THE
THIRD
University of California
Southern Regional
Library Facility
THE LIBRARY /
OF //
THE UNIVERSITY/
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
IN MEMORY OF
MRS. VIRGINIA B. SPORER
THE THIRD SEX
THE THIRD SEX
BY
ERNST VON WOLZOGEN
Author of "Florian Mayr," etc.
ENGLISH VERSION BY
GRACE ISABEL COLBRON
NEW YORK
THE MACAULAY COMPANY
1914
Copyright 1914, by
THE MACAULAY COMPANY
PREFACE
Ernst von Wolzogen is quite able to speak for
himself, even when bidding for the favor of an
English-reading public. But at one time this most
versatile artistic personality of modern Germany
was manager of his famous Ueberbrettl, (which
you may translate as Literary Variety Show if you
feel so inclined) and he took it unto himself to
announce each one of the artists by a little spoken
preface which was usually as characteristic and as
witty as is all his work. While not attempting
in any way to compete with him in these two qual-
ities I am taking the liberty of letting him see how
it feels to be introduced by a preface himself.
Ernst von Wolzogen sets a hard task for the
literary critic with a conscience. He is one of
those writers whose exuberance of individuality,
whose insistent personality so colors all his work
that it is difficult to judge the work on its own
merits alone. And in none of a long list of books
from his pen is this quality so in evidence as in
2041943
PREFACE
the volume we offer here, the Third Sex. His
literary mannerism which after all seems but the
natural expression of his personality, his satirical
gift which serves so aptly as a vehicle for the ut-
terance of the most serious thoughts, both run riot
in this book. It reads like a daring bit of fun
all through. And yet when the smile is broadest,
the writer brings to expression some of the deepest
truths that lie at the heart of that mental trend
we call Feminism, now taking its place as one of
the burning questions of the day. This last fact
is all the more remarkable in that the book was
written some years ago in Germany, a country
where in this Year of Grace 1914 the new Femin-
ism is but just raising its head to peep over its
cradle bars. However, Ernst von Wolzogen is
nothing if not unexpected.
While Feminism is the theme of the book the
false and hampering old ideals, the mistakes of the
Revolt and its line of best endeavor a few other
subjects come in for a share of satirical attention.
It is doubtful if any writer of any nation ever so
completely burlesqued German University pedan-
try as it is done here in the "Meyer of West-
phalia" episode. And just as in his Conferencier
days of the literary variety show, Ernst von Wol-
PREFACE
zogen leaves you to take your choice as to his own
point of view in all these matters. But craving
his pardon we will now step aside and let him
do his turn.
GRACE ISABEL COLBRON.
THE THIRD SEX
THE THIRD SEX
CHAPTER I
LEASE shut that book, Claire, and now
listen. . . . We can't go on like this for-
ever. I ask you in all seriousness: will you
marry me? "
Thus spoke Dr. Josef Reithmeyer, licentiate
of the University, living in Munich in the
Blutenstrasse, rear building up one flight, to his
beautiful friend Claire de Fries, born in Gronin-
gen in Friesland, student of medicine in Zurich,
and at that moment on a visit to the Blutenstrasse,
rear building up one flight.
Half of Dr. Reithmeyer's not very large
study was bathed in brightest sunshine, and
gleaming dust particles mingled with the slowly
twisting pale-blue cigarette smoke to queer fan-
tastic figures in the broad band of light shot
through the window by the low-hanging sun.
The remainder of the cosy room lay in shadow.
In this portion of it was the glass door leading
12 THE THIRD SEX
out onto the roof of a woodshed, over which Dr.
Reithmeyer had put an awning, with sides that
could be let down at will so that the sun might
be entirely shut out. A breakfast table under the
awning had not yet been cleared, and a group of
sparrows fought noisily for the crumbs on cloth
and floor. The twittering of the birds, the busy
hammering from the cobbler-shop on the ground
floor, and the merry cries of children playing in
the neighboring courtyard, mingled with the dis-
tant street noises in a peaceful morning sym-
phony.
Within the room all was still. The beautiful
Miss de Fries closed her fat text-book of pathol-
ogy, stretched herself at full length on the divan,
and crossed her hands behind her blond curls.
She gnawed her full lips with her strong white
teeth, as if in deep thought, and stared silently
up at the tiresome garlands on the painted ceil-
ing.
Dr. Reithmeyer waited about five minutes.
He stood leaning on the desk between the win-
dow and the glass door, smoked his cigarette,
and admired his well-kept nails. At last his pa-
tience gave way. He tossed what was left of
the papyros into the ash-tray, ran his slender
white fingers through his shining black beard, and
THE THIRD SEX 13
remarked: "Well? The idea cannot be so
very new to you. You must have given the mat-
ter an occasional thought yourself. We have
been as good as married for two years now, bet-
ter than married, I might almost say. So we can
scarcely be called foolhardy if we legalize our
relations."
" But Seppl dear, it's so much nicer this way,"
answered Miss de Fries, in the calmest possible
tone, without moving from her comfortable po-
sition. " Besides, it's violating the compact.
We are free agents."
" You may be," said Dr. Reithmeyer, coming
a step or two nearer the divan, " you may be, but
only for a little while longer. When you take up
the professional practice of medicine you are no
longer a free agent. And I am not free now.
You see, my dear Claire, the matter stands thus:
I may get the professorship any day. I spoke to
Professor Brenninger only yesterday; there is a
vacancy and I am to be suggested for it. But of
course all that is impossible if I continue to to
live in open scandal."
Miss de Fries took her hands from behind her
head, crossed them over the cover of the pathol-
ogy, and laughed gently.
This angered Dr. Reithmeyer, and he ex-
i 4 THE THIRD SEX
claimed irritably: "You consider it a joke, ap-
parently. My dear girl, devotion to principle
is all very well. But it is foolish, or worse, when
it interferes with the happiness of two people
who love one another. If you are tired of me
already, please say so honestly; but if not, why
do you insist on ruining my career? It would
hardly be kind of you if, after all we have been to
each other, you were to to jilt me."
"Hello!" exclaimed Miss de Fries, much
amused. She rose quickly to a sitting posture
and dropped her feet to the floor. " Come here,
Seppl, and sit down beside me let me look at
you."
He sat down on the low divan at her side, and
she laid both hands on his shoulders, smiling into
his sober face. " Now this is really amusing,"
she continued, her rather large white hands mov-
ing gently over his hair and beard. " The world
is indeed turned topsy-turvy. Formerly it was
the maiden who implored her fickle lover not to
throw her over, * Give me back my honor ! you
have made me unhappy forever ! cruel man ! ' and
so forth. And now I find you using those very
same terms. The New Man ! Isn't that enough
to make one laugh? "
Dr. Reithmeyer caught her hands and held
THE THIRD SEX 15
them fast, for the stroking made him nervous.
"Don't be a goosey," he endeavored to joke.
" The New Woman would naturally call forth the
New Man, but there is no reason why he should
be the fool you seem to expect. I think I might
look for a little more good-will on your part. I
am taking for granted that you entered into this
affair with me because you loved me, and not
merely to defy the family, or to make yourself
talked about."
Her only answer was to draw him close and
give him a hearty kiss.
"Well, then?" he continued, evidently satis-
fied on that point. " Now that we have settled
down into what is a true marriage, in spite of
long separations, in spite even of our widely dif-
fering temperaments and professions, I really
don't see why we should not risk founding a fam-
ily as well as any other respectable couple. The
essentials are all there."
The beautiful Miss de Fries sighed drolly:
" What a tease you are, my dear Seppl I Won't
you leave me at least the time to make my state
examinations, and then the six months of study
in the Paris hospitals?"
" Indeed? And then, when I am settled here
as professor, you snow in on me some fine day,
16 THE THIRD SEX
possibly with a baby old enough to say ' Bonjour,
papa?'"
"Why not? Of course I should come when-
ever you want me, if I am otherwise free to come.
And of course I should bring the baby, if there
was one."
" Much obliged, but I should be forced to de-
cline the honor."
"And why? I do not understand."
" Because a professor of the Royal University
may possibly be permitted a secret love affair, but
certainly not an openly acknowledged child of
this affair."
" That is utter nonsense ! "
" Of course it is utter nonsense. We two know
that all so-called morality is built up on utter non-
sense. But if by making some little concession
to the public idea of morality we can secure a
comfortable livelihood for ourselves, we would
be utter idiots if we did not do it."
" All very well and good, I take no exception
to the logic. But I have a feeling that we will be
punished somehow if we backslide."
" I believe you are superstitious."
" Possibly. He who has strong convictions is
most susceptible to superstition. Since I have
ceased trembling at the thought of an atonement
THE THIRD SEX 17
in the hereafter, I take it for granted that all sin
is punished in this existence. That satisfies my
sense of justice. If it is not so, then there must
be something like the Buddhistic transmigration
of souls. The entire universe is built up with
such logic that guilt without punishment would
violate the law of causation and I cannot im-
agine such a violation possible. I have too much
respect for the splendid legalism of the Universal
Order."
Dr. Reithmeyer cut a wry face. He let him-
self fall into an armchair with a comic sigh and
sat rubbing his knees with the flat of his hands, as
he answered: " I have an intense desire to upset
the Universal Order by crawling up yonder wall.
It's too absurd ! Here you are proving to me, by
philosophy and logic, that I must either renounce
my academic career, or give up my right to your
charming person. Keep your philosophy to your-
self, and help me to win my honey wifie."
Miss de Fries stood full in the gleaming wave
of light that surrounded her short blond curls like
a delicate shining veil, falling low on her back
a bridal veil of sunshine ! Her loose white cash-
mere morning gown left her throat open, and
from the fine lines of neck and breast an artist
could have deduced a perfect figure under the soft
i8 THE THIRD SEX
folds. Her face, turned from the light, seemed
almost brown by contrast, softly pink-tinted, and
under heavy black brows and long lashes her great
dark eyes shone soft and calm as the eyes of an
antelope. Claire de Fries was a very beautiful
young woman. Her hands were large and some-
what masculine, but well shaped and carefully
tended. She blushed as she felt her lover's glance
rest on her with admiration and desire. She was
at his side in two long steps, seated herself on
his knee, and laid her full round arms about his
neck. She pressed her cheek caressingly to his,
and spoke in a tone of motherly tenderness:
" My darling Seppl, what an impossibly an-
tiquated person you are! He wants a honey
wifie, does he? You'll have to look elsewhere
for that sort of thing, my dearest boy, it's not in
my line."
" It is," he reiterated obstinately, holding her
close and kissing her throat. " It's just your
greatest charm, that in spite of all your clever-
ness, your zeal for science, and your truly com-
mendable energy, you are still so entirely wom-
anly. That is why I love you, and why I cannot
live without you."
" Egoist 1" she laughed. "This proposed
marriage will either make me unhappy now, or
THE THIRD SEX 19
condemn me, in my next incarnation, to go
through life as a watch-dog or a cab-horse, in
punishment for my desertion of the cause of Rea-
son. But that does not worry you in the least,
my noble lord! You want to tie me down for
my whole life just out of selfishness, because you
don't want me to belong to anyone else, not even
to myself."
" No, I don't," he cried, almost in anger.
" What do you want of yourself, anyway?
Don't you know that it is more blessed to give
than to receive haven't you felt the truth of
that?"
" To be honest, I haven't," she replied, a lit-
tle thoughtfully. " I may not be quite as wom-
anly as, to my shame, you appear to imagine."
" You certainly don't put yourself in a class
with the Haider girls, or Mesdames Grotzinger,
Stummer, Wiesbeck, or the others of that ilk?"
"And why not?"
"Nonsense! They are not women at all;
they belong to the third sex. They are neuters
with the outer appearance of femininity, who,
through much exertion, have gradually sloughed
off womanly feelings and have won in their place
a sort of deformed masculine soul."
"Indeed?" The beautiful Claire was
20 THE THIRD SEX
aroused. " Hear the proud masculine spirit as-
sert itself! Let me tell you, my dear friend,
that what you say is the greatest possible bosh,
and unjust at that. If those women belong to
the third sex, then I look upon it as an honor to
be likewise classified."
She had risen and walked to the desk, where
she played nervously with a paper-knife. Dr.
Reithmeyer rose also, and exclaimed complain-
ingly :
" But you don't belong to it; you couldn't ever
belong to it."
"And why not? Aren't the women you men-
tion splendid fellows ? "
" Well, first because hm ! because and
secondly well, thirdly, and finally, because you
are much too beautiful 1 "
Miss de Fries was seriously angry now.
" Oh, spare me such nonsense ! Aren't there
plenty of good-looking men in the world? And
does every one think they have nothing better to
do than to waste their time turning the heads of
silly girls? I should really like to know why a
good-looking woman must be condemned to de-
vote herself solely and entirely to the pleasure
of that noble creature Man? It's too stupid!
Don't you suppose that any of the women you
THE THIRD SEX 21
speak of could, if she wished it, be just as good
a wife and mother as I could be? "
Dr. Reithmeyer laughed ironically. " Oh, I
dare say they want to all right, but they can't
find the men to help them to it; that's the trou-
ble."
Miss de Fries flung the paper-knife angrily on
the desk, and with a muttered "Ridiculous!"
walked to the divan, took up her book, and with-
out another word strode proudly out of the near-
est door.
