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5. Chapter 7
Sub and Function Procedures
A Guide to this Instructor’s Manual:
We have designed this Instructor’s Manual to supplement and enhance your teaching
experience through classroom activities and a cohesive chapter summary.
This document is organized chronologically, using the same headings that you see in the
textbook. Under the headings you will find: lecture notes that summarize the section, Teaching
Tips, Class Discussion Topics, and Additional Projects and Resources. Pay special attention to
teaching tips and activities geared towards quizzing your students and enhancing their critical
thinking skills.
In addition to this Instructor’s Manual, our Instructor’s Resources also contain PowerPoint
Presentations, Test Banks, and other supplements to aid in your teaching experience.
At a Glance
Instructor’s Manual Table of Contents
• Overview
• Objectives
• Teaching Tips
• Quick Quizzes
• Class Discussion Topics
• Additional Projects
• Additional Resources
• Key Terms
6. Lecture Notes
Overview
Chapter 7 introduces Sub and Function procedures, and contains three lessons:
• In Lesson A, students learn the difference between Sub procedures and Function
procedures, and pass information by value and by reference. The lesson also explains
the use of the ByVal and ByRef keywords for parameters.
• Lesson B introduces the combo box control, and all of the things students can do with a
combo box.
• Lesson C covers the use of the FormClosing event and rounding numbers.
Lesson A Objectives
After studying Lesson A, students should be able to:
• Create and call an independent Sub procedure
• Explain the difference between a Sub procedure and a Function procedure
• Create a procedure that receives information passed to it
• Explain the difference between passing data by value and passing data by reference
• Create a Function procedure
Teaching Tips
Previewing the Cerruti Company Application
1. Use Figures 7-1 and 7-2 to review the sample application to be completed in this
chapter.
Teaching
Tip
Run the completed program to demonstrate the final result that will be achieved
in this chapter.
Sub Procedures
1. Explain the difference between event procedures and independent Sub procedures.
2. Remind students that all of the procedures they have coded so far are event procedures.
3. Explain the need for a Call statement.
4. Use Figure 7-3 to review the reasons programmers use independent Sub procedures.
5. Use Figures 7-4 to review the syntax and examples of an independent Sub procedure and
the Call statement.
7. 6. Introduce the concept of parameters and a parameter list.
7. Explain that when a procedure with parameters is invoked, the number, type, and order
of information passed as arguments must agree with the number, type, and order of the
parameters in the parameter list.
8. Point out that you can pass literal constants, named constants, keywords, or variables to
an independent Sub procedure.
Teaching
Tip
It is a good idea to distinguish between the terms “parameters” and “arguments.”
Passing Variables
1. Introduce the concepts of passing by value and passing by reference in relation to
passing arguments to a procedure.
Teaching
Tip
This concept is usually difficult for students to understand. Discussing the
savings account example that is explained in the textbook and in Figure 7-5 on
page 394 will be helpful because students are probably familiar with banks and
monetary transactions.
Passing Variables by Value
1. Introduce the keyword ByVal for declaring parameters to be passed by value.
2. Stress that when a variable is passed by value, the receiving procedure cannot modify
the actual contents of the variable.
3. Use Figures 7-6 through 7-9 to illustrate a program that passes variables by value.
Teaching
Tip
Point out that you must look at the procedure declaration to determine whether
the variables will be passed by value or by reference.
Passing a Variable by Reference
1. Introduce the keyword ByRef for declaring parameters to be passed by reference.
2. Compare and contrast passing a variable by value and by reference.
Teaching
Tip
Point out that IntelliSense will help to guide you in specifying the correct
arguments when you invoke the procedure.
8. 3. Use Figures 7-10 through 7-14 to illustrate a program from Chapter 7 that passes
variables by value and by reference.
4. Walk through the desk-checking techniques in Figures 7-15 through 7-19.
Teaching
Tip
Point out that both ByVal and ByRef can be used in a parameter list within the
same procedure as shown in the AssignDiscount sub procedure.
Function Procedures
1. Point out that Function procedures are commonly called functions.
2. Explain that a function always returns a value, while a Sub procedure does not.
3. Point out that you can create your own Function procedures in Visual Basic.
4. Use Figures 7-20 and 7-21 to describe examples of a Sub procedure and a function.
5. Introduce the Return statement and explain its purpose.
6. Explain that the variable or value used in the Return statement must be the same data
type as that specified in the As dataType clause in the function header.
7. Use Figures 7-22 and 7-23 to review the syntax and examples of invoking a function.
Teaching
Tip
Remind students that a function can only return one value.
8. Use Figure 7-24 and 7-25 to review the code for the Concert Tickets application. Point
out the declaration of the GetDiscount function and the code that invokes it.
9. Walk through the desk-checking techniques in Figures 7-26 through 7-29.
Lesson A Summary
Teaching
Tip
Point out the extra As dataType clause that appears in a function, and explain its
purpose. This is one important aspect of a function that is different from a Sub
procedure.
Teaching
Tip
Remind students that procedures are usually created to perform tasks that must
be repeated many times within a program.
9. 1. Review how to create an independent Sub procedure.
2. Review how to call an independent Sub procedure.
3. Summarize how to pass information to an independent Sub or Function procedure.
4. Review how to pass a variable by value to a procedure.
5. Review how to pass a variable by reference to a procedure.
6. Summarize how to create an independent Function procedure.
Quick Quiz 1
1. A parameter should be declared using the ____________________ keyword when you
want to pass only the value of a variable to the procedure.
Answer: ByVal
2. True or False: A function can return a value, but a Sub procedure cannot.
Answer: True
3. True or False: The Exit Function statement is used to return the value from a function.
Answer: False
Lesson B Objectives
After studying Lesson B, students should be able to:
• Include a combo box in an interface
• Add items to a combo box
• Select a combo box item from code
• Determine the number of items in the list portion of a combo box
• Sort the items in the list portion of a combo box
• Determine the item either selected or entered in a combo box
• Code a combo box’s TextChanged event procedure
Teaching Tips
Including a Combo Box in an Interface
1. Introduce the ComboBox tool and the combo box control.
Teaching
Tip
Compare and contrast the combo box and the list box controls.
10. 2. Introduce the concept of the DropDownStyle property and describe its possible
settings.
3. Use Figure 7-32 to illustrate the different combo box styles.
Teaching
Tip
It is very helpful to run this program once with each style of combo box so that
students can see the differences between styles at run time.
4. Use Figure 7-33 to point out that adding items to a combo box is similar to adding items
to a list box, using the Items collection and the Add method.
5. Distinguish between the values of the Text property and the SelectedItem property in a
combo box.
6. Review the code used to add items to a combo box.
7. Review the guidelines for combo box controls in the GUI Design Tip box.
8. Use Figure 7-36 to describe the combo box contents at run time.
9. Review the completed code in Figure 7-37.
Teaching
Tip
Remind students about the need to provide Windows standard behavior in all
programs.
