“My mother⁠—yes. It is all arranged. The first of October I join the seventy-sixth regiment as cornet.”

“At all hazards?” Behrens asked, and fixed him with his bloodshot eyes.

“I have the honour,” Joachim answered, his lips twitching.

“Very good, Ziemssen.” The Hofrat’s tone changed; he abandoned his position, he relaxed in every way. “Very well, then. Stir your stumps, go on, and God be with you. I see you know your own mind, and so much is certainly true, that it is your affair and not mine. Every pot stands on its own bottom. You go at your own risk, I take no responsibility. But good Lord, it may turn out all right. Soldiering is an out-of-doors job. It may do you good, you may come through all right.”

“Yes, Herr Hofrat.”

“Well, and what about your cousin, the peaceful citizen over there? He wants to go along with you, does he?”