Free Hanns Heinz Ewers Alraune by Joe Bandel Page B

wait
for him there. Then he went down. The Sergeant-major, the overseer
of the prison house, was standing in the door wringing his hands
and almost broken up.
    “You are about to leave, Herr Doctor,” he
lamented, “and the other three gentlemen are already gone to Paris,
not even in this country! Dear God, no good can come out of this.
It will fall on me alone–I carry all the responsibility.”
    “It’s not that bad,” answered Frank Braun.
“I’m only going to be gone for a few days and the other gentlemen
will be back soon.”
    The Sergeant-major continued to complain,
“It’s not my fault, most certainly not! But the others are so
jealous of me and today Sergeant Bekker has the watch. He–”
    “He will keep his mouth shut,” Frank Braun
replied. “He just got over thirty Marks from us–charitable
donations from the English–By the way, I’m going to the commander
in Coblenz to ask for a leave of absence–Are you satisfied
now?”
    But the overseer of the prison was not
satisfied. “What! To the commander? But Herr Doctor, you have no
leave of absence to go down to the city, and you still want to go
to the commander?”
    Frank Braun laughed, “Yes indeed. Straight to
him! Namely, I must go to the commander and pump some money out of
him.”
    The Sergeant-major didn’t say another word.
He stood there not moving with a wide-open mouth, completely
petrified.
    “Give me ten pennies, boy,” Frank Braun cried
to his valet, “for the toll bridge.”
    He took the coins and went with quick strides
across the yard, into the officer’s garden and from there onto the
slope leading up to the ramparts. He swung up onto the wall,
grabbed the bough of a mighty ash tree on the other side and
climbed down the trunk. Then he pushed through the thick underbrush
and climbed down the rocks. In twenty minutes he was at the
bottom.
    It was the route they always took for their
nightly escapades. He went along the Rhine to the toll bridge and
then across to Coblenz. He learned where the commander lived and
hurried there.
    He showed the general the telegram and said
that he came on very urgent matters. The general let him in and he
put the telegram back in his pocket.
    “How can I help you with this?”
    Frank Braun said, “I need a leave of absence
your Excellency. I am a prisoner at the fortress.”
    The old general stared at him unkindly,
visibly annoyed at the intrusion.
    “What do you want? By the way, how did you
get down into the city? Do you have a pass?”
    “Certainly, Your Excellency,” said Frank
Braun. “I have church leave.”
    He lied, but knew very well the general only
wanted an answer. “I came to Your Excellency to ask for a three day
pass. My uncle is in Berlin and dying.”
    The commander blurted out, “What is your
uncle to me? It’s entirely out of the question! You are not sitting
up there at your convenience. It’s because you have broken the law,
do you understand? Anyone could come to me with a dying uncle or
aunt. If it’s not at least a parent I deny such a pass strictly on
principle.”
    “I remain dutiful, your Excellency,” he
replied. “I will inform my uncle, his Excellency, the Privy
Councilor ten Brinken, immediately by telegraph that unfortunately
his only nephew is not allowed to hasten to his deathbed for his
weary eyes to look upon.”
    He bowed, turned toward the door, but the
general held him back as he had expected.
    “Who is your uncle?” he asked in
hesitation.
    Frank Braun repeated the name and the
beautiful title. Then he took the telegram out of his pocket and
handed it over.
    “My poor uncle has one last chance for
deliverance in Berlin but unfortunately the operation is not
successful very often.”
    “Hmm,” said the commander. “Go my young
friend. Go immediately. Perhaps it will be helpful.”
    Frank Braun made a face, lamented and said,
“Only God knows–Perhaps my prayers can do some good.”
    He interrupted himself with a beautiful sigh
and