Lesson B Summary
1. Review the process of adding a combo box control to a form.
2. Summarize the effects of the DropDownStyle property of a combo box.
3. Review how to add items to a combo box using the Items collection and the Add
method.
4. Summarize the use of the Sorted property for a combo box control.
5. Review the use of the SelectedItem, SelectedIndex, and Text properties of the combo
box.
Teaching
Tip
Point out that when the DropDownStyle property is set to DropDownList, the
user cannot enter a new value in the text portion of the combo box.
11. 6. Review how to process code when a user selects a value in a combo box.
Quick Quiz 2
1. True or False: The SelectedIndex property of a combo box will return the value of the
item selected by the user.
Answer: False
2. If the user enters a new value in the text portion of a combo box, the program can obtain
that value by using the combo box’s ____________________ property.
Answer: Text
3. The ____________________ property of a combo box determines how the user can
make selections and interact with the combo box.
Answer: DropDownStyle
Lesson C Objectives
After studying Lesson C, students should be able to:
• Prevent a form from closing
• Round a number
Teaching Tips
Creating the Cerruti Company Application
1. Review the requirements shown in the TOE chart in Figure 7-39.
2. Describe the user interface shown in Figure 7-40.
Coding the FormClosing Event Procedure
1. Introduce the form object’s FormClosing event and describe when it occurs.
Teaching
Tip
Point out that a form can be closed by using the Close button on the form’s title
bar, as well as by using an Exit button or calling Me.Close in the code.
2. Use Figure 7-41 to describe the pseudocode for verifying that the user truly wants to
exit the program.
3. Describe the use of the message box to determine if the form should be closed, as
shown in Figure 7-42, and describe the code that is required to implement this feature.
12. 4. Describe the use of the Cancel property of the FormClosing event to cancel the close
operation.
Coding the btnCalc_Click Procedure
1. Review the pseudocode for this event shown in Figure 7-43.
2. Use Figures 7-44 to describe the code that must be entered in the btnCalc control’s
Click event procedure.
Creating the GetFwt Function
1. Use the tables and the examples shown in Figures 7-45 and 7-46 to explain how federal
withholding tax is calculated.
2. Use Figure 7-47 to describe the pseudocode that implements the federal withholding tax
calculation.
3. Describe the parameters required for the GetFwt function shown in Figure 7-48.
Teaching
Tip
Ask students whether the variables passed into the GetFwt function can be
modified directly by the function. Why or why not?
Completing the btnCalc_Click Procedure
1. Describe how to invoke the GetFwt function from within the btnCalc control’s Click
event procedure.
Rounding Numbers
1. Explain that the Math.Round function is used to round a numeric value to a specified
number of decimal places.
2. Use Figure 7-49 to review the syntax and examples of the Math.Round function.
3. Run the completed program, which is shown in Figure 7-53, and discuss its results.
Lesson C Summary
1. Summarize the use of the FormClosing event to process code before a form is closed.
2. Review the use of the Cancel property of the FormClosing event procedure to prevent a
form from being closed.
3. Summarize the use of the Math.Round function.
13. Quick Quiz 3
1. Which property of the FormClosing event can be used to prevent a form from being
closed?
Answer: Cancel
2. When closing a form object at run time, the event named ____________________ will
occur.
Answer: FormClosing
Class Discussion Topics
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of passing by reference versus passing by
value?
2. Consider the DropDownStyle property of the combo box control. When might it be
appropriate to use one style versus another style? What are the implications of allowing
the user to enter new values that are not already in the list? What are the programmatic
implications of allowing multiple items to be selected? How do these issues affect your
requirement as a programmer to validate user input data?
Additional Projects
1. Ask students to modify the application created as an Additional Project in Chapter 4 for
calculating the average of test scores. Students should add a combo box to the user
interface that will allow the user to select a preset curve value of 1 to 5 points. Use the
FormClosing event and a message box to determine if the user truly wants to close the
form.
2. Ask students to experiment with the DropDownStyle property of the combo box control
by creating a form with all three styles. How must the program handle the choices if
multiple selections are allowed?
3. Have students create an application that asks the user to input two integers. The
program should check that the second integer is greater than the first. Once the data is
validated, the program should call a function that generates a random real number.
Students should add a button to the interface that rounds the number.
Additional Resources
1. An Introduction to Functions and Subs:
www.homeandlearn.co.uk/NET/nets9p1.html
14. 2. ByVal and ByRef in VB .NET:
www.homeandlearn.co.uk/NET/nets9p4.html
3. How to use Parameters with Functions:
www.homeandlearn.co.uk/NET/nets9p6.html
Key Terms
➢ Call statement—the Visual Basic statement used to invoke (call) an independent Sub
procedure
➢ Cancel property—a property of the e parameter in the form’s FormClosing event
procedure; when set to True, it prevents the form from closing
➢ Combo box—a control that allows the user to select from a list of choices and also has
a text field that may or may not be editable
➢ DropDownStyle property—determines the style of a combo box
➢ FormClosing event—occurs when a form is about to be closed, which can happen as a
result of the computer processing the Me.Close() statement or the user clicking the
Close button on the form’s title bar
➢ Function procedure—a procedure that returns a value after performing its assigned
task
➢ Functions—another name for Function procedures
➢ Independent Sub procedure—a procedure that is independent of any object and event;
the procedure is processed only when called (invoked) from code
➢ Math.Round function—used to round a number to a specific number of decimal places
➢ Passing by reference—the process of passing a variable’s address to a procedure so
that the value in the variable can be changed
➢ Passing by value—the process of passing a copy of a variable’s value to a procedure
➢ Return statement—the Visual Basic statement that returns a function’s value to the
statement that invoked the function
16. The sound of her own voice reassured her. Under the tuition of an
eminent professor her melodious alto, capable of rich modulations,
had been happily trained and strengthened so that her clearly
articulated words were borne to the farthest corners of the hall.
She spoke for nearly two hours; at first very slowly and calmly, but
gradually, as she grew more animated, her pale cheeks took on
color, her eyes shone, and her voice intensified to a passionate
power. It was soon evident that she was in touch with her audience,
and repeatedly there was a murmur of approbation; occasionally,
outbursts of applause showed the effect of her words. This made
her feel as if she were borne aloft, and it happened that many times,
as if under inspiration, she used sentences and turns of speech
which she had not thought of during the preparation of her lecture,
and these very improvisations still further strengthened the magnetic
relationship between speaker and audience.
The gist of her address had been expressed in her introduction:
“You all know the beautiful expression of Goethe’s Antigone: ‘Not
here for mutual hate, but mutual love are we.’ But, my sisters, the
modern time enforces upon us a second commandment: ‘For mutual
thinking are we here.’”
