This Month's Installment
As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.
The more deeply he was gript by the significance of this day, by all of his belief and hope in the surpassing unity of his people, the more freely and powerfully the word flowed from his lips. He did not need to form it at all; he just gave expression to what lay there ready and prepared in his heart; he had to speak because the urge of his heart forced him. He had always been able only to form the experience, but now he experienced everything with a sincerity of sorrow, with a fervor of enthusiasm, of which he had hardly had an idea until now. The whole extent and meaning of his duty were wrapt up in these last few days for him. All doubts as such and all hesitating had given way; he was happy to be allowed to work in his beloved home province in this difficult time.After those first victories, one heard nothing at all from the east border. But here Hans was of good confidence. And if ever a doubt of impatience wanted to stir in him, then Fritz's image stood before his soul, the bright courage and the firm will to win with which he had gone out---146---and which had indelibly imprinted itself on him.Then came the news of the outrageous horrors that occur in Belgium. Just as in the whole German empire, also in Rodenburg they set off an unrestrained bitterness, but it affected no one as much as Hans.He could not grasp it that a Christian, a related people for whom he had always had a special love, whose rich art treasures from east of the Rheinland he visited, that such a people was capable of this dreadful barbarity. What shockt the others became for him a pain that ate deeper and deeper.Else saw the grief that undermined him and understood it because she knew his nature and his disposition. He, however, threw himself into his work with doubled energy. The activity in the military hospitals, which were still in little demand, did not fill his time, so he dedicated himself to the care of the poor; he called on them in their need; he became a comforter and helper for them.A card from Fritz arrived. "We have had very strenuous marches," he wrote, "often forty kilometers per day. But I am healthy and have a cheerful confidence of victory."At the same time, however, a serious piece of news came, spread from mouth to mouth, and cut through the city like a hawk's cry: the Germans had been involved with a dreadful Russian superior. A few wounded, who arrived, confirmed the rumor: their comrades fought with incredible bravery; they had even won a victory, but like a flood, new armies always rolled over them. When one was shot down, ten more would immediately stand up in his place. The casualties that the---147---Germans had taken were inexpressible. Especially the Rodenburg regiments, the infantry, but also several batteries of the artillery had been in the most severe rain of shells. They had stood like the wall, but their rows had been severely thinned out by the fire that the enemy fired from secured fortifications.The rumor swelled; the carriers of the wounded became greater; the hospitals filled; the doctors and nurses could hardly manage the work; day and night there was operating, bandaging, tending.In the association building there were only a few beds still free. Dr. Moll, the leading doctor, ate neither at noon nor in the evening; he wasn't at home at all anymore.