" Oh, Claire, we mustn't quarrel I why, we
never quarrel ! " Her lover tried to call after her
but the slamming of the door cut off his words.
He paced the room for a few moments with his
hands in his pockets, and an air of angry inde-
cision. Then he caught up his hat and cane and
left the apartment.
Just as Dr. Reithmeyer emerged from the
main doorway onto the Bliitenstrasse a lady
sprang from her bicycle directly in front of him.
She was of scarcely middle height and of stocky
figure, with sturdy legs in black stockings and
blue cloth knickerbockers, below a loose blouse
with a sailor collar. A velvet visor cap sat
jauntily on her short brown hair, with a tilt not
unbecoming to the bright, boyish face and enter-
22 THE THIRD SEX
prising nose under it. This was Miss Hilde-
gard Haider, of the firm Moritz Haider's
Daughters, bankers, better known to her friends
as " Box."
" Ah, good morning, Box," said Dr. Reith-
meyer, raising his hat. " Were you on your way
to see us? "
" Morning, Seppl," replied the stranger cheer-
ily, giving him a hearty handshake, " I had a
spare half-hour and thought I would see what
you two were about! How goes the world with
you?"
" Pretty badly, thank you. We have just
been quarreling."
"Really?" said the girl in astonishment.
"Oh, come along; I'll play peacemaker. Claire
upstairs? "
" Yes, Claire is up there. Go up and let her
tell you all about it, so that you can think out my
punishment together. For, of course, I'll get
the worst of it."
" It can't be anything serious," cried Miss
Hildegard. " Why don't you punch each other's
heads, and then make up? "
" You would recommend punching in such
cases? That looks like you, Box."
11 1 should imagine an occasional punching to
THE THIRD SEX 23
be a rather agreeable variation of married life.
I believe in the shortest process anyway. Are
you coming up with me?"
" No, thanks, I must go for a walk to let off
steam. Shall I carry your wheel upstairs?"
" It will do here just as well. By-by; wish
you a happy sulking time."
"Much obliged; au revoir."
And each went his own way.
CHAPTER II
THE outer shutters were let down, the
" young man " had gone home, and Miss
Hildegard Haider, of the firm of Moritz
Haider's Daughters, stood in her office and gave
a last look around to see that every article was
in its place and all the keys withdrawn, before
she went out, locking and bolting the door be-
hind her. Her yellow spaniel danced barking
about her, glad that his daily trial of patience was
over. During business hours he had to lie si-
lent and motionless at her feet under the desk,
but now he was to have his reward in the shape
of a healthy run beside the wheel. Miss Haider
appeared to be in equally good spirits. She
whistled gayly and patted the dog's thick head.
It had been an unusually lucky business day, and
now she was looking forward to a pleasant
evening with friends whom she had invited to
supper. She had sent her sister Martha home
from the office an hour ago, to make the neces-
sary preparations. She jumped on her wheel
24
THE THIRD SEX 25
not in knickerbockers this time, for she believed
in dignity during business hours, and always wore
long cloth or velvet skirts in her office and
rode through the Ludwigsstrasse to the Victory
Gate. She would have preferred to ride di-
rectly home to the Giselastrasse, but Schampus,
the dog, had to have his exercise, so she dutifully
pedaled the usual run to the five-mile stone on
the Schwabinger Highroad, and then hurried
back. She ran two steps at a time up the four
flights to her modest mansard apartment, and
found the table already set for eight. Martha
had done nobly, and the effect was very pretty,
but Miss Hildegard did not seem quite satisfied
with it. In spite of her eminent success in her
efforts to make herself as masculine as possible,
she was still proud of certain little feminine
qualities, such as her orderliness, and her talent
for arranging her rooms. She was proud also
of her china, which had not been bought by the
dozen in shops, but gathered piece by piece in
auction rooms, until each cup and plate and plat-
ter had some special value as a work of art or a
curiosity. Her handsome, heavy silver had been
left her by her father.
This father, Moritz Haider, had been a queer
sort of man. He was born a Jew, but had
26 THE THIRD SEX
changed his religion for love of his strictly Prot-
estant wife, even giving up his own name, which
rumor said was Cohn. He had been a good
business man, but somewhat of a dreamer also;
had pondered much on philosophic problems, and
suffered from periodical attacks of an absurd pas-
sion for collecting. This passion cost him much
money, and he would often sell a collection for
a song, when a new line of objects attracted him.
His latest fancy had been for tobacco-stoppers in
the form of legs made of porcelain or precious
metals, and his daughters kept the velvet box
with the seventy-five female legs, long and short,
fat and thin, naked, stockinged and booted, in
pious memory of their father's harmless folly.
The old man had left these seventy-five legs to
his Hildegard with more anxious recommenda-
tion for their care than he had his business. The
latter had fallen off sadly during the last years
of his life, thanks to his one good-for-nothing
son, whom he finally dispatched to the New
World where the young man disappeared alto-
gether.
The dying man had consented willingly that
the firm should be known as Moritz Haider's
Daughters, strange as it might sound. He
knew what a splendid fellow Hildegard was,
THE THIRD SEX 27
and how well she understood the business. And
he had always taken Hildegard's solemn dec-
laration never to marry, in all seriousness.
Neither he nor anyone else in the family could
imagine Hildegard as a wife, so, according to
his opinion, there was not the slightest danger
that she might fall in love, and let the business
slip into the hands of some windbag. But
Martha, the " sweet flower," as they called her
at home, pretty sentimental coquettish Martha
would doubtless marry soon, and her future had
been assured by making her a partner in the firm.
Hildegard had justified her father's confi-
dence and brought the sadly endangered firm
into good repute again, but the " sweet flower "
had come to the age of twenty-four without hav-
ing fulfilled her mission in life. She grew pret-
tier every day, and at twenty-two was an
acknowledged beauty, worshiped by all the
artists in town. Martha Haider could count by
the dozen the men who had been in love with
her, and the last five years of her life had been
passed in anxious expectation of a proposal of
marriage which never came. Flatteries, pas-
sionate words, flowers, and poems these were
all her beauty had as yet brought her. The
more forward men who thought her an easy prey
28 THE THIRD SEX
were soon turned down, and the shy ones did not
dare venture a serious proposal, fearing the
"' bankeress " would then become too business-
like. For these were nearly all young men with-
out prospects. The continuous condition of de-
fense and expectation which had been her fate
for several years now, had made Martha Haider
nervous, and begun to affect even her beauty.
She would sit dreaming over the ledger with dull
eyes and drawn brows, and her mental depres-
sion painted sharp lines about mouth and nose,
and found vent in occasional quarrels with her
sister.
"Why that critical expression?" she said
touchily, as Hildegard gazed at the table with-
out a word of praise.
" Come, come, don't get nervous," answered
the latter, " I think it all very charming, but a
new idea for the napkins suddenly occurred
to me."
She caught up the nearest napkin, in which a
roll had already been placed, and began to form
it into something that, she asserted, bore a re-
markable resemblance to a lotus flower. This
was one of her little talents. While busy at it,
she glanced towards a bunch of beautiful or-
chids in a vase on the table, and remarked
THE THIRD SEX 29
lightly: "Say, sweet flower, you needn't have
gone to such expense for those few females.
What did it cost?"
" Nothing," said Martha, with a shrug.
"What's the matter?" asked Hildegard;
" you are as red as a peony. You know I don't
want you to buy that sort of thing out of your
own money."
" I didn't," replied Martha, blushing hotly.
" The flowers are from oh, you can guess."
"From Arnulf?"
"Yes, of course; anything as beautiful as that
must come from him." She laughed nervously
and made some quite unnecessary change in the
table arrangements. She felt her sister's sharp
glance resting on her, and after a short pause,
she added: "He was here a moment ago and
left a greeting for you."
Miss Hildegard took up a second napkin, and
whistled between her closed teeth. Then, as
if talking to herself, and without looking up,
she remarked: "I don't like that affair at
all."
" I know for myself what is right and what is
not," Martha roused angrily but the trembling
of her features showed that she was nearer to
tears. " I thought it was the boy from the pas-
30 THE THIRD SEX
try shop and opened the door myself, or I should
not have received him."
" Now don't get excited," said her sister
soothingly. " I am not reproaching you. We
are independent, sensible women, and can receive
all the men we want to in our own home. It's
nobody's business what we do. You can invite
whom you want and see him alone, if you so de-
sire. You can carry on all the affairs you like,
too, even behind my back if it pleases you, but
leave out Arnulf Rau."
" I don't see why," answered Martha hotly.
" He's a married man whose wife is an intimate
friend of ours ! "
"That's just why," cut in Hildegard hastily
and harshly. " You're such a sensible girl, of
course I know the young windbags or the old
fools would never be dangerous to you. But
Arnulf Rau is dangerous, with his white hands
and his confounded eyes. Don't deny it! Not
one of them has interested you as he does. It
would be ever so much worse than if you should
take up with one of your foolish, sentimental
boys. There couldn't one of them have worse
intentions than he must have."
"Do you think so?" cried Martha in sup-
pressed emotion, stepping close to her sister, her
THE THIRD SEX 31
eyes shining and her breath coming in quick
gasps. " Then I will tell you what he has just
declared he cannot live without me, ... he
will get a divorce "
" Great Heavens ! " burst from Miss Hilde-
gard as she sat down suddenly on the near-
est chair. She swallowed a sharp critical
remark with difficulty, and after some little
time added, in apparent calm : " Well and
you?"
" I was dreadfully frightened, naturally," an-
swered Martha.
She stepped to the mirror, passed her hands
over her deep black hair, and touched her fair
heated face with her delicate handkerchief.
Then she continued firmly, although her voice
trembled : " I know one thing surely, and that
is, that I have never loved any other man so
much."
Hildegard threw her damask lotus flower an-
grily on the table and cried aloud: "Oh, see
here, sweet flower, this is altogether too idiotic.
I'd rather you ran away with some nice fellow.
I'd be willing to support you both out of my own
pocket, rather than have this sort of thing hap-
pen."
" Oh, yes, you can laugh." Martha was really
32 THE THIRD SEX
angry. " Of course, you can never understand,
you with your heartlessness "
" Bother heartlessness," interrupted the elder
sister roughly. " If it's the heart that throws
foolish women at the wrong man, then I haven't
any heart. And I have no heart to encourage
you in such utter idiocy, either."
" Ah, you I You ! " Shaking with rage,
Martha took a few quick steps towards her sis-
ter. " You have spoiled everything for me ! It
is all your fault, if I have to drag out this hid-
eous failure of a life "
"My fault? And how?"
" Because you frighten the men away. You
are worse than the worst mother-in-law, with
your dreadful * common sense ' and your unwom-
anly coarseness. You make a mock of all tender
feelings, in your eyes everything becomes ridicu-
lous, everything one longs for, when one has to
vegetate in lovelessness as I do. You you
where you tread, no flowers can grow !"
She confronted her sister with anger blazing
in her eyes, then suddenly turned and left the
room.
When the servant entered a few moments
later, Miss Hildegard stood at the open window,
blowing her nose with unnatural energy. She
THE THIRD SEX 33
couldn't let the stupid thing see she had been cry-
ing.
Half an hour later the guests began to arrive.
First to come was Miss Agatha Echdeler, Chair-
man of the Propaganda Committee for the Evo-
lution of the Feminine Psyche. This association
had another and an easier name, but the learned
ladies preferred to speak of it thus among them-
selves. Miss Echdeler was a slender, stately
woman, in the late thirties, of assured carriage
and intelligent, amiable expression. In contrast
with the boyish style affected by Hildegard
Haider, her appearance and manners were most
ladylike. After her came Mrs. von Grotzinger,
a rotund little person with short gray hair and
a face like a full moon, who dressed quietly but
in execrable taste. Mrs. von Grotzinger was a
worthy lady who spent her life doing much good
with her slender means. It was asserted that
she had a husband living, but no one had ever
seen him. Rumor whispered that he had fled
into the Unknown years before, in terror of the
strong mind of his better half. Mrs. von
Grotzinger was more conspicuous in ordinary con-
versation by reason of her masculine voice than
because of the brilliancy of her remarks, and she
appeared to take more enjoyment in the smoking
34 THE THIRD SEX
of strong cigars than in the utterance of daring
speeches. She could smoke the heaviest stogies
without the tremor of a muscle.
Then came the inseparables, Mrs. Stummer
and Miss Wiesbeck. The first had a delicate,
fine-cut face like an antique cameo, set on a firm
strong throat, and carried herself like a hand-
some boy in woman's clothes. The pale little
creature at her side looked as though a zephyr
might blow her over. She was the narrow-
chested, sharp-nosed daughter of a country pas-
tor, who had had courage enough to run away
from her home to study philosophy in Zurich,
" just for fun," as she expressed it, for even she
herself could not see any outlook for the prac-
tical utilization of her knowledge. She picked
up a little money by coaching pupils for the Girls'
High School, and managed to live largely through
the help of better situated friends. Mrs. Stum-
mer had really had a husband once, but had ob-
tained a divorce from him after a very short
time. As she explained it, she had not been
able to discover, during the few months of her
married life, what possible use she could have
for the gentleman. She found him only an ob-
stacle in her pursuit of higher ideals. The sep-
aration had been entirely friendly, and Mr.
