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Among his friends were two officers still very young, one of whom was always reading Prevost and Maupassant; and the other blushingly acknowledged himself to be the author of an ode, printed in a daily newspaper, welcoming the troops just returned from China, among whom had been Captain Madelung of the regiment.
It wasn't exactly a nice thing to do; but, you see, he had a passion for that nail. I often said to him, 'My dear fellow, do keep your finger away from your mouth it's just swarming with typhus bacilli. He did try, but sometimes he forgot; and so in the end he was caught." Every one looked inquiringly at Madelung, and he added: "He died of typhus."
He considered that Landsberg was drunk. But the lieutenant suddenly ran after him and aimed a blow at him, striking him on the arm. The other men at once threw themselves between the two, and held Landsberg fast. The young fellow, perfectly mad with rage, kicked out with his feet and literally foamed at the mouth. Schrader had him taken home in a carriage by his adjutant and Captain Madelung.
I hear you have just made happy domestic arrangements that will keep you at home." Madelung bowed; just before the manœuvres he had married the eldest maid-of-honour. The youngest captain of the regiment, Güntz, was now presented. Major Mohbrinck assumed his would-be-agreeable smile, and said jokingly: "Dear, dear! our youngest captain, and so stout already!" Güntz looked at him.
"But, dear old chap, then it's all right! You'll bring the fifth out of the mud. You're just the chap to do it! And your reward will be the greater in proportion to the wretched state of affairs now. Jerusalem! What a splendid division it will be! Madelung, Güntz, Wegstetten! The best heads of batteries in the whole corps! Without any flattery, old chap!"
Every one knows he can't control himself when he is drunk. And you can go to Madelung, or, still better, come to us under Wegstetten." "That's an idea," observed Güntz. "But it won't do. For, in confidence, Falkenhein has let it transpire that in the autumn I shall get my captaincy; and probably indeed certainly I shall succeed Mohr." Reimers jumped up, delighted.
After a little pause the shrill voice continued: "We had a senior-lieutenant in our cantonment, belonging to some Prussian grenadier regiment, a gay fellow, and, indeed, quite a useful officer besides." Madelung paused a moment, and again his dry, mocking laugh resounded. Then he continued: "He had a queer fad.
He was interested, for it was almost an event when Madelung spoke to any one. This lean, black-haired man, with the thin dark face and the deep-set penetrating eyes, was undoubtedly the most unpopular officer in the regiment. He was characterised as an unscrupulous place-hunter, and gave himself not the slightest trouble to disprove the accusation.
Before a commanding officer like this he felt he had no cause to tremble. "Captain Madelung, head of the fourth battery," proceeded Kauerhof. Mohbrinck greeted him with something like effusion: "Ah!" he cried, "our celebrated warrior from China. I am delighted delighted to have the honour of meeting you." He put on a rallying expression: "But you must not go to the Far East now, my dear sir.
Ten thousand of those yellow fellows were not worth a single trained soldier, surely?" "Or one of my horses," he added in his own mind. He would probably have committed suicide if he had seen one of his horses shot by a dirty Chinaman. "Surely it was a question of good cover, wasn't it?" he insisted. "No," answered Madelung in a loud voice.
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