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stunned. It was hand to hoof and horns for a brief second or two, and then the great surging mass broke to the westward, and the long chase began. It had been all our way so far, but to the assistance of the herd there now came one of the most unexpected allies that even an old hunter could imagine. It was the soft snow, that up to this time had helped us in tracking them; for, as the herd surged ahead, there came from their feet one of the most persistent showers of snow-balls, of iron-like consistency, that any one was ever called on to face, and was surpassed only by those thrown by the horses themselves, which, strung out in disorder, the men and horses in the rear had to face as well. Every ball that struck a horse delayed him. One man, struck

on the head, was disabled from managing his reins, while another, struck full in the face, had his upper lip split open to the teeth. Many followed his example and withdrew from the battle. The chase over, the party slowly assembled near the bodies of the first victims, and the two wagons with a number of men putting in an appearance from camp, we retraced our steps to it, each one recounting his personal adventures.

It was growing dark as the sergeant in charge of the wagon party rapped at my tent and reported: "The wagons are in with the carcasses of nineteen elk, and I am satisfied we have gotten them all, sir." The next day we started for home.

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MEISTERSCHAFT: IN THREE ACTS.

BY MARK TWAIN.

[EXPLANATORY. I regard the idea of this play as a valuable invention. I call it the Patent Universally-Applicable AutomaticallyAdjustable Language Drama. This indicates that it is adjustable to any tongue, and performable in any tongue. The English portions of the play are to remain just as they are, permanently; but you change the foreign portions to any language you please, at will. Do you see? You at once have the same old play in a new tongue. And you can keep on changing it from language to language, until your private theatrical pupils have become glib and at home in the speech of all nations. Zum Beispiel, suppose we wish to adjust the play to the French tongue. First, we give Mrs. Blumenthal and Gretchen French names. Next, we knock the German Meisterschaft sentences out of the first scene, and replace them with sentences from the French Meisterschaft like this, for instance: "Je voudrais faire des emplettes ce matin; voulez-vous avoir l'obligeance de venir avec moi chez le tailleur français ?" And so on. Wherever you find

DRAMATIS PERSONE:

MR. STEPHENSON. MARGARET STEPHENSON. GEORGE FRANKLIN. ANNIE STEPHENSON.

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that the conversation shall be in German, and in German only every single word of it! Very kind oh, very! when neither Annie

WILLIAM JACKSON. MRS. BLUMENTHAL, the Wirthin. nor I can put two words together, except as

GRETCHEN, Kellnerin.

ACT I.

SCENE I.

they are put together for us in Meisterschaft or that idiotic Ollendorff! (Refers to book, and memorizes: Mein Bruder hat Ihren Herrn Vater nicht gesehen, als er gestern in dem Laden des deutschen Kaufmannes war.) Yes, we can

Scene of the play, the parlor of a small private dwell- have society, provided we talk German. What ing in a village.

MARGARET. (Discovered crocheting - has a pamphlet.)

MARGARET. (Solus.) Dear, dear! it's dreary enough, to have to study this impossible German tongue: to be exiled from home and all human society except a body's sister in order to do it, is just simply abscheulich. Here's only three weeks of the three months gone, and it seems like three years. I don't believe I can live through it, and I 'm sure Annie can't. (Refers to her book, and rattles through, several times, like one memorizing:) Entschuldigen Sie, mein Herr, können Sie mir vielleicht sagen, um wie viel Uhr der erste Zug nach Dresden abgeht? (Makes mistakes and corrects them.) I just hate Meisterschaft! We may see people; we can have society: yes, on condition VOL. XXXV.-63.