THE THIRD SEX 35,
Stummer visited his wife occasionally, usually
when in need of money, as she had more of that
commodity than her simple tastes . required.
The last to come was Claire de Fries, accompa-
nied by Dr. Jur. Babette Girel, a slender, well-
knit figure in a simple black velvet gown, which
set off to advantage her fine spirituelle face with
its aquiline features. Dr. Girel had already won,
a name as an eloquent and keen-witted defender
of the principles of emancipation for her sex.
When all were there, the guests took their
places at table, and devoted themselves in no^
ticeable seriousness and comparative quiet to the
enjoyment of the good things offered by the firm
of Moritz Haider's Daughters. Cooks and the
kitchen were the main topics of conversation, just
as they would have been at the outset of an ordi-
nary woman's party. And only in that these ladies
ate heartily, like hungry human beings, instead
of merely picking at their food, did they show
their superiority to the weaker members of their
sex. The fact that no alcoholic drinks were
passed may have been in part reason for the
mildness of the conversation, but the general
gravity was caused by the evident depression of
the hostesses. Miss Martha Haider had calmed
herself sufficiently that neither her complexion
36 THE THIRD SEX
nor her behavior showed any traces of her recent
emotion, and Miss Hildegard took particular
pains to appear most loving towards her sister.
But the observing eyes of the intimates of the
house saw that something untoward had occurred.
Supper over, the guests wandered into the liv-
ing room, an apartment of moderate size fur-
nished in odd but charming style, with all sorts of
knickknacks and curiosities. Cigarettes were
passed Mrs. von Grotzinger lighting her own
Havana. Then Miss Hildegard ordered the big
punchbowl brought in, setting it down on the car-
pet. She threw in two bottles of champagne,
assuring her temperance guests that it was only
fruit juice with soda [which was a shameless lie,
inasmuch as the punch was made of best Palatine
wine and champagne, half and half] ; then she
added some slices of lemon, and finally, dreadful
to relate, a dash of brandy.
The guests declared the punch delicious, and
the anti-alcohol party praised it as a triumph of
the temperance drink industry. Mrs. Stummer
and Miss Wiesbeck stretched themselves with
Miss Hildegard on the carpet around the punch-
bowl; Miss de Fries lay at full length on a low
divan, and Martha Haider, who cherished a
schoolgirl's admiration for the beautiful Frisian,
THE THIRD SEX 37
sat down on the fur robe at her feet. Mrs. von
Grotzinger was so lost in a deep arn>chair that
her feet scarcely touched the floor, and Babette
Girel stood with Agatha Echdeler at the open
window, gazing smilingly at the pretty groups.
Praise of the cheering beverage seemed to
have exhausted conversational resources again,
and Hildegard exclaimed angrily: "Why,
girls, aren't you stupid to-night! I'll have to
turn a somersault to waken you up a bit." She
was up in a jiffy, stepping over the slender Miss
Wiesbeck, and, placing herself in the center of
the room, she really did turn a neat somersault
without any shock to decency, as she always wore
knickerbockers under her skirt.
But this acrobatic feat was nothing new to the
guests, so the applause was but mild, and silence
would have fallen again, had not Dr. Girel asked
Dr. de Fries, aloud but without any particular
excitement, whether it was true that she was to
marry her lover, Dr. Reithmeyer.
" So Box has been telling tales? " asked Claire,
without changing her comfortable and becoming
position on the divan.
" Of course. I always do when some stupid-
ity is threatening, which an open discussion might
possibly avert," was Hildegard's explanation.
38 THE THIRD SEX
"Open discussion?" laughed the beautiful
Claire. " Would you call a mass meeting to dis-
cuss my case? "
" Well, I was thinking of our own intimate cir-
cle here the windows are open, that makes it
a public meeting."
"Is that a joke?" inquired Mrs. von Grot-
zinger sleepily. " I can't laugh, I have eaten too
much."
Miss Echdeler turned to Claire. " Then you
really intend to marry?"
Miss de Fries returned: " It looks as if I
must, but I don't want to."
" Bravo 1 Prosit," squeaked Miss Wiesbeck,
raising her glass to her fellow-student.
" Oh, don't be silly," said Box. " I don't see
why we can't talk this matter over sensibly. I
should hope we were competent to do that much."
" I have no objections," said Miss Claire,
calmly. " If I can lie here comfortably as I do
now, you can say anything you want to about this
case of Reithmeyer vs. Fries. I must confess, I
am beginning to have my doubts. I can't quite
decide whether my resistance is a sign of strength
of character, or merely of obstinacy. After all,
it is no crime to marry."
" For my part, I prefer free love," grunted
THE THIRD SEX 39
Mrs. von Grotzinger in her comfortable bass
tones. They all laughed, but the good lady took
no offense and joined in the merriment herself.
" We needn't discuss love here," declared
Miss Wiesbeck with precocious wisdom, whereat
Martha Haider, who disliked the sharp-nosed
girl, fluted back at her in sweetest tones:
" Ah, your mind is quite made up as to love?
Oh, please, tell us something definite about it
then."
The student of philosophy saw the irony, and
answered with hesitation : " Love oh, well,
love love is entirely a private, personal mat-
ter."
This started the most of them laughing vio-
lently again, until Dr. Girel's soft, rich voice cut
through the noise.
" Why, ladies, aren't you ashamed of your-
selves to bid for laughter in this way? One
would think you were in the German Parlia-
ment."
" Bravo ! " " Parliament indeed ! " " Fie 1 "
came the merry answers, and then Dr. Girel sug-
gested arranging a formal law-court. Hildegard
Haider, as the initiated person, was to narrate
the species facti.
Box seated herself cross-legged on the divan
40 THE THIRD SEX
by Claire de Fries, and carried out her part of
the task with sufficient volubility. The ladies
listened in eager attention, and then Dr. Girel
opened the proceedings by asking Miss de Fries
if she had any corrections to make. As this was
not the case, Dr. Girel proceeded to deliver the
following speech:
" Ladies ! Permit me to give you a summing
up of this case, following the statement we have
just listened to. Mr. X. and Miss Y., because of
mutual so-called love, had entered into a free
companionship, with no legal liabilities on either
side. This companionship has now lasted for
some time, to the mutual satisfaction of the par-
ties concerned, and through its high intellectual
character it has, I might say, taken on the quali-
ties of an ideal marriage relation. Now, how-
ever, Mr. X. desires to change this ideal marriage
to a conventionally lawful one, i. e., to a legal-
ized, indissolvable contract, by which Miss Y.
shall give herself, of her own free will, and for
the rest of her life, into the guardianship of Mr.
X.; shall take upon herself, besides the so-called
natural duties, a number of unnatural, viz., social
duties; and according to the principle, mulier in
ecclesia taceat, to agree to all rules laid down by
X., and to forever after hold her peace."
THE THIRD SEX 41
Miss Wiesbeck could not resist a murmured,
"Horrible!"
Babette Girel continued calmly: "The ques-
tion is now put to this honorable assemblage,
whether, from the point of view of our endeavors
for the healthy evolution of the Feminine Psyche,
our comrade Y. may be allowed to deny her hith-
erto nobly defended principles for the sake of
material reasons? "
"No!" "Never!" " Jamais, non licet!
brutal force!" "masculine selfishness!"
" clumsy snare ! "
The excited women all spoke at once.
Not having a bell, Dr. Girel rapped on her
glass with a paper knife and commanded order.
"Does anyone wish to discuss the question?"
she asked with droll gravity.
Mrs. von Grotzinger raised her short fat fore-
finger, and turning to the beautiful woman on the
divan, she said with a motherly smile, " Don't let
them fool you, Frieschen. I know how hard it
is to resist a man when he pleads so charmingly.
As I said, I prefer free love."
Without waiting for permission to talk, Mrs.
Stummer broke in : "I know marriage, I can
say a thing or two also. The men can ruin and
break us in free love just as well as in marriage
4 a THE THIRD SEX
if they want to. The main point is what stuff
we ourselves are made of. Marriage is good
enough for the ordinary woman, she is happiest
under the yoke, anyway and for the free
woman even the freest love is not free enough,
for love of itself means submission for us. But
I don't see why a woman must love some man!
Give your love to science, Miss de Fries, to serve
her is an honor."
" Bravo, bravo," squeaked Wiesbeck in ad-
miration. " I love only science myself and get
along finely."
" You don't pick up much flesh in the process,
my child," teased Mrs. von Grotzinger good-na-
turedly. " It looks to me as if science did not
reciprocate your feelings. One can remain as
thin as you are only in platonic affairs."
This started a storm of talk, laughter, jokes,
and serious argument over the case in question.
They nearly all talked at once, broke up into
groups of two or three, grew warm and began
to scream, just as men do under the same circum-
stances. Miss Girel gave up her attempt at par-
liamentary procedure and sat down in a corner
with Box and Miss Echdeler, to exchange serious
opinions. Miss de Fries, who was most con-
cerned in it all, was much the most composed, and
THE THIRD SEX 43
during the height of the noise, she bent over
Martha Haider, and asked, smiling, " What
would you do in my case, de#r? "
The pretty girl started up from her dreaming,
and had to pull herself together before she could
answer. Then she whispered, blushing, "I?
Ah, if anyone loved me as much as that, I should
be more than happy to belong to him before all
the world, and for the rest of my life."
Claire passed her hand tenderly over the
smooth, Madonna-like face. " Little woman,"
she said gently, " does that really make you so
happy? Always to live for some master, never
for yourself? "
Martha sighed and could find no answer.
Then she stood up and said carelessly: "You
would only laugh at me, anyway." She took up
the silver cake basket and went the round of the
company. The beautiful Frisian rose also, lit a
fresh cigarette and listened absently to the ex-
cited argument of the various groups. They had
all gone wide astray from the original theme, the
question of whether she would marry or not, and
were each one of them riding her favorite hobby.
Mrs. Stummer quarreled with Mrs. von Grot-
zinger about the High School for Girls; she was
passionately in favor of it, her opponent equally
44 THE THIRD SEX
obstinate in the opposition. Wiesbeck was lay-
ing down the law to the smiling Miss Echdeler
about the right of each one of us to live out his or
her own individuality, a right that woman must
fight for as well as man. Miss Echdeler had heard
it all a thousand times before, but she let the stu-
dent talk on. It was wholesome rhetorical practice
and the good cause of mental emancipation needed
easy speakers. Babette Girel had launched on
her favorite topic, the legal rights of illegitimate
children. Her friend Hildegard challenged her
by the remark that a child was good for any
woman, was necessary indeed for most of them,
but that she could not see why a woman who had
made herself mentally free, as had Claire de
Fries, should not have a child without a legalized
husband. It would be only a pleasure for a strong
character to struggle against the prejudices of so-
ciety.
Claire sat down by these two and listened at-
tentively. In the early stage of her relations with
Dr. Reithmeyer she had decided not to have a
child until she had finished her studies and won
an independent position for herself. Then, how-
ever, she did not wish any longer to evade her
natural mission, her very highest duty as a
woman. She was a serious nature and desired to
THE THIRD SEX 45
furnish in herself the proof that modern woman
is not only mentally equal to man, but is morally
his superior, in that for her love is not merely a
passing pleasure, but the fulfillment of a holy duty
to the race. But she had often considered the
very uncomfortable position which must be the
lot of a child coming into the world in what was
still called a forbidden manner. And she seri-
ously asked herself whether the selfishness of a
woman who sacrificed the happiness of her chil-
dren to her own desire for mental freedom was
not just as bad, from the point of view of higher
morality, as the selfishness of man, who for his
own convenience puts into the laws of his coun-
try the doctrine of the non-relationship of the
father to his natural child.
She had long felt that if she should ever let
herself be persuaded to marry, it would be only
for the sake of the children. And this was just
the point touched upon by Dr. Girel in her calm,
clear manner.
" Nonsense ! " interrupted Box. " It's good
for these children to be knocked about a bit, es-
pecially for the girls. The future needs women
who have been toughened."
" But much good material is wasted in the
knocking about," answered Babette Girel, with
46 THE THIRD SEX
quiet gravity. " The toughened woman will do
our cause little good; she will only help to chase
beauty and joy and goodness more and more
from our prosaic world."
" Can't see it that way," declared Box obsti-
nately. " Health is the best beauty, and all this
talk of the Good, and the True, and the Beauti-
ful, only makes dish-rags of us."
"Your idea of toughening makes the sexless
woman," joined in Claire de Fries. " And she
is a horror to the men as well as to herself.
Don't forget that, Box."
" Dear, dear, how tender you are of the poor
men," mocked Hildegard. " This foolish pity
for men is really the very worst among the many
weaknesses of our sex. Why do so many, even
of the cleverest women, get caught? Simply be-
cause the men know how to appeal to their pity.
They know how to make a woman believe they
can't live without her, or that they would go
crazy, or go quite to the dogs, if she won't listen
to them, and stretch out her rescuing hand as a
good angel. Nasty comedy! Just let any one
of them come to me with such stuff! I'd land
him a good whack right and left for his pains."
