Life in a German Crack Regiment

"Ho! ho!" burst out the major, "you are becoming worse and worse."

"It will have to be," continued Fritz. "You yourself pointed out to me a little while ago that we do not learn nearly enough at college, but quite apart from that there is another drawback; we go into the army too young, we are made officers in two years. Lieutenants of eighteen and nineteen are by no means rare, and we are suddenly given a position which no one else enjoys at that age. We get the control of money too early without ever having learnt how to manage it. Just think of the life at a military college, how we are watched and protected! One dare not smoke or drink beer or go out without being invited. One has to say how long one stayed with one's relatives – "

"But that is all very right," interposed Hildegarde.

"It may be, but it may not be: the transition to the other kind of life is too sudden, too quick. Twenty-four hours after one has left this college one is an ensign, and then all at once he enjoys that complete liberty against which he was so zealously guarded but a short time ago. One can eat and drink what one likes, one can go where one will, in short, one can enjoy all the pleasures of life at one go off. And so one easily oversteps the limits and does all sorts of stupid things in the joy of having escaped such strict surveillance. And who can blame an ensign for this? The young ensign gets accustomed to leading an idle life, and this continues when he becomes a lieutenant, only very few having the energy to alter. We were lately looking over the Army List to see how many of our contemporaries at college were still in the army, and we were simply astonished to find how many had vanished. The education at the Cadets' College is answerable for this – that alone. At nineteen a man is an officer, at three-and-twenty he gets his discharge; that happens more often than people believe, and that shows clearly that the cadets at college have not learnt the one thing properly that they ought to have learnt – to control themselves and to live as officers in a suitable manner. At college far too much stress is laid upon drill, exercise, lessons and other things, and not nearly enough on the education of the youthful mind. There is no education of the individual, of the character; it's all done en bloc, and the college can never take the place of the home; what the child sees and hears and learns unconsciously there, is worth a thousand times more than what is so stringently imparted to him at college."

"But how can it be altered?" asked the major, who was deeply interested in the conversation. The ladies, meanwhile, had risen from the table and taken their needlework.

"I do not know," acknowledged Fritz, "but some means may be found. The Cadets' Colleges must, as I have said, be abolished, and every officer must have passed his matriculation, as was formerly the case in the Marines. There should be a limit of age; in my opinion it should be twenty, and then a man could not be a lieutenant till he was two-and-twenty; that is quite early enough, if after that age was no more taken into account. The age limit must be abolished. To-day no one who has not reached a certain rank by a certain age has any chance of making a career for himself. What is the object of keeping the army so young by all possible means? As a result of this, every year hundreds and hundreds of men have to seek for posts of all kinds. New elements, new officials, new views are introduced, and this does not tend to facilitate the training of the troops. If a man is lieutenant at twenty-two he can be a captain at five-and-thirty, a major at forty-four, and a colonel at eight-and-forty. Surely that is young enough, isn't it? And if he distinguishes himself in any way he can get his promotion earlier."

"And would that make for efficiency in time of war?"

"You can answer that better than I can. You were pensioned as a complete invalid, but in spite of this were you not at your discharge quite young enough and active enough to have done duty on the field?"

"Yes, and no," grumbled the major. "I will explain what I mean. The chief army doctor worried round me for a long time, but he could find no wound for which he could write a certificate, so I assisted him a little and mentioned injuries which I did not possess, and then it was all right. But I could easily have held out for five – no, ten years. Go into a pension office in any large town and look at the innumerable officers who go there regularly at the first of each month to draw their pension – a few miserable pounds. They are all 'complete invalids,' or who have been pensioned on account of their age. Yet health and energy are to be read in their faces."

"That is just what we all say," put in Fritz. "We have been lately talking about these things in the Casino; nothing of much value is said, still it is interesting what the different officers think about these matters. We are unanimous in wanting to abolish the military college. Every lieutenant must have passed his matriculation and no one can be an officer before he is one-and-twenty; if we once have that, there will be a great alteration in the army."

There was a long pause; the major was ruminating over what Fritz had just said, then he said: "In many ways you have really most sensible ideas."

"That is what I think," Hildegarde chimed in; "I must compliment you, Fritz. When I hear you speak so seriously, and with so much knowledge, I can hardly recognise you as my gay and frivolous brother."

