Fire on the Glacier by Paul Busson

Author:Paul Busson [Busson, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Bandel Books Online
Published: 2023-09-23T00:00:00+00:00

SECTION FOURTEEN

The next morning a large part of the riflemen returned to Sankt Marein. Hornauss’ hand was festering from a grazing shot; Voglsanger had received a bayonet thrust in his right thigh and smeared the wound with pitch ointment. He suffered furious pain.

Peter helped as much as he could, despite the insults that had flown at him before the march out.

Delighted and with quickly awakened gratitude, the people watched him. Even Josele, and Patscheider, said that the gentleman was right and that now they would even have an army surgeon with them when it started again. But the Bavarians would probably never come. It was over and done with. And then he remembered that Teimer had given him a letter for Herr Storck. He handed him the paper. The coat of arms seal was broken.

“Did you open the letter?” asked Peter, somewhat annoyed.

The old man scratched his white hair.

“I certainly didn’t, Herr, can’t read writing either. But Father Archangelus said that you can’t trust gentlemen too much.”

Peter went aside and read the writing:

“Respected Herr!

The botanical rarity kindly sent to me has refreshed me in the most graceful way in the difficult sorrows for our beloved fatherland Tyrol. So much so, that in the midst of my many duties, it left me no peace until I was able to determine the species. This I did with some effort under the valuable assistance of Matthias Schöpfer, my friend, I have now succeeded. The plant has the scientific name Rhododendron arboreum and is native to the Himalayan mountains. In Europe, it is occasionally grown in warm houses for the sake of its splendid blooms, as for example in the Royal Greenhouse at Schönbrunn near Vienna. From there and from nowhere else the rare flower will come. Because that this tree-like plant from Hindostan could grow in our Tyrolean mountains contradicts the conditions under which alone it is able to live. It is my opinion that you, my esteemed Herr, intended by your sending to me as much a kind joke as a test of my botanical knowledge. Also for this my thanks and this all the more, because you have enriched my herbarium in the kindest way by a precious piece. God grant that in more peaceful times I may experience the pleasure of chatting with you, esteemed Herr, about the beloved field of plant life.

I am with the most humble greetings

always willing to serve

Josef von Giovanelli.”

The letter fell out of Peter’s hand and onto the floor. Jealousy flared up in him, a consuming, poisonous pain that revealed to him in a flash the strength of his love for Juliet anew. Who else but a rich and fiery worshipper could be in a position to obtain a whole bouquet of the elusive delicious flowers from the emperor’s greenhouses in fresh condition to the Upper Inn Valley? He smiled bitterly at this thought. Well, the beautiful Julia had certainly not waited until a Herr Peter Storck from Vienna would grace her with his youthful affection.

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