" Don't be alarmed," laughed the beautiful
Claire, " they'll not bother you."
THE THIRD SEX 47
Hildegard reddened with anger. " Oho, all
that about the sexless woman was meant for me,
was it? My dear Donna Clara, if you think that
I, or any woman who is not absolutely bedrid-
den, couldn't capture a man, you are much mis-
taken. Great art that! When a woman really
wants to, she can get any man."
" Well, as far as the ways of men are con-
cerned," Claire smiled mockingly, " your opin-
ions are not hampered in the least by an
acquaintance with facts."
" Indeed." Box was really angry. " So you
think I couldn't possibly win a man? Bosh!
Men are so weak in temptation that we need but
to beckon ever so slightly to gather them into our
net, all of them, without distinction of age, posi-
tion, or rank."
Babette tried to sooth her, but she was be-
yond control. The scene with her sister earlier
in the evening had shaken her nerves so that she
was hardly conscious of what she was say-
ing. " If I wanted to humiliate a man, I should
not even take the trouble to bother myself
about him. I would simply let my cook win
him."
" Hear ! Hear ! " laughed Mrs. von Grot-
zinger. The others became interested now, and
4 8 THE THIRD SEX
turned to the group with half smiling, half em-
barrassed attention.
" You forget one thing, my dear Box," said
Claire de Fries, trying to control her annoy-
ance at the turn the conversation had taken.
" It is only after enjoyment that men become
the cynics you think them. At first they are
greater idealists even than we are, and a vic-
tory which costs nothing does not allure them at
all."
" Indeed, I'll prove the contrary ! " cried Hil-
degard with flashing eyes. " In two weeks'
time I'll bring you down a stag of ten."
A general silence ensued; this frivolity was a
little too much for the ladies. They were
greatly embarrassed, and discovered with remark-
able unanimity that they wanted another glass of
punch and more cake. Eating and drinking
seemed somehow to soften the unpleasantness of
the situation.
As no one applauded her joke, Box laughed
herself. Wise Miss Echdeler, who had felt the
foolish boasting most keenly, stepped behind her
friend, patted her on the shoulder and said:
"That's right, laugh at yourself, for it was a
very bad joke." And turning to the others, she
continued : " Don't be alarmed ladies, Box has
THE THIRD SEX 49
merely fired a shot in the air. She has her re-
volver always with her when she rides out, but
there's been no chance to try it yet, so she thought
it might be fun to startle our delicate ears with
its noise. No, my friends, we can continue to
develop as we have done. I have no fear that
our chosen path may lead us to take up with the
rowdyism of male students."
Box suddenly realized that she had made a
mistake, and she pressed Miss Echdeler's hand,
grateful for her efforts to restore the lost jovial-
ity.
The dangerous subject was tacitly dropped,
and the conversation spread itself somewhat for-
cibly over all sorts of innocuous themes, such as
drama, literature, and fashions. Finally Dr.
Girel consented to play a violin solo. She was
a remarkably talented lady, who knew much and
could do much, but she could not play the violin.
However no one seemed to think she demanded
attention for her performance and the conversa-
tion went on as before.
Miss de Fries looked about for Martha, but
could not see her. She left the living-room and
found the girl alone in the dining-room, stand-
ing at the open window, gazing out into the
night. She went to her, laid her arm about her
5 o THE THIRD SEX
pressing her closely and asked: "Well, dearie,
what was the trouble between you?"
Martha let her dark head fall on the breast of
her tall friend, and whispered shyly under the
coming tears : " Oh, dear, it is dreadful to have
no one to whom I can talk."
44 Talk to me," said Claire, kindly. " I don't
think I am quite as sadly sensible as the others.
Come and see me to-morrow evening, I will ar-
range to be alone."
The ladies in the living-room began to feel
bored. It wasn't safe to work up a good quarrel
for fear of unpleasant contretemps, and there
wasn't much more to say anyhow. The alcohol
that had been smuggled in began to go to their
heads; some were alarmed because of their un-
called-for merriment, others simply sleepy. No
one in particular seemed to have started the
leave-taking, but all the guests were gone shortly
before midnight. They were profuse in their
thanks for the charming evening, and Mrs. von
Grotzinger laid a fifty pfennig piece on the
kitchen table for the cook.
Box accompanied them down the stairs to open
the front door. She stood at the court gate,
gnawing her lips, until the voices of the depart-
ing ones had lost themselves in the quiet street.
THE THIRD SEX 51
Upstairs again, she sent Martha to bed and oc-
cupied herself for about an hour in clearing up.
When she finally sought her bed, Martha was
already fast asleep like a comforted child, but
Hildegard heard three o'clock strike before the
God of Dreams took her pityingly to his arms.
Disgusting! even Morpheus was a man. Was
there no other way for a sensible woman to find
her well-earned rest?
CHAPTER III
A/TISS HILDEGARD HAIDER awoke
JLV A late the following morning. Martha had
to call her, something that had never happened
before. Her head ached badly from lack of
sleep. Her temperance punch might have had
something to do with it too, for in her excite-
ment she had sampled it more copiously than had
any of her guests. She ate breakfast in the
worst possible mood, and spoke scarcely three
words to her sister. Not until they were on
their way to the office did Martha attempt to
break the threatening silence with the question
as to whether this ill-treatment was intended as
a punishment for her, because a man loved her
enough to make a great sacrifice for her sake.
" Haven't you got that crotchet out of your
head yet?" answered Box crossly. "I thought
you would have forgotten the stupid affair over-
night."
" It doesn't strike me as particularly stupid,"
said Martha, defiantly. " He says his wife does
52
THE THIRD SEX 53
not understand him, and that we were born for
one another."
" Stuff and nonsense," cut in Box. " Men in
love all spill over with such talk. But just try
to keep him to his word, and see how quickly he
retreats. It isn't true anyhow, his wife under-
stands him very well; no one better. What is
there so very remarkable back of his bombastic
speeches? According to him, nothing that any-
one else does, or has done, is worth anything.
To hear him talk you would think he was the
only man of the century to know anything at all
about art or literature. But what does he write
himself? A few pretty essays a year, now and
then a play that is never performed, or a novel
that is so boresome no one wants to read it. His
wife is much the cleverer of the two, if she
doesn't use such high-sounding words. She sees
through his poses completely, but she knows how
to make him believe she is looking up to him in
admiration. Then he is happy, and she has her
peace and comfort, a handsome husband, and a
luxurious life. No, my angel, your Arnulf Rau
is a handsome man, and a rich man, and that ends
it. If he were not rich, he'd have starved on his
wisdom long ago. There's any number of men
just like him among the artists and writers, and
$4 THE THIRD SEX
ninety-nine per cent of those born rich are the
same sort of stuff. All that kind of man can do
is to idle away the hours, and to torment those
around him. Besides which, he drinks."
" That's not true. It's too horrid of you ! "
Martha was almost in tears, but she did not wish
to attract the attention of the passers-by, so she
clenched her teeth, and in a few moments had
controlled herself sufficiently to continue : " You
don't know how much a strong man can stand,"
she said with an upward glance of her beauti-
ful soft eyes. " And if he does drink a little
more than usual now, he probably does it to
drown his sorrow."
" Bosh 1 " exclaimed Box with ironclad empha-
sis. This seemed to her to express her opinion
on the subject with ample sufficiency, for she said
not another word until they reached the office.
The windows were opened, the correspondence
attended to, and the " young man " received his
instructions for the stock exchange. The own-
ers of the firm of Moritz Haider's Daughters
could not enter the sacred halls themselves, and
were therefore compelled to stand outside the
doors and let their clerk tell them of conditions
within, and fulfill their orders. The day's duties
went on in their accustomed way. Martha at-
THE THIRD SEX 55
tended to the correspondence and Hildegard
buried herself in the ledger. But the lines of
figures seemed to have no meaning to-day, her
thoughts were elsewhere. These stupid love af-
fairs, why cannot one thrust the stuff out of one's
brain with a single exertion of the will? Too
idiotic! And then this ugly feeling that she had
made a fool of herself before her friends with
her silly boasting. Still, it had been rather an-
noying, the ironical remarks of the de Fries girl,
and the general doubt in the possibility that she,
Hildegard Haider, who had carried many a dif-
ficult enterprise successfully to a close, could
make a man fall in love with her I Of itself, the
question did not interest her. She didn't need a
man, thank fortune, but she would like to show
those women that she knew men better than they
did, and that a woman had really only to wish
it, to get anything she desired from the so-called
stronger sex. She wouldn't say another word
about it to anyone, but she would just catch the
chosen object by the collar, and shake him until
he dropped at her feet, murmuring foolishness.
She drew a glowing mental picture of her tri-
umph, and arranged the entire plan of battle.
One trifle alone was still wanting and that was
the proper subject for the experiment. She
56 THE THIRD SEX
knew men enough, business friends, married and
unmarried. But it would hardly be wise, and
might injure the good name of the firm, if she
took up with one of the married ones. The
others would be too easy a prey, for she was con-
sidered a good catch, and she knew that any vows
addressed to her would be made more because of
her bank account than for her personal charms.
She must find someone who did not know that
she was a banker, some man who saw in her only
a well-built, bright girl of mature years.
A customer happened in just then, to ask if
this were the proper moment to sell certain se-
curities. Without giving the matter much
thought, she answered in the negative, saying
that the stock was bound to rise shortly. But
the man had scarcely left the office when she re-
membered having heard on good authority that
the enterprise in question was on the brink of
disaster. Her business conscience awoke, and
she sat down to write the customer the true state
of the case, but it was so hard for her to con-
centrate her thoughts that the few lines took half
an hour in the writing. Her headache was un-
bearable. She threw down the pen, told her sister
she could do no more work that day, and asked
her to look after things. Martha protested, for
THE THIRD SEX 57
after Box's friendly admonitions she was not par-
ticularly clear as to brain herself.
" I don't care! I can't and I won't stay, even
if I have to shut up the old place! " With this
declaration Box left the office. She hurried
home, hung up her long skirt, put on her cap,
then sprang on her wheel and made quick time
out of the city. In her hurry she even forgot
Schampus if he knew she was out wheeling
without him, he would never forgive her !
She thought of the dog a moment, then de-
cided it was better not to think at all. It isn't
safe to indulge in thought when riding a wheel
anyway, which is one of the chief good qualities
of this ideal mode of locomotion. She rode
along the Isar to Thalkirchen, pushed her wheel
up the hill, then took the road past the villas of
Ludwigshohe, toward Grosshesselohe. It was a
beautiful day, a trifle hot perhaps, and the road
not of the best, for the sun had made hard ridges
of the ruts left by the last rain, and made great
caution necessary. But it was so quiet and so
peaceful, the sky so clear, and the air so pure
and full of forest odors, and then, best of all,
one couldn't think! Suppose she experimented
on Dr. Reithmeyer? That would be a triumph.
It was true that he was supposed to be much in
58 THE THIRD SEX
love with his Claire, he even wanted to marry
her. Still, the affair had lasted two years al-
ready, and he was only a man. What a fine
idea! But scarce had it occurred to her, when
Box found herself lying beside her machine on
the edge of the road. The rear wheel had
caught in a hard deep rut and bowled her over.
The right handle bar hit her a blow on the shoul-
der, and the pedal raised a painful lump on her
leg, besides tearing a great hole in her stocking.
Miss Hildegard swore aloud, and clasped her
shoulder with one hand and her leg with the
other. Then she gave the bicycle an angry kick
and sat upright to take stock of the situation.
The mishap had occurred in the uphill cut be-
tween Ludwigshohe and the railroad bridge at
Grosshesselohe. Worst of all she hadn't even
a pin with her to make the necessary repairs to
her stocking, and the bumps hurt. She was
breathless and perspiring besides, from the sharp
pace at which she had been riding. She pushed
her wheel up the gentle incline at the side of the
road until it was hidden by the trees, and then
she looked about for a comfortable place to rest.
But there were ants in one spot, too much under-
brush in another, stones or toadstools elsewhere,
or too much sunlight; nothing quite suited her
THE THIRD SEX 59
and she must have gone at least fifty paces from
the roadway without finding a proper place.
Suddenly she saw something gleaming between
the trees. It was two bicycles, a man's and a
woman's, leaning amicably one on the other.
Box crept carefully a few steps further, then
stopped to listen, for she had heard voices al-
though the words were indistinguishable. Just
a little beyond she came to the edge of a tiny
precipice and looked down on a little trough-like
hollow, and there, on the opposite flower-strewn
slope, she saw the owners of the two handsome
machines. She sat in the grass with her lap full
of flowers, weaving a wreath, and he lay out-
stretched before her, gazing at her, and tenderly
stroking her legs in their gray silk stockings. It
was really a very pretty picture, and Box ducked
noiselessly behind the nearest bush, so as not to
disturb the pair. It was a pity she could not
hear what he was saying to her, but she could
judge from the lady's face that it must have been
something very agreeable, for she looked bliss-
fully happy, and ran her fingers through his hair
now and then with a laughing warning. " Oh,
no! please don't! you mustn't say such things!
but you are a dear boy! "
Her wreath was finished, and she took off her
60 THE THIRD SEX
hat to press the flowers on her heavy pale blonde
hair.