And then she went on to show what are the duties of this latest
age,—the age of flying,—and she further showed how in the
accomplishment of these duties both halves of the human race must
coöperate; how it behooved a woman not only to win for herself the
mastery of various professions, of various offices which have hitherto
been exclusively preempted by men, but also to realize that she
must no longer remain voluntarily aloof whenever the highest
interests of the community are in question. Place and voice in the
direction of public affairs? That certainly is already on the
programme of the Woman Movement, but the most important thing
is a knowledge and understanding of the universal laws that govern
nature and the world; then only can she judge and coöperate where
social arrangements are to be decided. To take a hand in the
transformation of these arrangements, to become themselves
lawgivers: that is a goal the attainment of which may stand for the
17. future; but even before having attained this positive power, women,
and maidens too, may work through their influence. But how shall
they bring their views and their feelings to effectiveness if they stay
in voluntary ignorance of all those things that regulate the conduct
of social, political, and economic life? If in the most important
questions on which depend welfare or misery, war or peace, they are
to have no voice because they always allow themselves to be told:
“You don’t understand anything about that!” They must acquire for
themselves a conception of the universe. First, they must
understand; then they must share in councils; then at last they can
coöperate.... Indeed, they must understand as well as the men; then
they will perhaps do better work than men, because they will not
forget that they are there to share in love, that it is their task to
make goodness—this highest of feminine virtues—prevail in all
situations and all actions.
“There is no reason why the flame on the home altar should die
down because we succeed in casting its reflection on political life.
Are really mildness and gentleness, capacity for sympathy in sorrow
and joy purely feminine characteristics? No, they belong to men as
well. Are power and tenacity of purpose and resoluteness and
courage purely masculine virtues? No; they belong to women as
well. And the perfect human race of both sexes, when once they are
to direct social life side by side, must apply thereto the collective
treasure of all their qualities.”
Franka did not confine herself to such abstract discussions
throughout her lecture. She elucidated in clear, simple words the
conditions actually prevailing; she described the promising as well as
the threatening prospects of the future as conditioned by the new
discoveries, and she pointed out the practical ways which young
women of the present day had to enter upon if they were to share in
the humanization—nay, rather, the deification of the humanity of the
morrow.
The most concrete and practical announcement which she made
was that she had established out of her own means a private free
course of instruction for mature young women. The lectures were
18. not to be given by her, but by university professors,—and she named
certain distinguished persons,—who twice a week during the next
four months would give lectures in a large hall engaged by her for
this purpose. The following subjects were on the programme: Social
science, philosophy, the doctrine of evolution, the history and
prospects of contemporaneous movements, and, finally, ethics and
æsthetics. These two last were included, because the realm of
scientific truth should always be penetrated by the light of morality
and beauty. All these courses of study would be given without
pedantic insistence upon details, but would be presented in synthetic
method; and all of them, if they were absorbed into the mind of the
students, would furthermore produce that broader synthesis which
deserves the name of “world-conception,” that is, the vision of the
world, according to what we actually know it is at present and as it
presumably will be in the future, in the line of ceaseless evolution.
When she had spoken the peroration in a tone of ardent enthusiasm
and with an expression of prophetic inspiration on her youthful
features, there was at first a moment of breathless silence and then
a burst of thunderous applause. She bowed modestly and left the
stage.
In the artists’ room she sank exhausted on a sofa. Her three
friends surrounded her:—“It was marvelously beautiful!”—“Bravo,
Franka!”—Helmer kissed her hand: “Heroine,” he said in a whisper.
In the hall the applause would not cease.
“They are calling for you,” said Dr. Fixstern. “The audience wants
to see you again.”
Franka shook her head. “No, I will not go out again—I am not a
prima donna!”
“But just hear, how they are clapping, how they are calling for
you.”
“I beg of you, dear Doctor, go out and tell them that I have
already left the hall.”
Dr. Fixstern did as she ordered.
19. “Are you very tired, Franka?” asked Frau Eleonore. “How do you
feel?”
“How do I feel? Happy!”
This was the beginning of Franka’s career, and now followed a
series of triumphs. The newspapers published long extracts from her
addresses and enthusiastic criticisms of her skill in the art of
elocution. A few days after her début she gave her second lecture,
which again packed the great Music Hall to the last seat; then she
spoke in the Workingmen’s Home, and here she kindled even more
enthusiasm than before. Among the young women of Vienna there
sprang up a regular Franka cult, her adherents called themselves
“Frankistinnen”; as their badge they wore a violet pin. There was in
all the bookshops a special display of her portraits. In the toy-shops
Franka dolls were put on sale and were eagerly bought. The comic
papers published caricatures of her. Karl Kraus made a feature of her
in a Garlett number of “Die Fackel.” Herds of autograph hyenas came
down upon her. An impresario offered her an engagement for
America. The gramophone companies made her an offer to have her
represented on a record. A fashionable tailor introduced the long,
open Garlett sleeves. The pupils who attended the courses of
instruction which Franka had established were designated by the
nickname of the “Garlett girls.” And, worse than all, vaudeville
theaters enriched their repertoires of topical songs with a Garlett
stanza.
Franka shuddered under this tidal wave of popularity; it was
almost mortifying to her. She had undertaken her work as a kind of
vestal mission, and now it was accompanied by such noisy publicity.
But like all sudden and exaggerated excitement, this also gradually
subsided; yet the quiet and earnest effect continued and increased.
She soon recovered, in the estimation of all, her standing as a
powerful advocate and woman of irreproachable character. The
Sielen relatives, to be sure, turned their backs on her. Adele and
Albertine and their whole set completely vanished. It was not a
severe blow to her.
20. After a few weeks she went on a lecture tournée to all the
principal cities of Germany. She was accompanied only by Frau von
Rockhaus and a maid. A business manager preceded her, whose
duty it was to engage for her lecture-halls and suitable quarters in
the hotels. Everywhere she went, she was received not only in her
public capacity as a speaker, but also with special honors by society
as a lady. In the course of time her journeys extended beyond
Germany, first to the Scandinavian countries, then to London and
Paris. And after a few years her fame was world-wide.
21. CHAPTER X
AT LUCERNE
The clock of Eternity has moved forward a few seconds; we are
writing 191—. The twentieth century is still “in its teens,” but 1920 is
not far away. The impatient, the impetuous, those who a few years
ago were shouting, full of anxiety or full of hope, “Now, now,
everything is going to change—a new era has dawned—mighty
revolutions are before us,”—all these have to confess that the face of
the world, on the whole, has not been very much altered, and that
the actual transformations, by reason of their gradual development,
have been almost unnoticeable. Terrible catastrophes like the sudden
destruction of cities by earthquakes, thrones overturned by
revolutions, rulers assassinated by the throwing of bombs, colonial
and other wars—such things may have devastated for a brief period
the little strips of land affected and aroused a general sensation, but
soon everything became calm again. This applies not only to the
great disasters, but also to great and unexpected good fortune such
as the announcement of marvelous discoveries or world-redeeming
ideas:—such things startle men for a moment out of their apathy,
and awaken the wildest hopes; but then they quickly flatten out and
become commonplace, disappear from the surface, and must pass
through the stages of gradual development, until they succeed in
changing the face of the world. So many a fountain springs foaming
from the rocks, but only when it has, after a long course, united with
a thousand other trickling rivulets, does it become a river.