would such a conversation be like! If you should stick to Meisterschaft, it would change the subject every two minutes; and if you stuck to Ollendorff, it would all be about your sister's mother's good stocking of thread, or your grandfather's aunt's good hammer of the carpenter, and who's got it, and there an end. You could n't keep up your interest in such topics. (Memorizing: Wenn irgend möglich,— möchte ich noch heute Vormittag dort ankommen, da es mir sehr daran gelegen ist, einen meiner Geschäftsfreunde zu treffen.) My mind is made up to one thing: I will be an exile, in spirit and in truth: I will see no one during these three months. Father is very ingenious-oh, very! thinks he is, anyway. Thinks he has invented a way to force us to learn to speak German. He is a dear good soul, and

all that; but invention is n't his fash'. He will see. (With eloquent energy.) Why, nothing in the world shall - Bitte, können Sie mir vielleicht sagen, ob Herr Schmidt mit diesem Zuge angekommen ist? Oh, dear, dear George -three weeks! It seems a whole century since I saw him. I wonder if he suspects that I that I care for him —j—just a wee, wee bit ? I believe he does. And I believe Will suspects that Annie cares for him a little, that I do. And I know perfectly well that they care for us. They agree with all our opinions, no matter what they are; and if they have a prejudice, they change it, as soon as they see how foolish it is. Dear George! at first he just could n't abide cats; but now, why now he 's just all for cats; he fairly welters in cats. I never saw such a reform. And it's just so with all his principles: he has n't got one that he had before. Ah, if all men were like him, this world would (Memorizing: Im Gegentheil, mein Herr, dieser Stoff is sehr billig. Bitte, sehen Sie sich nur die Qualität an.) Yes, and what did they go to studying German for, if it was n't an inspiration of the highest and purest sympathy? Any other explanation is nonsense why, they 'd as soon have thought of studying American history. (Turns her back, buries herself in her pamphlet. first memorizing aloud, until Annie enters, then to herself, rocking to and fro, and rapidly moving her lips without uttering a sound.)

Enter Annie, absorbed in her pamphlet - does not at first see Margaret.

ANNIE. (Memorizing: Er liess mich gestern früh rufen, und sagte mir dass er einen sehr unangenehmen Brief von Ihrem Lehrer erhalten hatte. Repeats twice aloud, then to herself, briskly moving her lips.)

M. (Still not seeing her sister.) Wie geht es Ihrem Herrn Schwiegervater? Es freut mich sehr dass Ihre Frau Mutter wieder wohl ist. (Repeats. Then mouths in silence.)

(Annie repeats her sentence a couple of times aloud; then looks up, working her lips, and discovers Margaret.) Oh, you here! (Running to her.) O lovey-dovey, dovey-lovey, I've got the gr-reatest news! Guess, guess, guess! You'll never guess in a hundred thousand million years and more!

M. Oh, tell me, tell me, dearie; don't keep me in agony.

A. Well, I will. What-do-you-think? They're here!

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A. Will and George!

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M. I don't mean that! Tell me again, that

A. (Springing up and waltzing about the room.) They 're here in this very village. to learn German for three months! Es sollte mich sehr freuen wenn Sie

M. (Joining in the dance.) Oh, it's just too lovely for anything! (Unconsciously memorizing:) Es wäre mir lieb wenn Sie morgen mit mir in die Kirche gehen könnten, aber ich kann selbst nicht gehen, weil ich Sonntags gewöhnlich krank bin. Juckhe!

A. (Finishing some unconscious memorizing.) - morgen Mittag bei mir speisen könnten. Juckhe! Sit down and I'll tell you all I 've heard. (They sit.) They're here, and under that same odious law that fetters us our tongues, I mean; the metaphor's faulty, but no matter. They can go out, and see people, only on condition that they hear and speak German, and German only.

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A. (Contemplating her pamphlet with earnestness.) I can tell you one thing. Just give me the blessed privilege: just hinsetzen Will Jackson here in front of me and I'll talk German to him as long as this Meisterschaft holds out to burn.

M. (Joyously.) Oh, what an elegant idea! You certainly have got a mind that 's a mine of resources, if ever anybody had one.

A. I'll skin this Meisterschaft to the last sentence in it!

M. (With a happy idea.) Why, Annie, it 's

M. Annie Alexandra Victoria Stephenson, the greatest thing in the world. I 've been all

what do

you mean!

A. As sure as guns!

this time struggling and despairing over these few little Meisterschaft primers: but as sure

as you live, I'll have the whole fifteen by heart before this time day after to-morrow. See if I don't.

A. And so will I; and I'll trowel-in a layer of Ollendorff mush between every couple of courses of Meisterschaft bricks. Juckhe! M. Hoch! hoch! hoch!