"Am I pretty?" she cried merrily, brushing
the unused blossoms from her lap. Her com-
panion threw himself around, laid his head on
her knee, and held out his arms. He asked a
question so softly that Box could not hear it, but
she heard the answer in the woman's clear high
voice. ** Of course, I love you very much, but
you mustn't "
But he let her go no further, and drew her
head down to his, closing her mouth with kisses.
Then he threw himself around again, and pressed
her to him so violently that the dainty little fig-
ure was lost behind his broad back. And all of
a sudden they both rolled down the slope, falling
apart, and she scolded him and laughed, and he
laughed, too, and they brushed the pine needles
'from each other's clothes, and put on their hats
again. Her pretty wreath was crushed and
broken, and he had lost his penknife.
" That's the punishment," she said. " You
wouldn't be good!" And he kissed her again,
and she kissed him, and finally they found the
knife and walked slowly to the wheels, his arm
around her waist, her hand on his shoulder.
Miss Hildegard Haider remained in her
THE THIRD SEX 61
hiding place, pondering deeply. Now she had
seen it for herself, with her own eyes, this cele-
brated love-making they talked so much about.
Hm ! it really was very pretty, quite as charming,
indeed, as the silly poems make it out to be. She
would very much have liked to know what sort
of people these two were the gentleman looked
familiar to her somehow, but she had not been
able to see his face plainly. She sprang to her
feet, forgetting the bumps and the hole in her
stocking; she must follow this couple and see
what happened further, for she wanted to find
out how one must act when in love. She wanted
to learn all about it this very day, this beautiful
summer day!
She pushed her machine back to the road, but
in the moment of mounting discovered that the
steering gear had been bent by the fall. As she
was looking over her tools for the proper screw-
driver, a cyclist pedaling past stopped, jumped
off his wheel beside her and inquired, with a po-
lite raising of his cap: " You have had a mis-
hap? Can I be of service?"
Box replied with some indefinite phrases, for
it was one of her many principles not to accept
such chance attentions. But the young man was
not to be deterred from examining the damage.
62 THE THIRD SEX
He calmly took the tools from her hand, and
set the bar straight again. Without being asked,
he gave his opinion as to the style of her ma-
chine, and was anxious to know if she had hurt
herself in the fall.
By rights, Box should have found all this
somewhat officious, but the young man's manner
was so easy and amiable that she could not be
angry with him. Smilingly, she showed him the
hole in her stocking.
" Good," he exclaimed merrily, " I can rem-
edy that." He took a tiny leather case from his
pocket, and showed her that it contained some
medicines, court plaster, bandage and sewing
materials.
" I have carried this case as long as I have
been riding a wheel," he continued, " and have
never yet had occasion to use it. I bless your
mishap! If you will permit me, I will try my
very defective talent for sewing on your stock-
ing."
Box found herself thinking this young man
very agreeable. She did not raise much objec-
tion to his assistance, for she was a rank amateur
in such matters. So she sat down at the road-
side while he knelt before her, and with needle
and thread white thread, it must be confessed
THE THIRD SEX 63
pulled together the huge three-cornered hole
in her black stocking. She declared his per-
formance most satisfactory, considering the cir-
cumstances.
" Wait a moment, I can improve on it," he
exclaimed, and taking a fountain pen from his
pocket, he skillfully colored the white thread with
the ink. " There now," he cried, pleased with
his good idea, " you must confess I have done my
work marvelously well."
" I shall take pleasure in recommending you to
my friends," she answered in amusement, and
took the hand he offered to assist her in rising.
Never before had she let a man help her on her
feet, but this one was really very nice. She
thought him quite good-looking, too, although he
was not in any way remarkable in appearance.
He was rather small, apparently about her own
size, but well built, with plenty of muscle, as was
shown by the modishly cut suit he wore. His
face had an expression of good-natured intelli-
gence, the eyes were too small and too colorless,
the nose too flat and the lips too thin, while the
beard was lacking entirely. But his brown hair
was prettily curled, his ears remarkably small and
well-shaped, as were also his hands and feet.
His skin was pale, and showed many little blem-
64 THE THIRD SEX
ishes but what young man hasn't a pimple or
two? Miss Hildegard Haider was ready to
swear that even Juliet's Romeo must have had
pimples, although Shakespeare does not make
any mention of the fact.
Here was a stroke of luck ! This was the very
object she was wishing for, this young man
should be the victim for her experiment! Who
might he be? He was of good family appar-
ently, and a stranger, for he spoke with an in-
teresting foreign accent. And he knew her as
little as she knew him, that was the main
thing.
" Were you going this way, and would you
allow me to accompany you ? " he asked politely,
as they made ready to mount their wheels.
"Oh, please that is " Box hesitated.
She really didn't know what the average young
German girl would do in such a case. An added
allurement through gentle resistance would prob-
ably be considered the proper thing, but she
didn't know just how to show this gentle re-
sistance. She felt herself blushing in her embar-
rassment. Heavens, she could blush! In her
joy at the discovery she blurted out:
" All right, come along then ; want to go to
Grunwald?"
THE THIRD SEX 65
" With the greatest pleasure, anywhere you
say."
They rode to the railway station, and pushed
their wheels across the bridge, from which the
well-known view over Munich and the Isar val-
ley can be enjoyed. Half-way over, they halted
to admire the beauty of the picture.
" I am glad I am not alone on this bridge,"
remarked the young man. " The thought of a
spring from here has something very alluring for
me. The water below is like milk in a green
glass. A bath in milk, a very poetic image,
don't you think? And then a salto mortale in
the face of the whole city, as it were, and yet in
sun-bathed solitude it has something so dis-
creetly sensational about it. One would turn
over two or three times en route, and the air
pressure would kill one before the water was
reached. Suicide elegant! Don't you agree
with me? "
" He's trying to make himself interesting," she
thought, but she said merely: " Famous idea
that, but you'll leave the carrying out of it for
some future time, won't you?"
" Who knows," he answered with a shrug
which might mean anything. " What is life
worth anyway? My life at least? This is not
66 THE THIRD SEX
the first bridge upon which I have stood with
such thoughts, nor the first track-rail upon which
I have longed to throw myself. I am four-and-
twenty, ah, yes I but there are countries where
youth cannot come to happy maturity. Permit
me to introduce myself, by the way."
He put his hand to his breast pocket, took out
a dainty card-case of green leather, ornamented
with gold initials surmounted by a crown, and
handed her his card.
Le Baron Raoul de Kerkhove,
Docteur en philosophic.
" Ah, you are French or Belgian, perhaps ?
From Flanders, judging by your name?" queried
Hildegard, with curiosity.
" No, I am from the Baltic Provinces,
refugie," he replied, seeking her glance with an
elegiac expression which seemed to say: " Can
you now measure my sorrow? "
She made a somewhat unsuccessful attempt at
a courtesy. " My name is Hildegard Schneider.
I am visiting an aunt here."
"An aunt? Oh, dear," he echoed.
" Does that disturb you? "
"A little perhaps." He smiled gently.
" Some aunts are so disagreeable."
THE THIRD SEX 67
" Mine is quite passable," said Box, amused.
" It would seem so, since she allows you to
ride out unattended."
"Allows me? How delightful."
" You appear to be of a very independent na-
ture."
" Yes, I fancy one could call it that," giggled
Box.
He looked at her, and gave a droll sigh.
"Does that disturb you, also?" she asked.
" Oh, no ! quite the contrary. Really inde-
pendent women are so rare, and we need them
sorely."
" But why do you sigh?"
" Did I sigh? Oh, about life in general, I
fancy; it has so much that is beautiful."
" Why, yes, I believe you. For instance,
beautiful summer days, beautiful views, beautiful
cycle paths "
" Yes, and by the roadside sit beautiful young
ladies, with beautiful holes in their stockings."
" A sweet young man," thought Box, and sug-
gested that they continue their ride. They nat-
urally chose the wood path, as do all sensible
cyclists, for wheeling is forbidden there. She
rode on ahead to set the pace, and he followed
close behind. The rubber tires glided noise-
68 THE THIRD SEX
lessly over the smooth carpet of needles, and
every now and then the shining machines sprang
gayly as young fawns over the tree roots stretch-
ing themselves like fat lazy snakes across the
path. Miss Hildegard Haider was as happy as
if she had just received a telegram to the effect
that her Turkish Consols had gone up to 76^,
much happier, indeed. Her headache had disap-
peared entirely. What a charming young man
this was, and so interesting, too! A Baron,
refugie, Baltic Provinces, deep sorrow, docteur
en philosophief she had not imagined such good
luck possible. How would he be likely to be-
have if she allured him into that hidden hollow
on the return route? Anyway she would begin
by making a wreath. Mercy! Was she falling
in love with the young man? Nonsense! It
was probable that by to-morrow morning she
would think him a silly little monkey, but for the
present moment he was just about right.
It was almost eleven o'clock when they
reached Grunwald. They turned in at the Cas-
tle Inn, and were looking about for a pretty and
shady seat when they suddenly became aware of
another pair of cyclists. Hello! There were
the couple from the flowery hollow, the large,
brown-mixed gentleman and the charming blonde
THE THIRD SEX 69
in the white shirt waist, gray cloth knickerbock-
ers and gray silk stockings. How pretty she
was, with her graceful, almost boyishly slender
figure and her rich ashen blond hair! And how
well her clothes became her, fitting her with such
easy natural style, from the simple straw hat with
its white veil, down to the little black shoes.
Box forgot her escort completely and stood in
the entrance to the veranda, her eyes fixed on the
charming picture.
But the lady touched her companion, and the
brown-mixed gentleman turned to look at the in-
truders.
My goodness ! Why, that was of course
it was! She had met him socially and in busi-
ness, although he was not one of her more inti-
mate circle of acquaintances; but there could be
no mistake, it was Mr. Franz Xaver Pirngruber,
the well-known genre painter.
"Well, well, well!" thought Box. Franz
Xaver Pirngruber was a man of forty or there-
abouts, most agreeably situated in life. For not
only did he sell his pictures well, but he was also
the possessor of a wealthy and beautiful wife,
and six lovely children, who were a bone of con-
tention among all the photographers of Munich.
" Just wait," thought Box. " I'll frighten
7 o THE THIRD SEX
you, all right." And she walked briskly to the
table where sat the happy couple, holding out her
strong right hand to the brown-mixed gentleman.
" Good morning, Mr. Pirngruber, delighted to
meet you! It was sensible of you to come out
and enjoy this lovely day instead of wasting it
shut up in a studio. All well at home? How is
Mrs. Pirngruber? I haven't seen her for some
time."
She chatted on merrily, and Mr. Pirngruber's
friendly open countenance expressed plainly that
he would have preferred to answer her with a
hearty, "Go to the devil!" But as a man of
breeding, he said instead: " Many thanks, my
wife is doing the watering places. About this
time of year she begins to feel the necessity of
showing herself at the most fashionable of them.
I have too much to do to go with her, unfortu-
nately. So you too have come out for the day,
Miss Haider?"
" Schneider ! " whispered Box, in alarmed
haste. And as Mr. Pirngruber looked his aston-
ishment, she added: "Please don't give me
away; my name is Schneider to-day."
Mr. Pirngruber saw the young man in the
background and understood. He smiled a mean-
THE THIRD SEX 71
ing smile and with a wave of his hand toward
his beautiful companion, he said:
" Permit me to make you acquainted with my
niece, Mrs. von Robiceck."
The ladies bowed politely to one another, and
then Box motioned up her young man and intro-
duced him:
" My cousin, Baron Raoul de Kerkhove, doc-
teur en philosophic."
Bows, meaning glances, four congenial souls
had met and understood each other!
Mr. Pirngruber and Mrs. von Robiceck, (her
name was probably as much Robiceck as Box's
was Schneider) were already deep in the enjoy-
ment of several pairs of white sausage with beer,
and Box had no intention of hard-heartedly dis-
turbing their idyl. After a few polite phrases
she withdrew with her escort to a far corner of
the garden, to sample likewise the white sausage.
This delicately compounded specialty of the
Munich sausage-maker's art, particularly when
combined with the lighter brown beers, seems to
exert a remarkably soothing influence on the
nerves. Harmonious natures, such as retired
grocers, royal policemen, and Bavarian deputies,
consider the white sausage finer than the oyster.
72 THE THIRD SEX
Why, then, should not happy lovers enjoy its
mild charms? Box ordered white sausage and
beer.
But the conversation did not flourish, for
Baron Raoul de Kerkhove was suddenly struck
dumb. Hildegard noticed that he glanced over
to the other couple more often than was natural
or excusable, especially when he raised his glass
to his lips, as he seemed to think she would not
notice it then. Talk at the other table was not
particularly lively either, and the two ate their
lunch in evident impatience. There was a gen-
eral feeling of embarrassment on both sides. In
about ten minutes, Master Franz Xaver Pirn-
gruber rose with his beautiful companion, and
bowed politely as he passed their table, saying:
" Au revoir, Miss Schneider. We're going for
a little walk in the woods, please don't let us dis-
turb you. By-by."
The charming lady bent her graceful head just
a little, and the two ran lightly down the steep
slope to the river. When they were out of hear-
ing the Baron inquired eagerly who they were.