22. The hotels at Lucerne were filled to overflowing. It was once more
time for the “Toker Rose-Week” to begin. From year to year the
“Rose Pilgrims,” as they called themselves, had been streaming
thither in greater and greater numbers. It had become the fashion to
spend seven days in Lucerne. Many came not for the purpose of
absorbing the lofty intellectual enjoyments there offered, but in
order to be seen. As the hotels and private boarding-houses of the
city were no longer sufficient to harbor all the strangers, some
automobile-owners had conceived the idea of spending the nights in
their machines,—for very abundant were the cars that were provided
with conveniences for sleeping and toilet,—and a vast automobile-
park covered the fields around the city.
During the first years Mr. Toker had been satisfied to lodge his
guests in a hotel engaged for the purpose, and all the exercises took
place in its public rooms. But now, the edifices and gardens which
he had planned were ready, and in their fairyland beauty they had
won the reputation of being one of the sights of Europe. The list of
invitations which Mr. Toker sent out in 191— was very differently
constituted from that which he had written down in his first
prospectus. For many of those who then bore brilliant names in the
firmament of fame had been extinguished, and new stars had
flamed into sight. The aged die—room for the young!
It was the first day of the first week. Mr. Toker was as yet alone,
and was awaiting the arrival of his illustrious guests. His friendly old
face was radiant. He was satisfied with his work. Success had
attended it. The way the concentrated forces had acted was
astonishing and their effect was constantly increasing. As if unified in
a central sun, the flames of genius scattered over the earth were
now blazing in his Rose-Temple, and spread from there, as by a
mighty reflector, all over the earth, penetrating all corners where
their light had never before shone.
From many indications, Toker was aware that the level of Public
Spirit had been elevated by the influence that emanated from the
Rose-Temple. Watchwords, winged phrases which had flown forth
from there, were circulated in newspapers and were quoted in
23. parliaments; the year-books, containing extracts from the discourses
delivered, were to be found in the libraries of universities, and were
widely used as manuals for the instruction of the young; the wide
international public listened to the addresses of these great ones of
the earth and accepted many of their lofty thoughts and involuntarily
introduced them into social conversations; so that when Mr. Toker
jestingly said, “This is my world-ennobling factory,” he did not claim
too much.
Certainly, not all the dreams that John A. Toker had conceived
when he made his plan had been fulfilled. What had given him the
impulse to take up the work had been his indignation that the
splendid invention of a dirigible airship had been greeted as a useful
weapon for future wars. No! against such a notion, against such
possibilities,—a rain of annihilation from the sky,—must a mighty
storm of protest be raised; he had called these great minds together
for this purpose.
On the very first week of the Rose-Festival, this theme was printed
on the programmes and flaming anathemas against the
barbarization of the air went forth into the world, combined with the
demand to put an end to war itself. But no palpable result followed—
the war ministries continued to install their fleets of airships, and the
construction of fortifications and dreadnoughts went on without
interruption, in spite of the fact that these instruments of war would
be superfluous and useless if once they were exposed to the rain of
explosives.
But John A. Toker had faith. Not in one year, and not in two or
three, could such a mighty work be accomplished—certainly, dirigible
flights to spiritual and moral altitudes were not easier of attainment
than those in the physical atmosphere.
“Well, papa, has not a single specimen of your great menagerie
arrived yet?” Toker’s only daughter, Gwendoline, a girl of eighteen,
overflowing with life, came and laid her hand on her father’s
shoulder and laughingly put this question. And when she laughed a
whole scherzo of dazzling teeth, sparkling eyes, and mischievous
24. dimples was playing over her piquant little face. “Are you expecting
wholly exotic birds this year?” she added.
“Oh, Gwen, how can you be so lacking in reverence?”
Her features suddenly assumed the expression which she herself
called her “Sunday singing-book face.”
“Oh, papa, I am penetrated with awesome reverence! Only to
think of all these laurel-crowned moonshine occiputs, trumpeted
together from every corner of the globe, makes me shiver with
respect! And is it not true that this year a ‘Jap’ is coming?”
“A Japanese, yes, daughter. You know I do not permit
abbreviations for whole nations. Or do you like it when your father is
spoken of as the ‘Yankee’?”
“Dear me, and what do you say when your daughter is called a
‘Gibson Girl,’ or the ‘Dollar Princess’?... Oh, look! there is one flying
now and there is another. And there, away down on the horizon,—is
not that an airship?”
The balcony on which father and daughter were standing
commanded a wide outlook over land and lake. The edifices which
Mr. Toker had caused to be erected were situated only a short
distance from the shore. The narrow strip of land between the water
and the buildings seemed to be covered with a pale-red giant carpet
—the whole piece was one single bed of roses. The lake glittered in
the sunshine and innumerable sailboats and other craft were moving
on its surface. On the distant horizon snow-crowned mountain
peaks, and above all a cloudless sky, against the brilliant blue of
which were hovering several dark dragon-flies—the air-motors now
no longer objects of wonder: no longer objects of wonder, but
nevertheless overpoweringly wonderful. Always, when at a greater
or less distance such an equipage was seen, men exclaimed just as
Gwendoline did: “See, an aeroplane, and there’s another, and yonder
is an airship!”
Mr. Toker raised his head and shaded his eyes:—“Yes, my
daughter, I see and rejoice! How high they fly! Oh, but man will no
longer soar to the heights with impunity....”
25. “‘With impunity’?... I don’t understand....”
“No, you do not understand. You do not know, as yet, why we are
here. I have not informed you what the object is which I am aiming
at in my Rose-Week. Perhaps I will tell you some other time—you
have seemed to me still too young, too childish. You are such a child
still, Gwen,—lucky girl!”
“When may I learn to fly, papa? When may I have my little
airship?”
“Do you see—even that you would regard as a toy!”
Three days later Toker’s guests were all assembled in the Rose-
Palace at Lucerne. Not quite all, indeed, whom he had invited had
responded to his invitation; still, only a few stars from the firmament
of living celebrities had failed him. If it was a great privilege for the
public to see gathered together in one spot such a multitude of
famous men and women, and to hear them, it was for these guests
themselves a still greater pleasure to meet their brethren and sisters
of genius under one roof. Especially did the week that preceded the
formal exercises offer the most delightful opportunity for quiet,
intimate intercourse among those who had been in the habit of
coming for several years. Many close friendships had already been
formed. No one who had once been a guest at the Rose-Palace,
however abounding in thoughts and experiences in his own right,
departed from the place without having been enriched in many
respects, without having gained a general deepening of knowledge
and a broadening of the mental horizon. All kept throughout the
year a delightful memory of the Rose-Days; an invitation to be
present was a lofty object of ambition to those who had not as yet
been guests there.