Fritz bowed to his sister. "Very much obliged. Yes, I have at intervals my lucid moments, they tell me that in the regiment; but, alas! these mental illuminations are but rare. My mental darkness only disappears when I have drunk a good deal of wine; then I begin to think. I haven't courage at other times. From such occasions I recognise that I am a social democrat."

"But, Fritz – "

"Well, that is good! You a lieutenant and a social democrat – "

"Calm yourselves," implored Fritz. "I have not sworn brotherhood with Bebel. When I say I am a social democrat I don't, of course, mean that I have subscribed to the programme of that party, though I must say the division of property would suit me well, provided I got a good thing out of it! I only meant to say that I am a dissatisfied aristocrat, and so are we all, from the colonel down to the youngest lieutenant. One can't say as much as one would like to, because naturally one has to remember the uniform one wears, but soon there will be complaints enough, I can assure you, not only in our regiment but in all."

"It was certainly not like that in my time," lamented the major; "discussions we had often, of course, but – "

"Formerly things were very different, father. Formerly everybody got his majority, now one may remain a first lieutenant for ever and be transferred to a district command or some such thing. Formerly it really was a day of honour and rejoicing when there was an inspection by those high in authority, but what happens now? Everybody trembles for weeks before it takes place, and for weeks afterwards, in the fear that someone may get his discharge as a result of it. There used to be a three-years' service, now the men have to get through the same amount of work and drill in two years, and the military and extra-military duties of to-day are not to be compared with those of ten years ago. Ah, and the money question! I am not thinking of myself, I am an extravagant dog, but now and again someone attempts to live on his allowance and the authorities do all they can to put obstacles in his way. Now it's a festival, now a guests' day, a birthday celebration, a garden entertainment and ladies invited, the jubilee of the regiment, a farewell dinner; even if a man wants to be steady and economical he can't get out of the champagne – he simply must drink with the others. Whether in former times you used so much of your pay for presents, flowers, Casino subscriptions, and a thousand and one other things, that I don't know. And then, the expense of one's clothes; why, I believe I owe my tailor alone five thousand marks. There's always some new fashion or other; new cloaks, different caps, coats, new buttons, new scarves, and all the rest of it. And who has to pay for all this? Why, the officer, of course. And where does he get his money from? Of course that's his own business. On the one hand we are warned to be steady and not fling away our money, and on the other we are always being dragged into fresh expenses. It will all have to be altered, or in ten years' time our officers will be ten times more heavily in debt than even to-day. You, father, to-day were blaming Society because we lived beyond our means, but we officers blame the authorities. There must always be money for regimental purposes, but nobody troubles how we live, and then when we get into debt there's a devil of a row and we are bound to pay up within three days. On such occasions we are threatened with dismissal, of which the colonel also runs the risk because he was not strict enough in preventing us from getting into debt. That is what happened to me lately. I owed the Casino four hundred marks, and had to face the alternative of paying within four-and-twenty hours or undergoing five days' arrest; naturally I paid, and the colonel was satisfied. It didn't occur to him to ask where I had got the money from."

"And where did you get it from?"

"Borrowed it from the Jews, of course. I am not a magician and cannot get money from the air. It's so ridiculous. One is forced to contract new debts in order to pay off the old ones which comes to the colonel's ears."

"Does your colonel know that you have debts?"

"Of course he knows, though, probably, he does not guess how deeply I am involved. He says to himself, 'What I do not know does not concern me. I need not trouble about things which are not officially brought to my notice.' His own future and his career are of far more importance to him than mine. He doesn't really care if I go to the devil or not; but if I do go he may go also; so he not only shuts both eyes, but also both ears. He doesn't want to see or hear anything, for, of course, he knows perfectly well that I am not the only one. If he takes action against one, he would have to against the others, and he doesn't want to do that. He wants to become a general; his successor can see about the officers who are in debt."

It was late when they went to bed. The father and son would have preferred to go on talking all through the night, but the women folk urged an adjournment; they must remember to-morrow was the day of the festivity which would bring in its train a great deal of exertion, visits, and congratulations of all kinds.

But, alas! the day of rejoicing was not such as had been expected. It got about that Hildegarde had changed a cheque in her father's name, and the news spread like lightning through the little town. Everybody who knew of this and had any claim on the major determined to go early in the morning, if possible, so as to be the first, and ask him to pay his account which had been owing for ages.