" Don't you know Franz Xaver Pirngruber? "
exclaimed Box. " He is one of our favorite
genre painters. You must have seen some of his
things funny peasant scenes, and such."
THE THIRD SEX 73
" Yes, I think I remember now," replied the
Baron, indifferently. " And who is the charm-
ing young lady, Mrs. von Robiceck, I think it
was?"
" Hm! yes; at least that was the name I un-
derstood," said Box, lifting her black brows.
" A model probably, she is so well built."
"A model? Oh, you are joking!" cried the
young man, almost shocked. " This exquisite
delicacy, this aristocratic grace, oh, it is impossi-
ble ! "
Box shrugged her shoulders. " Nothing is
impossible in that quarter. There are non-pro-
fessional models, too."
The young man sat silent and in thought. He
pressed a white sausage through his teeth, then
laid the empty skin on his plate with a grimace
and remarked:
" That is an enjoyment one must be born to to
appreciate."
As his companion had nothing to say to this,
he drank a long swallow of beer, and asked for
permission to light a cigarette. He took out a
pretty case of Tula silver with gold lining, and
offered it to Miss Schneider. She took a cigar-
ette and they began to smoke. The Baron
gazed thoughtfully at the gray rings that came in
74 THE THIRD SEX
artistic perfection from his lips, and made an-
other remark: "It must be rather nice, some-
times, to be a painter."
"Think so?" said Box, crossly. "I consider
painting a foolish sort of occupation, just about
one degree better than fishing. But pardon me,
if you don't paint, what are you doing here in
Munich? All the strangers who come here,
come to paint."
" Alas, I have no talent of any kind," an-
swered the young man, pathetically. " Art is a
sealed book to me. I am busied with the pre-
paratory studies for a great sociological work,
and then I am also preparing myself for a jour-
ney around the world. I am waiting for the
outcome of a lawsuit upon which will depend
whether I possess a million rubles more or less.
At present, I must make out with a paltry ten
thousand a year."
" I should imagine that was quite enough for
one young man," said Box.
" I must make it do. I have a little furnished
apartment of four rooms in the Schellingstrasse,
but have not even a servant of my own. I must
ride hired horses, something that was not prophe-
sied at my cradle, I can assure you. My father
died in Siberia, you understand, and the govern-
THE THIRD SEX 75
ment confiscated the greater part of his estates.
But there is now a well-founded hope that my
family may win its case. I am waiting the result
here."
Box played with the silver cigarette case, and
said some admiring words about it.
"Its actual value is not much," he answered,
with an expressive glance of his gray eyes.
" But I prize it as my most cherished treasure.
It was a present from my uncle, Prince Krapot-
kin."
"Not the well-known Nihilist leader?"
" The same." He smiled strangely.
" Please do not betray me. The police in your
country have so much time on their hands to
busy themselves with harmless foreigners."
"Mercy! are you one of those of that
kind, too?" exclaimed Box in lively curios-
ity.
"I, Mademoiselle?" he smiled his mysteri-
ous smile again. " I told you I am from the
Baltic Provinces, my father died in Siberia
for the rest, I have studied philosophy."
" Oh dear I oh dear ! what a delightfully un-
canny young man you are," whispered Box
highly amused. " You have so many pockets
and so many pretty little cases in them, haven't
76 THE THIRD SEX
you a gold snuff-box with dynamite among the
lot?"
" Mademoiselle, there are some things about
which one should never joke," he answered
gravely.
"As for instance?"
" For instance, one's country, and love."
"Aren't you going to eat that last sausage?"
asked Box, rather inapropos. " Then please let
me make this hideous dog happy with it." She
threw the sausage to a lazy black monstrosity of
a dog, which wandered about on crooked
dachshund legs, betraying unabashed the dis-
grace of its ancestors, who had evidently had lit-
tle regard for the purity of the race. Then she
called the waitress, paid her little bill, (she
would not hear of the Baron doing it,) and
sprang up, saying cheerily: " Well, then, Baron,
if it please you, let us walk in the woods and talk
of love."
And just as the pretty Mrs. von Robiceck had
done, she sprang down the steep slope to the
river, followed by her escort. She soon left the
path, and began to look for flowers on the slope
under the shadow of the magnificent oaks and
beeches. He helped her kindly, about as a good
brother would aid an elder sister, and chatted
THE THIRD SEX 77
on about his childhood on the immense family
estates in Livonia, about his scientific studies, and
his proposed journey around the world. It was
all very interesting, but a young man of breeding
ought to be able to think of something else to
say, when engaged in picking flowers with a
young lady. If she had been in his place . . . !
But he was probably a little too young, he needed
encouragement. She had gathered a clumsy bou-
quet and was hot and red from much bending, so
she threw herself down on the thick moss and
began to weave a wreath. She did it awkwardly,
for it was many years since she had tried making
flower wreaths.
Raoul de Kerkhove sat at her feet in the green
moss, and smoked one cigarette after another.
He had apparently no intention whatever of
stroking her shins. She would not have advised
him to do it, for, as she knew herself, she
would probably have become exceedingly out-
spoken. But he might at least have tried! In-
stead of doing so, however, he preached a sermon
on the ethics of capitalism, and explained to her
that interest was the root of all evil in the world.
" As long as money can produce money without
work," this was his peroration, " we can have
neither justice nor contentment."
78 THE THIRD SEX
"What do you expect, then?" answered Box,
slightly irritated. " That's the law of nature.
Like produces like, and without much work,
either."
" But money is not a living organism," he
said, with a weak attempt to smile at her joke.
"Isn't it?" she cried. "Well, I should
rather say it is, and a very complicated one at
that. You don't appear to know much about it."
Now that was stupid! She did not want him
to see how much she knew about money matters,
so she cut off further remark by telling him that
they were wandering from the subject.
"From what subject?" he asked stupidly.
" Why, love ! " she answered impatiently, and
there! her wreath was torn again. She held the
larger piece to her forehead, and asked, with as
much coquetry as she could muster: "Do you
think it becoming?"
He was just lighting a fifth cigarette on the
stump of the fourth, but glanced at her out of
the corner of his eye, and remarked dryly:
" No, I don't."
"Oh, indeed?" said Box angrily. "And
what would you have me wear, if you wanted me
to look pretty? "
He thought the matter over, and then said,
THE THIRD SEX 79
suddenly beaming: " I know, a high silk hat! "
"A silk hat?"
"Yes; I would put you on a prancing steed,
with a long flowing skirt and a shiny silk hat;
I think you would look fine that way."
Box was only partially mollified. She threw
away her unsuccessful wreath, and stretched her-
self flat on her back.
" Please give me another cigarette," she said.
" Isn't this charming! I could dream here for
hours."
He took out a match, but she stopped him,
thinking of the danger of forest fires. A police
warning as to throwing away burning matches
was in evidence near by. " Let me have some
of your own fire," she said with tender meaning,
as she took her cigarette between her teeth and
smiled at him. She could risk that, for she had
beautiful white teeth.
Now if he had been at all promising he would
have bent over her with his cigarette, would have
gazed deep into her eyes, and kissed her without
another word. But this unfortunate young
Baron didn't seem to have a soul above mending
stockings. He held out his cigarette to her at
the end of his arm, as far away as possible. And
when hers was lighted, he looked away again,
80 THE THIRD SEX
and let his eyes rest on her yellow leather Kneipp
sandals.
Kneipp sandals were among Box's twenty-
seven principles, but they certainly were not
pretty.
"Do you admire the Russian girls?" queried
Box after a time, with but mild interest.
" I suffer with them," answered the young
man.
" They are said to be so soft in the joints,"
continued Box.
" Yes, particularly in the joints of the soul,"
he differentiated cleverly. " They can be bent
for good or for bad, and when they love, they
wear no corsets.'*
" Oh, how extremely interesting ! " exclaimed
Box with greater eagerness.
" I mean only figuratively, of course," ex-
plained the young man politely. " The women
in this country seem to me to be always tightly
laced mentally, I mean; they are stiff to the
touch, even if they have no bones."
" I'm not ! " cried Box, stretching herself with
pride.
" Oh, yes, Mademoiselle, you have bones,"
said the young Baron with quiet gravity.
This didn't satisfy Box either.
THE THIRD SEX 81
Raoul de Kerkhove smoked and meditated,
suddenly he raised his finger, " Hark! "
"What is it? Oh, that is a chaffinch."
" I don't mean the bird, don't you hear that
voice? That must be charming little Mrs. von
Robiceck."
" Suppose it is? " said Box, hitting at an obsti-
nate fly with her cap.
" Let's go and see what they are doing."
Box smiled maliciously: "I wouldn't go too
near, if I were you."
But Raoul de Kerkhove was already on his
feet and steering toward the direction from which
the sweet silvery laugh seemed to come. So
there was nothing for Box to do but to follow
him. Fifty paces further they saw the brown-
mixed coat and the white shirt waist shining
through the silvered beech trunks, and then they
saw Franz Xaver Pirngruber, the master of the
humoristic brush, raise his so-called niece in his
arms until she could reach the lowest branch of
a great beech tree, whereupon the graceful little
figure swung itself up, and climbed lithe as a cat
from limb to limb.
" Good idea 1 " said Box, " I can do that too,
and you needn't help me, either."
She found a tree that did not look difficult,
82 THE THIRD SEX
reached the first limb without assistance, and
climbed on higher and higher. And when she
was almost at the top under the very highest
point, she looked down triumphantly on her
young friend.
But he stood with his back to her, staring over
to the other beech tree, where the sweet silvery
laugh of pretty little Mrs. von Robiceck pearled
out of the thickest green.
" Idiot! " thought Box, " I have greatly over-
rated you." And she climbed down again,
knowing that she looked hot and scratched and
at a disadvantage generally.
" Bravo 1" said Raoul de Kerkhove. "I
have never seen a lady rise to such heights ! "
This was meant for a joke, but Box didn't
think it at all funny. She declared with decision
that she must go home now, and that he could
stay and enjoy the society of charming little Mrs.
von Robiceck as long as he liked.
" Oh 1 " was all he said, as he climbed back to
the inn in her wake. When they stood by their
wheels, he caught her hand and said with warm
friendliness: "Are you angry with me, Made-
moiselle? Truly I did not wish to offend you."
He seemed to think she was jealous, so she
hastened to assure him that she was not in the
THE THIRD SEX 83
least angry. He raised her hand to his lips and
kissed it. He was a nice boy after all and
so well brought up! Then they mounted their
wheels and rode home in double quick time.
And on that day they loved no more, but they
arranged a meeting for the following evening in
the Blumensalen.
CHAPTER IV
MR. AND MRS. ARNULF RAU were in-
vited to supper at the Reithmeyers.
Claire de Fries had grown rather fond of Mrs.
Katia Rau in the course of her visits to Munich.
It was impossible for her to become very intimate
with any woman, for she found warm friendships
within her own sex wasteful of time, and little
productive of mental gain. She could not endure
the constant chattering for the mere pleasure of
talking, which seems indispensable to friendship
among women.
In this respect, almost more than in her serious
interest for science, the beautiful Claire was an
unusual woman. She could talk, and talk well,
when the subject interested her, but otherwise she
was very silent, from sheer laziness. Phys-
ically Claire de Fries was astonishingly lazy.
The one great hardship of her medical course
was the amount of sitting or standing demanded
by her studies, and she made up for this sacrifice
by spending most of her leisure time flat on her
THE THIRD SEX 85
back. She was the only woman who did not ride
a wheel, among her student comrades and circle
of acquaintances. Mrs. Katia Rau did not
wheel either, as her husband disapproved, and
that was one reason why Claire found the clever
little woman with the heavy dark hair and the
mocking black eyes so sympathetic.
And she could not deny a strong measure of
respect for Mr. Arnulf Rau, for he outdid her
by considerable in laziness. If his magnificent
laziness had not deterred this handsome man
from preserving, in vile ink, all the world-mov-
ing ideas and the marvelous works of art which
lay complete in his brain, he would undoubtedly
have been looked up to by the entire civilized
globe (and not, as at present, by himself alone)
as its leading poet and thinker. He considered
physical exertion unworthy a noble mind. " Let
the herd sweat," he would say, and a celebrated
aphorism, which he had improvised but never
written down, ran:
The Free Man heateth not himself,
The Super-man sweateth not himself.
Following this principle faithfully, he had
risen, if not to the status of the Super-man, at
least to the possession of a stately Embonpoint.
86 THE THIRD SEX
Even Envy must acknowledge that he was a hand-
some man. He looked like Lohengrin or Sieg-
fried, if one could imagine those worthies with
hair and beard trimmed by a tasteful barber, and
with the soft hands and well-kept nails of the
modern man of breeding. A suit of carefully
chosen cut and easy elegance, and a cravat which
was always odd and of joyous coloring, com-
pleted the harmonious and agreeable picture of
his outer man. As to the inner man, his wife
alone could possibly have given a true account, for
his words showed much intelligence, but no char-
acter. But his wife made no such revelation, she
preferred to keep the sweet secret to herself.
And in whom could this egotism of love be more
pardonable, than in the wife of a man, who, be-
cause of his mental caliber, belonged by right to
the whole world?