John A. Toker felt his heart swell with the most joyful pride as he
joined the circle of his guests. Was it not the most noble assembly of
kingly personages that the world possessed? At brilliant court
festivities there might, indeed, be as many Excellencies, Highnesses,
and Majesties gathered together, but the majority of these title-
26. bearers would have sunk into oblivion in the next generation, while
the names and works of the majority of Toker’s Rose-Court would be
handed down to coming centuries.
In the hall of one of the first-class hotels at Lucerne at tea-time,
chattering groups are scattered about in various corners and
window-embrasures, separated from one another by potted plants
and by pillars and screens which divide the immense room with its
niches and bay-windows into practically small private parlors. The
sofas and wide armchairs of light-green straw are decked with
cushions covered with pale flowered silk and stuffed with eiderdown.
The larger and smaller groups and the solitary persons sitting here
and there, drinking tea, had evidently come from all parts of the
world. Although a certain international uniformity causes people to
be differentiated rather by the classes to which they belong than by
their nationalities, still there are certain indications by which one can
tell with some certainty by the external appearance whether the
persons met with are English or French, Germans or Americans,
Slavs or Italians. In this great hall you could also see some
specimens of quite exotic nationalities, for several Japanese and an
East Indian Rajah were present.
Two men, sitting at a small table on which the waiter had just set
a service of various liqueurs, were amusing themselves in guessing
what country this or that person, seated near them or passing by,
came from.
“See, that family with the three tall daughters, the haughty
mother, and the papa reading the newspaper, is certainly English.”
“That was not difficult to detect since that gigantic newspaper is
the ‘Times.’”
“That pretty little lady there, decked with tassels and ribbons, and
at the same time flirting with the three men talking with her so
vivaciously, must be a Parisian.”
“And that rather stout beauty over there, with the suspicion of a
mustache and a superfluity of jewels, is probably from some Balkan
27. State.”
“And that comfortable-looking, honest couple, so old-fashioned in
their dress, with their silver wedding celebrated long ago, and who
make it very evident that they are unhappy because they do not
have two jugs of beer in front of them, instead of that insipid tea,
evidently come from some little German city.”
“And that group by the window,—very elegant, but nothing
conspicuous about them,—it would be rather difficult to tell what
country they come from. National characteristics betray themselves
generally by something like caricatures—normal men of the
cultivated classes, with their air of assurance, with their correct
dress, might come from anywhere; you can tell what society they
belong to,—that is, good society,—but not from what country.”
A young man dressed entirely in white, remarkably slender and
tall, was just crossing the room on his way to the street door. Half a
step behind him marched respectfully an elderly gentleman of
military bearing, but in dark civilian dress.
“Who can that young man be? Nice-looking fellow! I should take
him for an American.”
“That would be a mistake. It happens that I can tell you about
him. That is Prince Victor Adolph, the fourth son of a German
monarch. I also know that he is not the ordinary kind; he is
democratic, not to say socialistic, in his tendencies; an enemy to
court etiquette and against everything military. For that reason,
apparently, he is compelled to have the old general with him as a
traveling companion. That he is American in his appearance is
perhaps due to the fact that he spent a term studying at Harvard
University.”
The two gentlemen engaged in this conversation were from
Vienna. They had become acquaintances in the railway coupé while
coming to Lucerne. This method of travel was still in use, although
an organized passenger service by airship had already been
established; just as at the end of the thirties in the nineteenth
century, after the opening of the first railway the post-stage still ran
28. merrily for a time. And just as at that time many people vowed that
they would never, as long as they lived, enter a railway train, so now
the majority of people swore that no money in the world would
tempt them to trust their precious lives to the mysterious ocean of
air. Besides, a new, safety-assuring power had come into railway
service, since everywhere was installed the rapid and inexpensive
and comfortable one-rail system.
One of the two Viennese was Baron Franz Bruning, Chlodwig
Helmer’s boyhood friend. He had not greatly changed; his full, round
face had possibly grown a trifle rounder, his black mustache a little
bushier. In his civil career he had been fortunate enough to have
risen to the rank of Hofrat.
The other, a personality pretty widely known throughout the city,
was named Oscar Regenburg. When his name appeared in the
papers, “Among those present was noticed,” it read: “Herr Oscar
Regenburg, the well-known sportsman.” If any man who has money
and goes a good deal into society, yet has no rank among the
nobility, exercises no calling, is not active in any business, is not
honored with any public appointment, but as a compensation
possesses several saddle-horses and an automobile, then—since
every man must have some kind of title—he is called a “sportsman.”
Sport, however, was not the goal of Oscar Regenburg’s ambition.
He would have much preferred to bear the title of “art connoisseur”;
for he was an assiduous collector of paintings, old armor, and rare
china. His spare time he spent in visiting art collections, picture
auctions and galleries. He also evinced great interest in music and
the theater—although he cultivated the stage not so much from
before the curtain as behind the scenes, especially in the form of
pretty operetta singers. Furthermore, he was an amateur traveler,—
certainly not for the purpose of enjoying beautiful scenery, but so as
to be present wherever expositions or horse-races or aviation
meetings or festivals of any kind were taking place. Therefore, he
could not fail to be, for once at least, a visitor at the Lucerne Rose-
Week.
29. Genuine deep passions were not at the bottom of all these
occupations; Regenburg was a thoroughly apathetic man, mediocre
in every direction; his whole object in life was to fill up his
superfluous time and spend his superfluous money. He was a man of
thirty-five, of insignificant external appearance, but he always took
pains to look elegant and chic by following the latest fashion in
dress, in behavior, and in the use of slang. As, for example, the
fashion had obtained among men, to sit as negligently as possible
with the right foot on the left knee, moving the point of the shoe up
and down and at the same time caressing the bright-colored silk
stocking visible almost to the top; there was no one who let his toes
play with more vivacity or expression, or who clasped his own thin
ankles more tenderly than he did.
The two men continued their conversation.
“I have no faith in these democratic poses among the sons of
rulers,” said Bruning, as he poured himself out a tiny glass of
bénédictine.
“As far as I have observed, you take the attitude of ‘I have no
faith in it’ toward most things.”
“As a matter of fact, I regard it as a reasonable and useful quality
to be a skeptic. When a man has collected some little experiences in
life, and possesses some little knowledge of men, and has attained
some insight behind the scenes of the various social, political, and ...
other comedies which are being played on the world’s stage, one
gets along best by putting on the armor of doubt. Can it be that you
are an idealist nourished on illusions?”
