512
PARTISAN REVIEW
ranking officer, a giant gray wolfhound whose ribs showed above its
lean quivering flanks, kept the trembling inn dog, which started a
terrible howl, at bay before its kennel.
The host's little son, pulling his sister by the hand, suddenly
stepped up to the wolfhound, but was deeply frightened at first by
the glowing eyes which the dog turned on him. Then the unbelievable
friendliness with which the dangerous beast began to wag its tail
elated him.-Nora, come here, his sister said sharply, and took hold
of their own sheepdog's collar when
it
crept toward her on its belly.
Walking between it and her brother, she led it without effort to the
wash house where she locked it in. She hugged her brother and
im–
plored him tearfully not to play with the wolfhound. He stood
in
amazement but soon bristled:-Of course I will, he cried scornfully,
as though his sister had just revealed this possibility to him, and then,
feeling superior, he added in a comforting tone:-But not when
you are here to see me, if it makes you cry, Lenchen. The girl, small
and firm, looked up at him sideways with her eyes wet, submissive
but calculating:-If you were big ... , she began softly, and there
was a faint gleam in the corners of her eyes.
It was as if the Hooded Man had thrown back his cowl and
bared his knightly face and the cut of a uniform under his monk's
habit: the inn turned out to be a very suitable billet for the foreign
soldiers.
The windows of the guest rooms, located in a side wing, faced
the street with its trumpet calls and also the yard where the orderlies'
quarters, with straw scattered on the floors, adjoined the stables. In
these rooms, large oak cabinets, smelling of herbs, contained whips,
uniforms, riding boots, spurs and muzzles; the broad tops of the
wash stands bore the toilet articles, brushes, sponges and half-open
boxes of face powder and soap.
Later when she went upstairs-the soldiers had swarmed out
for drill-Johanna found plenty of straightening to do. With the
vague feeling of exorcising the soldiers' presence by changing the
appearance of the first room she went into, she started to put things
in order, took a pair of gloves they had carelessly flung down, and
a mustache bandage, and threw both hastily into a brimming, partly
open drawer. Smoothing covers and pillows, her eyes fell on the
wash stand piled with an indescribable variety of objects.