They were taking their early cup of coffee when the tradesmen were announced. The major knew what was before him and cursed and swore like mad.

"That's what happens when you women interfere in money matters. How could you be so stupid as to change a cheque, even if only one person was standing by and saw you? And why was it a cheque at all? Can't the Warnows pay the miserable few thousands (hundreds) in cash? Nobody would then have heard of it; but now I am obliged to pay out some of the money. But," he roared out suddenly, "I won't do it at all. I did not think to have my sixtieth birthday spoilt by that shameless crew. I'll see them all to the devil first."

"Shall I go and talk to these people?" asked Fritz. "I have great experience in these things, and I can safely say that no one has ever got anything from me. I can't understand, father, why you get so excited over such trifles. Now, let me go and try what I can do."

He was about to go out of the room, but his mother kept him back.

"That won't do, Fritz. You don't know how often the bailiff from the court has been here. Things have gone so far – I mean – well, you will have to know it – up till now he has only sealed some of our furniture and has not sold any; but if the authorities hear that we really have money he will have to sell us up. He told us that, and we wanted to spare papa that to-day."

"Above all things, certainly." Fritz had become serious, and involuntarily he looked round to see the seals.

"He has only put on seals where they could not be seen," the mother whispered to her son; "on the carpets, the piano, the bookshelf, the pictures – briefly, all the things that stand against the walls. Oh, it's frightful!" and she began to cry.

"Yes, that's right, cry!" roared the major. "Formerly on one's birthday one was serenaded; now, when one is old and grey, one's wife weeps because there is no money and the creditors are outside the door. A man must live to be sixty to enjoy such an honour."

He stamped to and fro cursing, listening from time to time to the people who were in the vestibule waiting for him. Suddenly he stood in front of Hildegarde and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Eh, Hilda, you see we cannot wait much longer for your lover. Bring him soon, before it is too late, before that rascally crew has taken everything and sold us up and I and your mother are cast into the street."

His words expressed such bitterness and such despair that Hildegarde forgot all about her own feelings and how she was looked upon as deliverer, and in grief for her parents she burst into tears.

"Number two," scolded the major. "That's right."

"Don't be unjust, father. You can't blame mother and Hildegarde for being sad. The affair is more than unpleasant to me even."

"Then you had better begin and cry," cursed the old man, whose veins stood out on his forehead.

"I am not thinking of myself but how these people can be satisfied in some way or other. I did not know that any of the furniture was sealed. You ought to have told me so." After a slight pause he asked, "How much is it for?"

"Only two thousand marks."

"This must be paid first of all, and this very day."

"Oh, I don't think so. The seals have been all right there for a long time."

"In spite of that the two thousand marks must be paid," continued Fritz with determination and energy, "and if you cannot pay it I must. I lately won a few thousands at cards, and I will give you a couple."

The major stared at his son. "And what is the reason of this generosity, may I ask?"

"Consideration for myself and Hildegarde. If it were conceivable that it should ever be known in my regiment how matters stood with you here, I should not only lose my position, but also my credit, and that might have consequences which would not be pleasant for either of us. And one must consider Hildegarde. Just imagine if in the next few weeks, or perhaps in the next few days, Hilda's prospective lover were to pay you a visit and by some unfortunate chance caught sight of the seals. The fellow would have to be a downright idiot if this did not open his eyes to the fact that he was only being married for his money. And this knowledge must not come before the marriage, it must be prevented at all cost. If you can't do this I must."

The major had sunk into a chair and was gazing gloomily in front of him, the two ladies were softly crying.

Fritz got up and went to his mother. "I will go and talk to these people. Will you give me the six thousand marks, it can't be helped."

"The dear money!" The major groaned; for the first time for many a day he had been able to sleep the whole night through without being awakened by anxious thoughts. The consciousness of having six thousand marks in the house in cash had filled him with great joy and given him a feeling of tranquillity and security. And now the people stood outside who were to take his money from him.

"Fritz," he said, turning to his son, "you promise me to do the best you can with these people. Don't pay it all away or we shall not have any money in the house."

"I can manage with the housekeeping till the first," the mother said; "I have still a hundred marks."