A. Stoss an! M. Juckhe!

meinen Bruder, und einen Kamm für mich selbst gekauft.

(Exit.)

Enter MRS. BLUMENTHAL, the Wirthin.

WIRTHIN. (Solus.) Ach,die armen Mädchen, sie hassen die deutsche Sprache, drum ist es ganz und gar unmöglich dass sie sie je lernen können. Es bricht mir ja mein Herz ihre Kum

Wir werden gleich gute mer über die Studien anzusehen. . . . War

deutsche Schülerinnen werden! Juck

A. - he!

um haben sie den Entchluss gefasst in ihren Zimmern ein Paar Tage zu bleiben? . . .

M. Annie, when are they coming to see us? Ja-gewiss-dass versteht sich sie sind entTo-night? A. No.

M. No? Why not? When are they coming? What are they waiting for? The idea! I never heard of such a thing! What do you

A. (Breaking in.) Wait, wait, wait! give a body a chance. They have their reasons. M. Reasons? what reasons?

A. Well, now, when you stop and think, they 're royal good ones. They 've got to talk German when they come, have n't they? Of course. Well, they don't know any German but Wie befinden Sie sich, and Haben Sie gut geschlafen, and Vater unser, and Ich trinke lieber Bier als Wasser, and a few little parlor things like that; but when it comes to talking, why, they don't know a hundred and fifty German words, put them all together.

M. Oh, I see!

A. So they 're going neither to eat, sleep, smoke, nor speak the truth till they 've crammed home the whole fifteen Meisterschafts auswendig!

M. Noble hearts!

A. They 've given themselves till day after to-morrow, half-past 7 P. M., and then they 'll arrive here, loaded.

M. Oh, how lovely, how gorgeous, how beautiful! Some think this world is made of mud; I think it 's made of rainbows. (Memorizing.) Wenn irgend möglich, so möchte ich noch heute Vormittag dort ankommen, da es mir sehr daran gelegen ist,-Annie, I can learn it just like nothing!

A. So can I. Meisterschaft's mere fun- I don't see how it ever could have seemed difficult. Come! We can be disturbed here: let's give orders that we don't want anything to eat for two days; and are absent to friends, dead to strangers, and not at home even to nougat-peddlers

M. Schön! and we'll lock ourselves into our rooms, and at the end of two days, whosoever may ask us a Meisterschaft question shall get a Meisterschaft answer — and hot from the bat!

BOTH. (Reciting in unison.) Ich habe einen Hut für meinen Sohn, ein Paar Handschuhe für

muthigt arme Kinder!

(A knock at the door.) Herein!

Enter Gretchen with card.

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STEPHENSON. Good morning, Mrs. Blumenthal-keep your seat, keep your seat, please. I'm only here for a moment - merely to get your report, you know. (Seating himself.) Don't want to see the girls-poor things, they'd want to go home with me. I'm afraid I could n't have the heart to say no. How's the German getting along?

WIRTHIN. N-not very well; I was afraid you would ask me that. You see, they hate it, they don't take the least interest in it, and there is n't anything to incite them to an interest, you see. And so they can't talk at all.

S. M-m. That's bad. I had an idea that they'd get lonesome, and have to seek society; and then, of course, my plan would work, considering the cast-iron conditions of it.

WIRTHIN. But it has n't so far. I've thrown nice company in their way—I've done my very best, in every way I could think of — but it's no use; they won't go out, and they won't receive anybody. And a body can't blame them; they 'd be tongue-tied- could n't do anything with a German conversation. Now when I started to learn German - such poor German as I know the case was very different: my intended was a German. I was to live among Germans the rest of my life; and so I had to learn. Why, bless my heart! I nearly lost the man the first time he asked me

I thought he was talking about the measles. They were very prevalent at the time. Told him I did n't want any in mine. But I found out the mistake, and I was fixed for him next time. . . Oh, yes, Mr. Stephenson, a sweetheart's a prime incentive!

S. (Aside.) Good soul! she does n't suspect that my plan is a double scheme - includes a speaking knowledge of German, which I am bound they shall have, and the keeping them away from those two young fellows though if I had known that those boys were going off for a year's foreign travel, I—however, the girls would never learn that language at home; they 're here, and I won't relent they 've got to stick the three months out. (Aloud.) So they are making poor progress? Now tell - will they learn it after a sort of fashion, I mean in the three months?