“I?... Oh, I am just nothing at all—I live and let live.”
“That’s also a reasonable point of view. Well, but I am curious to
know what is to be offered in the Rose-Booth yonder. It is interesting
to see all the living celebrities trotted out by the great dollar-
ringmaster;—the play will certainly remind me of Hagenbeck, who
makes long-maned lions and spitting tiger-cats go through their
paces in unnatural attitudes. What is still more comic in the whole
show is that there seems to be a civilizing and world-improving aim
30. bound up with it—as if this world could be improved! Man remains
man, and when I say that, I do not say anything very flattering. And,
above all, how can the world be made better by a few self-conceited
people making speeches before a few other frivolous people? The
only effect that addresses have on me is to make me sleepy. I never
attend them on principle.”
“What did you come here for, then?”
“Because an old friend of mine—the poet Chlodwig Helmer—
belongs to the lion-tamer Toker’s gang of boarders. I get from this
friend what the whole object and aim of the circus of fame-crowned
animals amounts to....”
“Well, what is it?”
“Men are to learn to fly morally. Do you understand that?”
“Not altogether.”
31. CHAPTER XI
AN EVENING IN THE ROSE-PALACE
Chlodwig Helmer had attained high literary rank during these
years. His drama, produced in the Volkstheater at Vienna, won great
applause, and was soon added to the repertory of every playhouse
in the country. A second drama—in verse—was granted the Schiller
Prize. But his epic poem “Schwingen”—“Pinions”—obtained the most
signal success. The whole campaign of the conquest of the regions
of the air, from Icarus to Zeppelin and Blériot, was celebrated. But,
further, in prophetic tone, dipping into the future,—and this part of
the poem was by far the greatest,—the changes were described
which would in all probability take place in consequence of that
mightiest among the achievements of human genius. Particularly did
the poet sing those flights which, like a corollary to physical soaring,
should bear aloft into more luminous regions the human intellect
and the ethical aspiration of man.
The epic aroused immense enthusiasm. Translations into French
and English were made and the name of Helmer became famous
throughout the world, and of course reached the attention of John
A. Toker, who forwarded his invitation to the young poet. He did it
with all the more enthusiasm, because he had discovered in
“Schwingen” the very same ideas as had given him the impulse to
the inauguration of the Rose-Week. It was a noteworthy coincidence
of thought. And yet, when you came to think of it, not so remarkable
after all.... Thoughts which were afloat in an age are produced by
the phenomena of that age, and they are precipitated
simultaneously in different places into different minds, so that it
frequently happens that great discoveries and inventions are made
32. at the same time by several discoverers and inventors, quite
independently of one another.
Still another young celebrity was invited by Toker for this year’s
Rose-Week at Lucerne: this was Franka Garlett.
On the evening before the public exercises were to take place, the
guests of the Toker Rose-Palace were gathered around the great
table. When the dessert was served, the master of the house tapped
on his glass. All became silent and listened:—
“My dear and illustrious guests! The beneficent custom here
prevails that no formal toasts are ever presented. All the eloquence
that we are capable of expending must be reserved for the public
campaign which begins to-morrow. But for the very reason that this
is the last evening which we are to have to ourselves, I will take
advantage of it, in order to tell you something which I have on my
mind.”
He paused for a moment. All eyes were fixed upon him with eager
anticipation. His external appearance made a sympathetic and
confidence-inspiring picture: absolutely correct in his evening-dress,
but at the same time quite informal, almost negligent in his attitude.
His short-cropped hair was already perfectly white, but his cheeks
were of a bright rosy color, and a joyous expression of the greatest
good-nature showed itself in his face. In a somewhat altered voice
he went on:—
“When a few years ago I saw assembled here for the first time
this wreath of chosen men and women,—alas! some of the blossoms
have been blighted by the frost of death, but others have come to
take their places, for such is the way of the world,—when for the
first time I had conjured before me so many spirits of light, I
believed that from their collected brilliancy a sudden enlightenment
might gush out over the whole earth. That was an illusion! The thick
darkness of ignorance, misery, stupidity, and wickedness, in which
our world is still densely enveloped, is not to be so rapid dispelled. It
will take much further endeavor to drive it away. But that the efforts
which have gone forth from this place have not been wholly vain, I,
33. and assuredly you, have the fullest conviction. What especially
pleases me, as the result of this fortnight in the month of roses, is
the advancement, the enjoyment, the edification which you
yourselves have all found here by being able to hold familiar
intercourse with people of your own stamp from the domain of
genius, by mutually giving intellectual stimulus and enrichment to
one another, by the consciousness that you, all of you, whether you
be masters in this art or that, whether you be discoverers in this
science or that, whether you be prophets in this sphere of thought
or that—that all of you, I say, still form only one communion:—that
of the elevators of human life. And a loftier life is to stream forth
from here and hasten that development through which all mankind
is to be brought up to a higher level. Oh, I know right well what the
doubters will reply: ‘What is carried away from your Rose-
Parliament, in the columns of innumerable newspapers, pamphlets,
and gramophone records, is merely words, words ... ideas ... and
what moves society are deeds and needs. Not by reason, but by the
passions, that is to say, by violent feelings, are the masses moved;
all your beautiful speeches glitter and burst like soap-bubbles.’ Of
course, ideas are not the only impelling forces; more powerful are
the instincts. It is always a mistake to explain the complicated
movements of the world and of society by the working of one
element, of one force; for numberless elements, numberless forces,
are always in activity. And to deny the force of thought is equivalent
to ignoring the half of the universe, which consists of matter and of
spirit.”
“Is not papa a dear little old philosopher?” whispered Gwendoline,
who sat at the other end of the table, to her neighbor, a famous
English novelist.
“Feelings regulate actions,” continued Mr. Toker;—“granted; but
frequently feelings are ruled by thoughts. Ideas, among them
illusory ideas, are what kindle the enthusiasm of the masses, and
are fought for. Forth from ideas proceeds that sublime endeavor
which is called the ideal. What was striven for yesterday is the
34. attained to-day, and gives way to new endeavor, to new-born ideas,
and that is equivalent to saying to new ideals.”
“Now he has said enough, don’t you think so?” murmured
Gwendoline again. “One should not bore one’s guests.”
The novelist glanced at her reprovingly: “It does not bore me.”
“Thoughts are the begetters of sensations; above all, they are the
foundations of knowledge. Therefore, whoever scatters thoughts
into the world, scatters seed from which grow all those fruits that we
enjoy under the name of culture. There is much bitter fruit in with it,
because still many unworthy thoughts are floating about. Progressive
humanity requires high thinking! Soaring thoughts....
