, where he reigns supreme! What things he must see and experience, as he builds up the wood in his kiln, and kindling it, watches carefully lest it break into a blaze! The shy beasts of the forest approach him without fear, for he does not pursue nor kill them like the hunter. Oh, if I were but a charcoal-burner! I would build a hut of green boughs under the shade and shelter of a wide-spreading oak or beech; I would tame the stags and roe-deer, I would entice the pretty little birds that sing so beautifully, and strew food in abundance for them, till they became so tame that they would perch on my hand or my shoulder.

"Then in the evening, I would listen to tales and stories from the other charcoal-burners, mountaineers, and huntsmen who might by chance come to visit me in my lonely dwelling. They would like to come to see me, for I should be very kind to them, my father is rich, and would let me want for nothing, and I would willingly share everything with them, only to hear their beautiful stories of the 'Wild Huntsman,' of the 'Giant Maiden,' of the 'Princess Ilsa,' the spectre huntsman 'Hakelberg,' too, and the spirit of the woods that flew before his ghostly band, as they rushed through the forest to the sound of horn and 'halloo.'

"People who live deep in the woods know ten times as many suchlike tales as are to be found in books; besides, how much better they must sound there in the depths of the wilderness, or the fastnesses of the mountains, in the very spots where they have happened, and where, perhaps, behind the next bush sits hidden an inquisitive hobgoblin, listening, and grinning with delight over the mischievous tricks that he or his brothers had played. Yes, that must be splendid; and who knows? If my father does not forbid it, I may perhaps become a charcoal-burner, and live free and happy in the beautiful loneliness of the forest."

At the same time, Adelbert seemed not only to have thought about it, but actually to have formed his plans and made arrangements in his own mind. However, he did not betray himself by a single word, but waited with the greatest impatience for his birthday, when he was to see, the fulfilment of all his most cherished and secret wishes.