It was a cold supper, such as the cookless bach-
elor can procure from the nearest store; lobster
salad, the finer kinds of sausages, and various
cheeses. The meal had been eaten under the
awning on the roof. Later, the cool of the
Munich evening air had driven the party into the
study, mainly out of respect for the great Arnulf,
with whose views of life a catarrh was irrecon-
cilable.
THE THIRD SEX 87
The coming Super-man, who will not perspire
even when dancing, will also be spared the
catarrhs of the common herd.
Claire de Fries lay outstretched on the divan
as usual, while little Mrs. Katia crouched on the
arm of the sofa at her head, running her pointed
fingers through the blond curls. The gentlemen
made themselves as comfortable as possible in the
two armchairs. All were smoking cigarettes,
with the exception of Arnulf Rau, who, as Mas-
ter of Himself, was allowed the liberty of enjoy-
ing his own imported cigar. As was natural,
the conversation had worked around to the sub-
ject which was still a burning question in this
circle, that is, whether the Reithmeyers should
marry or not.
"Of course I understand entirely, theoret-
ically," said Dr. Reithmeyer, playing nervously
with the tassel of his chair, " that any official
marriage is quite unnecessary for us, but "
He finished the sentence by a shrug of the shoul-
ders.
" Theoretically, civilized man stands above na-
ture," began Arnulf Rau after a short pause of
meditation, " but in reality he has sold himself
into the most unworthy slavery just because of it.
To rule means to oppress, does it not? To say
88 THE THIRD SEX
man rules nature, means he oppresses her. He
thinks out religions, and votes moral laws, by
means of which all that is natural is considered
sinful, and sins against nature declared moral.
It is only his petty vanity of mental sovereignty
which has induced man to relinquish his rights
as Super-ape. If it is a possibility that in a state
of super-mankind we shall have outgrown our
adherence to the class of the mammalia, then per-
haps, the thousand years of sacrifice of individual
freedom may be worth while, but meantime
but pardon me, I am boring you, Madame
Claire," he concluded, for he perceived that she
was suppressing a yawn.
"Oh, no, indeed! " she answered, smiling; " I
am quite of your opinion. It would really in-
terest me to hear your ideas about marriage."
"About marriage? With pleasure," said
Arnulf Rau. Running his soft white hand gen-
tly through his wavy blond hair he began to
preach :
" Were marriage truly one of the natural laws,
it would be the surest proof of the non-existence
of a God. For inasmuch as this God has created
man polygamous and woman monogamous by in-
stinct, he has made a lasting union between them
impossible from the first, which would therefore
THE THIRD SEX 89
disavow his claim to logical action. But as all
else in the scheme of creation is built up in such
flawless logical sequence, it follows that marriage
cannot be the disposition either of God, or of
Nature."
He made a slight pause. No one said any-
thing. Dr. Reithmeyer smiled uncomfortably.
" The ideal marriage can be found many times
in the natural world," continued the handsome
Arnulf, with brows creased in thought. " Just
look at the cock in the poultry yard, there you
have a case in point. What pride and dignity
are his I How nobly he bears himself, turning
over the choicest tidbits to his womenkind, always
ready for their protection, and making light of
wounds received in battle. And then the hens
with their stupid content, their cackling zeal in
fulfillment of their duties I There you have fam-
ily happiness, true nature, and individual free-
dom."
" Have you become a Mussulman, my dear
friend?" asked Dr. Reithmeyer, slightly irri-
tated.
" We need not introduce personalities," re-
plied Arnulf mildly.
" I can quite understand that the life of the
cock arouses your envy, my dear sirs," said Claire
9 o THE THIRD SEX
de Fries, " but I doubt very much, if, in the pres-
ent state of your development, you would be sat-
isfied with a bunch of hens."
" That is exactly what my husband means to
say," joined in Mrs. Katia. " That is just where
the tragedy of modern marriage lies, in that the
man, in the main, is still only the cock, whereas
the majority of women have raised themselves
as far above the hen standpoint, as man has
raised himself above the apes."
" Precisely," agreed the handsome man. " As
soon as woman desires to be anything else than
the bearer of the new generation, who receives
care and protection in return for her labor, she
oversteps her natural sphere. For him who
would raise himself above nature, there remains,
as I said before, only the hardest slavery to mor-
tal moral laws. The basic physical conditions
for the sexes have not changed at all, but the
moral viewpoint has changed immensely, and the
consequence of this is, that while man's morality
is not influenced in the least by his attitude on
sexual questions, woman's morality suffers greatly
by it."
" Prove it I " cried Claire, angrily.
"Must I, really?" asked Arnulf, stretching
himself wearily. But as no one offered to spare
THE THIRD SEX 91
him the trouble, he continued, after some medita-
tion : " It is very simple. Man's love-excite-
ment is a short, acute disease, which leaves him
stronger than before. He can have the love-
fever to such a degree that he is capable of the
most senseless actions, of crimes even. Yet when
he has reached the goal of his longing he is healed,
and what is more important, he is then no longer
a sex apparatus, but only a power-producing or-
ganism. Love is a hampering obstacle for the
machine, Man; for the machine, Woman, how-
ever, it is the movens, the agens. For the ma-
chine, Woman, is planned, I might say, merely
to produce the fruits of love. Of course this fe-
male machine possesses the important integral
parts in common with the male, it could not be
a machine without connecting-rod, flywheel, and
governor, and it can therefore use its power
for other objects than the one for which it is es-
pecially planned. But this is always done at the
cost of harm to the machine, and the product is
invariably inferior."
" I dispute that," interpolated Claire.
" But without success," replied Arnulf disdain-
fully. " The few women who have accomplished
anything worth while in art or science, were as a
usual thing not womanly. Oh, fair Madame
92 THE THIRD SEX
Claire, spare yourself the pains," he put in with
a deprecatory wave of the hand as he saw that
she was about to speak, " you were about to name
that unhappy Sonja Kowalewska, of course. One
amorous professoress of mathematics proves as
little against my assertion, as the fact that occa-
sionally a calf is born with five legs or two heads,
proves anything against the rule that calves have
one head and four legs."
" By this style of argument," cried the beauti-
ful Claire, looking at him with pity, " I could
prove to you that man is the inferior product,
for there have been women who have accom-
plished results in man's own field of labor, whereas
no man has ever borne a child."
" Oh, Clarchen I " said Dr. Reithmeyer, gently.
There was a pause, for the handsome Arnulf
was offended. His wife broke the silence with
a droll sigh, and then announced with smiling
pathos: "'Man's love is the world; woman's
world is love,' thus sayeth P. A."
" Who's P. A. ? " asked Dr. Reithmeyer calmly.
" Oh, my dears! how ignorant you are,"
laughed Mrs. Katia. " P. A. is Peter Altenberg,
of course."
" Oh, the crazy young Viennese? "
" Crazy? Well, yes, in his style, if you will.
THE THIRD SEX 93
His intrusive manner might be called crazy, too,
but I must confess I like Peter Altenberg. He
is like a bee, he sees only flowers everywhere,
draws out their sweetness, and gives it to the world
as honey in return."
Arnulf came to the assistance of his wife.
" That was very well said. A little honey spread
on one's bread gives pleasure, but it would be dire
punishment to have to eat out an entire honey-
jar. A book by Peter Altenberg is a honey jar,
but enjoyed in small doses it is productive of much
keen pleasure. For the rest, he is the only one
who sees it as I do."
" What ' it '? " asked Claire, lazily.
And Arnulf, " Oh, the world, life, everything."
Then said Claire again, after a pause: "But
you have not yet told us how you look on mar-
riage, a marriage between the cock-man and the
modern woman."
" My fair friend, you would still have your fun
with me?" returned Arnulf Rau, changing the
position of his legs.
" How could I dare take such a liberty? " cried
Claire in the voice of innocence, closing her eyes
peacefully. But the poet and thinker could not
quite come to a decision. He smoked thought-
fully and admired his finger nails. Dr. Reith-
94 THE THIRD SEX
meyer rose and walked up and down nervously.
" I am afraid all this won't help us much in
the question as to whether we shall marry or not,"
he said in some irritation. " I think I'll count it
off on my buttons." He looked down at the right
lapel of his coat. " Yes no yes no "
Mrs. Katia bent over her pretty friend, who
wore a Spanish jacket trimmed with many little
buttons.
" Yes no yes no yes yes ! Then
it's ' yes,' " she cried, clapping her hands.
The beautiful Claire smiled : " Katia, dear,
ask your husband if he does not think masculine
buttons most to be believed? "
" You are malicious to-day," laughed the little
dark-haired lady, and kissed her tall friend on
the forehead. Then, pulling her saucy face into
serious folds, she continued:
" Some day my husband will write the book
on marriage."
Arnulf Rau sent a distrustful glance from one
to the other, but as they all looked equally seri-
ous, he said : " I did think of doing so at one
time, but as years go on, I am becoming convinced
that I had better give it up, for decency's sake."
" For decency's sake? " asked Dr. Reithmeyer,
and Claire opened her eyes in curiosity.
THE THIRD SEX 95
" Simply because the naked truth of almost any
marriage is unendurably unesthetic," replied Ar-
nulf with gloomy mien. " Much, and much of
importance, too, has been written in the modern
realistic novel about the psychology of marriage.
And due consideration has also been given the
social and economic conditions upon which mar-
riage to-day must rest. But one man only has
dared to draw away the veil from the brutalities
of the bedroom, one only Strindberg and he
has written an indescribably disgusting book."
" That must have been a particularly disgusting
marriage," suggested Dr. Reithmeyer.
" Not necessarily," responded the speaker.
" Question priests of the confessional, physicians,
lawyers, any others who have had the opportunity
of seeing behind the scenes of many a marriage,
and you will turn in horror from the pictures un-
rolled before you. And I assert that these are
not the exceptions. Almost every apparently
harmonious marriage hides somewhere the worm
in its blossom; the nerves of even the most soul-
less Philistine cannot endure what is sometimes
forced upon them in the intimacy of the four walls.
It costs considerable money at the very least, if
nothing else, to avoid the coarse realities of the
married state; large and numerous apartments,
96 THE THIRD SEX
and the possibility of taking the next best express
train. Believe me, the saddest tragedies of mar-
riage spring from causes that would be infinitely
ridiculous, were they not so infinitely tragic. I
once loved a marvelous woman. She had just
been divorced when she crossed my path. She
had met her husband in the way usual with girls
of good family. He was a man of intelligence,
high up in his profession, stately in appearance,
and very well off. She was an innocent, inexperi-
enced young thing, who looked up to him with
respect and admiration, and he was as if intoxi-
cated by her beauty. But in the bridal night he
so frightened and horrified her that she never re-
covered from it. She hated him, she hated even
her children, she came near to insanity, and yet
he loved her all the more, as she let him see her
growing hatred. There was no other woman in
the world for him. She could weep in pity for
the pangs she made him endure, and yet she hated
him all the more because he drew her pity. She
demanded a divorce, but he would not give her up.
She accused herself of infidelity, she threatened
him with disgrace ; then at last he let her go. She
gave up her children, she would not take a cent
of money from him, but earned a scanty living by
copying and translating. She hid herself from
THE THIRD SEX 97
him, but from time to time he would discover her
whereabouts, and come to her whining for for-
giveness and love. She clung to me to find shel-
ter from him, she loved me with a devotion which
was spurred by the fire of her hatred for her
husband. I saw him one night, through a crack
in the closed curtain of her room, standing in the
street and gazing up at the house like a madman.
There you have the intimate tragedy of a mar-
riage, which, seen from the outside, must have
seemed to everyone a most happy one, and
there are millions and millions like it."
A long pause followed, then Claire sat up, and
looked the handsome Arnulf full in the face, as
she said : " What did you do with the hus-
band?"
"I? With the husband?" he asked sur-
prised. " Ah, yes. Chance brought us together
later. He was really a remarkable and withal a
most charming man. He made an invention of
immense importance, and won a fortune by it.
I could not detect one unpleasant quality in him.
He did take some magnesia occasionally, but took
it with a tiny golden spoon from a golden box.
The man was quite satisfactory from an esthetic
point of view."
" And what did you do with the wife? "
98 THE THIRD SEX
" Ah hm ! She soon began to bore me by
her mania for indulging in indiscreet revelations
of past troubles. Then the most remarkable
part of it all came to pass."
"Aha!" exclaimed Dr. Reithmeyer. "I
wager she married her husband a second
time."
" No, she married an English Major with a
wooden leg and shaky hands, and went to Canada
with him."
" Fie 1 " said Claire audibly.
The handsome Arnulf shrugged his shoulders.
" Que voulez vous, madame, c'est la vie? " And
he stood up to take a little exercise.
When his back was turned Claire de Fries
grasped little Mrs. Katia's hand. She did not
look at her, but pressed her hand hard in warm
womanly sympathy.
The bell rang, and Dr. Reithmeyer rose to open
the door. It was Martha Haider, who ran in to
see Claire about a proposed excursion. Dr.
Reithmeyer asked her to come in, and she was evi-
dently unpleasantly surprised to find the Raus
there. She was asked to stay, but said she could
not do so, as her young friend Baron Raoul de
Kerkhove was waiting downstairs with their
wheels.