“This year, just as every year, a volume is to be published which
will contain your addresses: I propose to entitle this volume,
‘Menschliche Hochgedanken’—‘Thoughts that soar.’ The beginning of
our Rose-Weeks coincided with the conquest of the air. You know
that the impulse of your joint action was given to me by the flights
which were accomplished by the first ‘dirigible’ through the sea of
ether. Now it is for us to bring about some victorious records by our
flights into the azure realm of the ideal. Thoughts are the vehicle for
this—thoughts which soar above the clouds—that is to say, high
above the vapors of petty private interests, above the flats of
national contentions—in a word, thoughts that soar! And so I close
with one word, the war-cry which must be the war-cry of the new,
height-conquering age: the cry, ‘Upward!’”
“Upward!” responded the whole Table Round.
Thereupon all adjourned into the adjoining hall.
An illustrious company, indeed. There were few young people
among them, and not many women. The wreaths of unquestioned
glory are usually twined around masculine heads, and there mostly
when they are bare.
The youngest of the thirty Rose-Knights was Chlodwig Helmer; the
youngest among the six ladies of the Roses—all of them wearing an
enameled rose on the left breast—was Franka Garlett.
35. As they sat or stood, they divided naturally into various groups.
Some passed through the open doors to the terraces, and among
these was Franka on Helmer’s arm.
It was a bright moonlit night in June; the air was full of
intoxicating fragrance rising from the dense parterres of roses. On
the neighboring lake glided illuminated boats, and even up in the air
could occasionally be seen a light moving swiftly by—probably some
sentimental aëronaut on an evening flight. Quite unobtrusively yet
distinctly was heard the music of an orchestra playing in a
neighboring concert-hall.
Franka sat down in a rocking-chair at the end of the terrace and
Helmer stood by her side leaning against the balustrade. They gazed
and listened for some little time without speaking. Franka wrapped a
trifle closer around her the white silken scarf which she had thrown
over her shoulders.
“A cool breeze blows from the lake,” she remarked.
“Shall we go back to the hall?”
“Oh, no, it is fine here. Everything is so beautiful, so dreamy, so
magical.... Is it not remarkable that we two should meet here as
colleagues in the Knighthood of the Roses? How many years is it
since we first met in grandfather’s chamber at the Sielenburg? You a
poor secretary, I a poor orphan girl!—You are now a great and
celebrated poet!”
“And you—the Garlett! The name has such a distinction that
nothing more needs to be added to it.”
“What I have come to be, Brother Chlodwig, I owe to you. Had it
not been for those letters....”
“Well, yes; perhaps everything would have been different—
perhaps more happily for you.... I find in your face a trace of
seriousness, sometimes of sadness, which was not there when I saw
you last.”
It had been two years since that last time. Circumstances had
frequently separated these two friends. Helmer had settled in Berlin,
where, after the successful performances of his drama, he had
36. accepted a position as a subdirector of the Royal Theater. Franka
had frequently been absent on her journeys, had spent one whole
winter in southern Italy for a complete rest;—in short, there had
always been intervals of several months, and finally now two years
had elapsed without Franka and Helmer’s having met.
But their correspondence had gone on without any cessation.
They had remained constantly in communication by letter. They
exchanged full confidences in regard to all their labors and plans;
they shared their views over all external happenings; but they never
actually wrote any personal confidences. His poems and her lectures
formed the chief topics of their correspondence; as colleagues they
had become strongly bound together; as man and woman they had
remained rather like strangers, although their letters had always
preserved that soul-relationship of brother and sister with which
their correspondence had begun. It was for both a great and
genuine pleasure to be invited together as Mr. John A. Toker’s
guests; it gave to the festivities of this week a flavor of intimacy.
During these days they had seen a good deal of each other,—every
time he had been her seat-mate at table,—and they had told each
other all that was worth telling of their lives during the past two
years.
“So I look sad, do I?” replied Franka to Helmer’s observation. “And
yet I have no sorrow; I am not unhappy.”
“That is only a negative assurance—you do not say that you feel
happy. But I can imagine what you lack....”
“And I can guess what you imagine.... Well, it is true that in the
life that I am leading there is more or less renunciation; but isn’t
that necessary whenever one dedicates one’s self to any impersonal
service? How is it when a maiden devoted to piety takes the veil?”
“Fortunately you have registered no vow, Franka. You can
always....”
“Marry, do you mean? Let us talk of something else. You are the
last person to say such things to me.”
37. “It is true, I myself directed you to the path of renunciation. As
long as your task completely occupied you—but does it still?”
“Do not ask me such confessional questions. The task is great
enough to fill any life; but I often feel myself too small for the task.
Are you quite satisfied, are you quite happy, Helmer?”
“No; but that is not at all necessary. I believe that no man has any
rightful claim to be. Least of all, we fighters. We need bitterness,
hindrances—our goal must forever seem farther away from us.”
At this instant the daughter of their host joined them:—
“I hope that I am not disturbing a flirtation.... Do let me sit down
with you, Miss Garlett. Oh, and please, Mr. Helmer, do not go
away ... you are among my favorites, because you are young still—
comparatively speaking. The famous specimens of wisdom which
papa collects around him are all too venerable for me; it is a genuine
enjoyment to see two such fresh geniuses as you are.... You ought
to marry—pardon me, I am chattering absurdities. Certainly, papa
understands everything imaginable: making money in heaps,
carrying out gigantic undertakings, universal politics, and dozens of
other things—but not the education of daughters. Oh, look,” she
cried, interrupting herself, “isn’t that lovely?”
She pointed to the dark horizon, where at that moment not merely
one but four airships, each provided with dazzling lights, were
maneuvering. They darted up and swooped down, made “figure
eights” and loops, passed and repassed one another in premeditated
regularity—a regular air-quadrille.
“Isn’t that still lovelier?” said Helmer, pointing to a shady clump of
bushes where irregular points of light were flickering. “There, do you
see?—fireflies! Nature is everywhere more beautiful than any of the
works of men. And do you know also why these little creatures,
otherwise so invisible, have put on such glittering coat-tails? They
are in love and they are out a-wooing.... Nature always makes use of
beauty when she is serving love.”
“I cannot answer for that, Mr. Helmer. It is my principle—for I am
a reservoir filled to the brim with the strictest principles—to turn the
38. conversation as soon as a man speaks the word love.”
“Yes, Miss Toker, you really give that impression,” laughed Franka.
Again a fascinating spectacle was presented to them—a great
white quadrilateral sheet, such as are seen on the stage of a
moving-picture theater, appeared on the horizon stretching up high
into the sky and on it were projected magnificently colored living
pictures. Immense pictures, for the force of the imagination
multiplied their dimensions in proportion to the distance apparently
equal to that of the stars; and yet it was only the trickery of
diminutive films. It was a wholly new invention, based on the laws of
the Fata Morgana. Many of the people present saw this spectacle for
the first time and it filled them with wonder and awe.
“What shall we not discover before we get through, we worms of
the earth!” cried Franka; “and how deep into the heavens even now
all our mechanical apparatus penetrate!”