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WIRTHIN. Well, now, I'll tell you the only chance I see. Do what I will, they won't answer my German with anything but English; if that goes on, they 'll stand stock still. Now I'm willing to do this: I'll straighten everything up, get matters in smooth running order, and day after to-morrow I'll go to bed sick, and stay sick three weeks.

S. Good! You are an angel! I see your idea. The servant girl —

WIRTHIN. That's it; that's my project. She does n't know a word of English. And Gretchen's a real good soul, and can talk the slates off a roof. Her tongue 's just a flutter-mill. I'll keep my room,- just ailing a little,- and they'll never see my face except when they pay their little duty-visits to me, and then I'll say English disorders my mind. They 'll be shut up with Gretchen's wind-mill, and she 'll just grind them to powder. Oh, they'll get a start in the language. sort of a one, sure 's you live. You come back in three weeks.

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S. Bless you, my Retterin! I'll be here to the day! Get ye to your sick-room shall have treble pay. (Looking at watch.) Good! I can just catch my train. Leben Sie wohl! (Exit.)

WIRTHIN. Leben Sie wohl! mein Herr !

ACT II.

SCENE I.

Time, a couple of days later.

mean because it 'll be so much nicer to have them all to ourselves.

M. Oh, natürlich! Ja! Dass ziehe ich durchaus vor. Do you believe your Meisterschaft will stay with you, Annie?

A. Well, I know it is with me every last sentence of it; and a couple of hods of Óllendorff, too, for emergencies. May be they'll refuse to deliver,-right off-at first, you know der Verlegenheit wegen - aber ich will sie später herausholen when I get my hand in und vergisst Du dass nicht!

M. Sei nicht grob, Liebste. What shall we talk about first- when they come?

--

A. We-ll-let me see. There's shoppingand—all that about the trains, you know,and going to church-and- buying tickets to London, and Berlin, and all around — and all that subjunctive stuff about the battle in Afghanistan, and where the American was said to be born, and so on — and — and ah — oh, there's so many things I don't think a body can choose beforehand, because you know the circumstances and the atmosphere always have so much to do in directing a conversation, especially a German conversation, which is only a kind of an insurrection, any way. I believe it 's best to just depend on Prov-(Glancing at watch, and gasping)— half past — seven!

M. Oh, dear, I 'm all of a tremble! Let's get something ready, Annie!

(Both fall nervously to reciting): Entschuldigen Sie, mein Herr, können Sie mir vielleicht sagen wie ich nach dem norddeutchen Bahnhof gehe? (They repeat it several times, losing their grip and mixing it all up.)

(A knock.)

BOTH. Herein! Oh, dear! O der heilige-

Enter Gretchen.

GRETCHEN. (Ruffled and indignant.) Entschuldigen Sie, meine gnädigsten Fräulein, es sind zwei junge rasende Herren draussen, die herein wollen, aber ich habe ihnen geschworen dass (Handing the cards.)

M. Du liebe Zeit, they 're here! And of course down goes my back hair! Stay and receive them, dear, while I-(Leaving.)

A. I-alone? I won't! I'll go with you! (To G.) Lassen Sie die Herren näher treten ; (The girls discovered with their work and primers.) und sagen Sie ihnen dass wir gleich zurück

ANNIE. Was fehlt der Wirthin? MARGARET. Dass weiss ich nicht. Sie ist schon vor zwei Tagen ins Bett gegangenA. My! how fliessend you speak! M. Danke schön wohl sei. A. Good! Oh, no, I don't mean that! No -only lucky for us-glücklich, you know I glücklich, you know I

und sagte dass sie nicht

kommen werden. (Exit.)

GR. (Solus.) Was! Sie freuen sich darüber? Und ich sollte wirklich diese Blödsinnigen, dies grobe Rindvieh hereinlassen? In den hülflosen Umständen meiner gnädigen jungen Damen?- Unsinn! (Pause-thinking.) Wohlan! Ich werde sie mal beschützen! Sollte man nicht glauben, dass sie einen Sparren zu

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