“Apparatus, yes,” murmured Chlodwig; “but not our minds!”
“Don’t be ungrateful, Helmer,” said Franka, reproachfully. “Does
not the great success of your ‘Schwingen’ prove sufficiently that a
wide circle of minds already feel a yearning for the heights? If it
were not so, would you be so understood, so celebrated? Isn’t it
true, Miss Toker, that the English translation of Helmer’s poem has
aroused the greatest admiration in England and America?”
“Yes, I believe so; at least, papa says so. He is quite crazy over
your ‘Schwingen.’ However, I haven’t read it. Papa thinks that you
meant to express in poetry exactly the same as he tries to express
with his Rose-Week ... but what that really means is a mystery to
me.... I believe he would like just such a man for his son-in-law ...
but you must not regard this as an offer of marriage, Mr. Helmer.... I
shall accept only an American ... and if it should chance to be a
European, then it must be at least a duke in the superlative degree—
a grandduke or an archduke.... Those titles please me, and
especially the way those grandees are addressed in German which,
translated into English, would mean ‘Your Transparency, Your Serene
39. Transparency’ ... would not a man appear like a bunch of Roentgen
rays?... But now I must trot back to the salon. Good-bye!”
Franka, smiling, looked at her as she went, and exclaimed: “What
a dear little goosie!”
In the white frame against the evening sky now appeared a
magnificent picture:—the Gods of Olympus. It looked as if the
heaven had opened and allowed mortals down below to see how the
Immortals exist. To be sure, they were only the immemorially known
forms of human fancy, such as had been seen to satiety in paintings
and on the stage; but the vast space and the gigantic size of the
apparition, passing beyond all power of comprehension, evoked
admiration mingled with awe. Now, the Olympian ones began to
move: Hebe poured nectar into a cup which she presented to
Jupiter; Cupid shot an arrow which fell out of the frame—it might
have pierced one of the spectators down below; Venus, clothed in
glittering silvery veils, laid her arm around the War-God’s shoulder,
and Juno caressed her peacock as it stood with circling tail
widespread. In a half-minute all had disappeared. Then followed a
picture from the Catholic Heaven—the Sistine Madonna, lovely and
motionless. Fantastic landscapes followed, the like of which do not
exist on earth, inhabited by creatures such as have never been seen.
It was as if the impenetrable curtain, which is hung at a billion-mile
distance over the secret activities of the world of stars, had been
suddenly withdrawn, giving men a glimpse into the regions of Mars
or of Saturn. To be sure, they were only pictures due to the power of
human imagination, which can never attain the unknown realities,
yet, appearing in the firmament, they were like revelations from
other worlds.
Franka put her hand on Helmer’s arm: “Ah, Brother Chlodwig!” she
sighed, shuddering.
He bent down to her: “What is it, Franka?” He asked this as gently
as one might inquire what troubled a trembling child, and with his
expressive hand he made a motion as if he were going to caress her
forehead—but he refrained.
40. “I know that it is only illusion—but these glances into unearthly,
infinite distances fill me with a weird, painful sense of loneliness, of
nothingness....”
“I know that...?”
“You do, Chlodwig? I thought, the higher your soul soars, the
more at home you felt.”
“The more reverent, perhaps,—but ‘at home’? Infinite space is so
cold we cannot build huts on the Milky Way”—he laid his hand on
Franka’s which still rested on his arm. “Do you know the Schubert
song in which a will-o’-the-wisp holds up before the lonely wanderer
the realization of his deepest yearning:—a warm house and in it a
well-beloved heart?...”
“A well-beloved heart,” repeated Franka dreamily.
They remained for a while silent, looking into each other’s eyes.
Then Franka withdrew her hand and stood up: “We will return to the
salon.”
41. CHAPTER XII
MR. TOKER’S ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS
By this time there had assembled a still larger crowd than before,
visitors having come to join the house-party. Whoever had letters of
introduction to either Mr. Toker or to one of his guests, was invited
once and for all to spend the evening in the Rose-Palace.
When Franka entered the room, Mr. Toker came toward her: “Ah,
here you are.... I was just looking for you. A gentleman is here who
is eager to be introduced to you. I will bring him immediately.”
He went away, and after a few moments came back with a
strikingly distinguished-looking young man:—
“Miss Garlett, here is Prince Victor Adolph, of ——, who tells me
that he has heard you speak in his father’s city and now is highly
pleased to be able to bring his homage to you.”
After saying this, Mr. Toker withdrew and joined his other guests.
Franka greeted her new acquaintance with a bow. “I am very glad
to meet you.... Your Highness was at my lecture?”
“Yes, gnädiges Fräulein, and I am very much pleased to be able to
hear you again. The problem that you are treating interests me
deeply.”
He spoke very deliberately in a low tone, almost timidly.
“Is that so, Prince? Are you really interested in the tasks that
confront young women? For that is the theme which I took for my
lecture in your home city.”
“Heavens, I am interested in everything that is in any degree
revolutionary.”
42. “A remarkable taste for an heir to a throne.”
“I shall never mount the throne—thank God!”
“That is a pity, for revolutionary monarchs are exactly what our
epoch might make use of.”
“Do you think our epoch needs monarchs?”
This tone surprised Franka and appealed to her. In order to be
able to continue the conversation, she sat down on a sofa which was
just behind her. At her invitation Victor Adolph took his place on the
sofa at a respectful distance from her. She let her eyes rest with
pleasure on his figure. He was slender, sinewy, and very tall; his
head with its blond curly hair was held high, as if he were a very
haughty man; but this impression was contradicted by an
exceedingly gentle expression about the mouth; the red lips were
not concealed by his slight mustache; his eyes were intensely blue
and full of vivacity; his eyebrows rather delicate and straight, also
thick and almost black. His age was about twenty-six. Taken all in
all, he was a fine specimen of the genus “Man.”
With no less pleasure Victor Adolph’s eyes rested on the womanly
form next him. Indeed, Franka now looked womanly and not girlish
as at her first arrival at the Sielenburg. Both the years and her work
had matured her. The earnest and passionate mental work which
she had to accomplish in her chosen mission had imprinted on her
face an expression of almost gloomy resolution, but this wholly
disappeared when she opened her mouth to speak, or still more
when she smiled; then dimples showed in her cheeks and made her
look much younger than she was. Her figure also, though still slim
and supple, had lost its former ethereal delicacy. It was the figure of
a majestic Diana, not of an emaciated nymph, such as “the new art”
liked to paint. For the matter of that, at this time the fashion had
changed; the angular, the osseous, thin-as-a-rail style was no longer
held up as the ideal of feminine beauty. Arms like sticks, making a
triangle at the elbow and terminating in huge hands; rectangular
shoulders, from between which rises conically a neck displaying all
the tendons; hips so narrow that the whole figure has the shape of a
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