THE THIRD SEX 99
" Aha ! " teased Dr. Reithmeyer, with threat-
ening forefinger.
Martha laughed embarrassed, and answered:
" Nonsense, little Raoul is so nice and so harm-
less."
A general wish to have little Raoul brought up
was expressed, and to end the matter, Dr. Reith-
meyer ran down himself to the street door. Claire
noticed that Arnulf Rau stroked his hair and
beard nervously, with a quick glance in the mir-
ror hanging between the windows. And she
smiled gently to herself, glad of the interruption
that put an end to the painful discussion on mar-
riage. She took Martha by the arm and walked
out onto the roof with her, while the Raus re-
mained silent and alone in the room.
The explanation of little Raoul was as follows :
After he had spent an evening alone with Hilde-
gard in the Blumensalen, without making any
greater headway in her favor than the strictest
propriety permitted, the comedy began to tire
Box. She apostrophised herself with wholesome
candor, and gave up -the attempt to utilize this
young man as the victim of her experiment. He
took the revelation of her profession with sur-
prise, but without any evidences of grief, and then
she invited him to call. Here he met Martha,
ioo THE THIRD SEX
and from that moment on had eyes only for the
beautiful girl. He followed her everywhere and
was delighted when she allowed him to do er-
rands for her. He brought flowers every day,
bought tickets for theater or concert, took
Schampus out to walk, and accompanied Martha
on her bicycle rides. Box was a little angered
at first at this sudden switching off of her inter-
esting conquest. But after twenty-four hours her
anger evaporated, and she was glad that her sis-
ter should have something to make her forget her
unfortunate adoration for Arnulf Rau. The
young man seemed to act beneficially on Martha's
mental condition. His respectful admiration
flattered her, without exciting her in the least.
She would vent her moods on him, and then make
him happy again with her innocent coquetry. It
was a game that amused her very much and she
saw no harm in it, for the young man was only
twenty-four, and about to take a journey around
the world. Martha did not see Arnulf Rau dur-
ing this period, not as much because of her sister's
harsh methods of discouragement, as in obedience
to Claire's sensible advice. She had her thoughts
and feelings back again in their accustomed order,
and managed to be quite fairly comfortable in
this transition stage from a disappointment to a
THE THIRD SEX 101
new hope, a condition by no means new to her.
Now came the unexpected meeting with the man
she had given up only under compulsion, and ter-
ror of the ordeal clutched at her throat and red-
dened her cheeks to her ears. She was glad to
have her harmless escort brought up as reinforce-
ments, and she determined to make Raoul su-
premely happy, in revenge for the discomfort the
handsome Arnulf had cost her. It cost so little
to make Raoul very happy.
The young Baron came in, was introduced, and
delivered himself of the usual phrases of excuse
for his intrusion. He was supplied with drinks,
and the conversation began slowly to move on-
ward again. As politeness demanded, the guest
was made the subject of the first remarks, with
questions as to his When and Why and Where,
and inquiries as to his studies and plans. He
contented himself with the same interesting reve-
lations he had made to win Hildegard Haider's
sympathy, and the fair Martha was proud of the
impression her escort seemed to make, even in
such intellectual company. She ventured a secret
side glance at Arnulf Rau, for she was curious
to know what the Great One would say to the
young stranger with the pimples. And it was
with considerable anxiety that she noticed a swell-
102 THE THIRD SEX
ing about her oracle's throat, something that al-
ways happened when the potentiality of criticism
within him demanded expression.
And the handsome man was already opening
his mouth. Fixing his stern glance on the young
Baron's yellow shoes, he began: " I believe to
have understood from your remarks that you are
preparing yourself to join in the conflict against
absolutism." And as Raoul de Kerkhove looked
at him, uncertain as to whether he ought to say
just simply "yes," the other continued: "I am
no spy, Baron, you can speak openly in our little
circle. All we who count ourselves as belonging
to the scattered community of the * Free Ones '
work together toward the revolution, for the
overthrow of all that is rotten, obsolete and un-
worthy. But we shall not do it by an attack with
dagger and dynamite on the isolated rulers of
the Kingdom of Darkness, as do your Nihilists;
we disarm them all at one stroke, simply by re-
moving our own persons from their sphere of in-
fluence."
" That is just what I am doing," said the young
Baron, " by deserting my poor country for a long
time. But I do it only because I feel that I have
so much to learn before I can really serve the
cause of my nation."
THE THIRD SEX 103
" Ah, you would serve? " cried Arnulf, in
irony. " We desire to rule, Baron."
" I don't know that I quite understand," mur-
mured Raoul hesitatingly.
Arnulf Rau smiled a satisfied smile, as if he
would say: " I can believe that," then he emptied
his glass in one draught, and cleared his throat
as if preparing for a lengthy harangue.
" The revolutionaries of yesterday were lib-
erators of the herd," he began, " and our social-
democrats of to-day are the fruition of those of
yesterday. To my taste there is nothing so hide-
ous as the Sovereign Mob, and I count everyone
of the Mob who runs with the herd. Our entire
development points more and more to a disgust-
ing equalization. Religion, state and moral laws,
and most of all the schools, all work toward the
sinking of the individual in the mass. Differen-
ces of class no longer have importance, for the
classes make herds among themselves, distin-
guished one from the other only by the particular
brand burnt into their skin. What else can re-
sult from a conflict of the various herds among
themselves, than that the largest herd conquers
the smaller ones? And the largest herd is nat-
urally merely the union of the stupidest and the
coarsest elements. It is easy to picture what
io 4 THE THIRD SEX
would then happen, when all else is absorbed in
this greatest herd. Culture becomes systematized
to caricature, and instead of the handful of rulers
by birth of to-day, a legion of the Uncalled will
press to the places of power, and give the world
the ridiculous spectacle of a battle in the sheep
flock. The born leaders, however, the pathfind-
ers and the guides, the Free and the Unusual, they
will be kept down, even more than now, by coward
fear and malicious envy. True freedom will be
crushed out in bloody oppression, that the broad
stream of mediocrity be not held up in its lazy
flow. This is the noble goal toward which the
powers of to-day are laboring with their churches,
schools, armies and law codes. Now do you be-
lieve, Baron, that we few truly free and inde-
pendent spirits should join in the foolishness?
Are you willing to crush out your capacity of in-
dividuality that no drunken peasant may ever be
punished with the knout, or no stupid lump of
muscular humanity have to clean cesspools longer
than three hours a day? "
Raoul thought it over a few moments, then he
answered with a modest blush, but not without a
delicate irony: "I have not gone that far in
Nietzsche yet."
Dr. Reithmeyer laughed, and his fair friend
THE THIRD SEX 105
smiled cordially at the young man, for the answer
pleased her.
But Arnulf continued with a patronizing ex-
pression: "Well then, let me give you a piece
of advice, my dear Baron. Enjoy Nietzsche as a
poet; for practical purposes you will find him al-
most useless. He is a tuning fork which strikes
the a, but leaves you to find the other tones by
yourself."
" And may I ask, doctor, what line of study
you practice?" asked Raoul.
" What study? I that is but first of all,
let me tell you that I am not a doctor. It would
have cost me a certain measure of sacrifice of per-
sonal freedom to take a state examination. And
to gain the doctor diploma I should have been
obliged to take part in studies which I consider
unnecessary, or at least inferior. Therefore,
why waste time to win a title which is of value
only in the eyes of the herd and of the authori-
ties? Pardon me, dear friend," he turned to
Dr. Reithmeyer, " this is not intended as a slur
on your title. I feel assured that the scientific
labor through which you have won it gave you
true pleasure, and then you need the state for your
support. You will not think me petty? "
Dr. Reithmeyer made a gesture of remon-
106 THE THIRD SEX
strance, and Arnulf Rau turned again to the
Baron. " You ask what line of study I prac-
tice. Well, then I observe and I despise.
This may seem little to you, but it may yet be of
importance, when you consider that through the
result of my observing, in spoken and written
word, others are excited also to despise to de-
spise all Philistinism, all authority become absurd,
all narrow-heartedness, all thoughtless custom.
Such scorn becomes a freedom of the spirit, and
the more scorners I make, the more free ones do
I make. And these free ones can easily find the
courage and the power to withdraw from the
laws of the herd. The rulers of the herd have
no power over us; we ourselves are rulers, in that
each stands alone for himself. If we wished it,
each could himself find a herd over which he
could rule, for the mass looks up ever in awe to
him who can stand alone."
" Then you would still have rulers and sub-
jects? " asked the baron.
"Naturally. It is the law of nature; those
who devour and those who are devoured. But
at present it is the Unfree who rule, and the few
strong intellects there may be among them pre-
tend unfreedom, because they fear to give the
herd a dangerous example. In the future the
THE THIRD SEX 107
Free will be the Rulers, and they will scorn to
talk to the herd of freedom. They will say to it
honestly and openly, * Ye are slaves, and must
obey,' and believe me, they will be happy in obey-
ing."
" Do you really think so? " asked Raoul,
sadly.
" Most certainly. I am convinced that even
now the truly Free Man would exercise an im-
mense power, but he must be born to a throne.
He would be a king who laughed at fear, who
had the courage to be the most dangerous atheist
in his own kingdom; and to whom it would be a
heavenly pleasure to laugh in the faces of his par-
liament, his ministers, his bishops and his gen-
erals."
Dr. Reithmeyer nodded contentedly: " ' The
laughing king,' a delicious catchword. What do
you think of it, Claire? "
" I ? " asked the beautiful woman, going to her
friend, and leaning gently on his shoulder. " I
should certainly fall in love with him."
" So should I," cried Katia in merry convic-
tion.
But Martha queried with a soft raise of her
eyes: "Would you not like to be that king?"
" I do not know whether it would be worth the
108 THE THIRD SEX
trouble," replied Arnulf Rau, with a slight shrug.
And then, having ascertained that the others were
not looking, he threw the adoring girl a fiery
glance.
Little Raoul was evidently oppressed by the
overwhelming assurance of the blond giant, yet he
ventured a shy suggestion : " But then we would
have absolutism again."
" Of course," said Arnulf, laughing, " the ab-
solutism of the mind. Do you know a higher
ideal?"
The young man was silent in embarrassment.
" And what will be the position of woman in
your ideal kingdom? " asked Claire de Fries with
a sly smile. " Do you believe the absolute mind
can exist in the absolute Cock?"
" Woman will rule by beauty more than ever,"
he replied, kissing her hand gallantly. " But la-
dies, let me end this question once for all; I know
of but one reason for the emancipation of woman,
and that is to educate mothers for free sons. At
present woman is one of the hindering powers,
because she is the keeper of blind belief and
weak prejudice, and because it is still her hope to
cut the wings of her gifted sons, for fear they
should come to harm in their flight. We need
free mothers for free sons. Therefore, you
THE THIRD SEX 109
have me on your side when you fight for the free-
ing of your intellect. But I am your bitter
opponent when you attempt the crushing out of
your sex."
"Bravo, my dear fellow!" cried Dr. Reith-
meyer. " Just my opinion. There is nothing I
dislike so much as this dreadful Third Sex."
" The Third Sex," smiled the handsome
Arnulf. " You caught that expression from me."
" No, pardon me, I read it somewhere else."
Arnulf shrugged his shoulders. " Ah, yes,
they always seem to anticipate one somehow.
Well, I can endure it. The Third Sex interests
me as little as it interests any true man. Thank
Fortune, none of our charming friends here pres-
ent belong to it." He bowed to Claire and
Martha and nodded lightly to his wife. Then
he approached Katia and asked her to lend him
her scarf, as he desired to breathe a little fresh
air, and feared a cold, having talked himself
warm. The handsome Arnulf knew quite well
that he would be discussed as soon as his back
was turned, and this was the tactful cause of his
departure. For he wished to give these shaken
spirits and excited minds the opportunity for a
free appreciation of his personality.
And that was exactly what did happen. Raoul
no THE THIRD SEX
de Kerkhove had read much, and as a Russian
student he had heard many flaming harangues by
fiery young spirits in secret convention. But this
calm and well-rounded argumentation of a ma-
ture man was something quite new, and the ideas
struck him as daring and original. He ques-
tioned Dr. Reithmeyer about the imposing gen-
tleman. Dr. Reithmeyer made some excuse to
take the young man into another room, as he did
not like to discuss Katia's husband in her pres-
ence.
The three ladies remained alone, and while
Claire and Katia continued the discussion on the
Woman Question, Martha sat dreaming with
wide eyes and quiet smile, without giving much
heed to the conversation. What a great man he
was, and how he dwarfed all the others! That
was all she could think of.
Arnulf Rau appeared in the open balcony
door, and called: " Miss Haider, won't you
come here a moment? I want you to help me
enjoy the quaint charm of this courtyard milieu."
Martha rose obedient as a child, and joined
her adored one on the roof. Claire noticed the
bitter smile on Mrs. Katia's lips as her eyes fol-
lowed the pretty girl. She drew the faded little
woman down beside her on the divan, laid her
THE THIRD SEX in
arm in sisterly pressure about her, and said:
" Why do you endure it so calmly, Katia dear? "
"Calmly?"
"If it angers you, why do you not revolt
against it? and it must anger you. Even if I
were not jealous, I should rebel against the vul-
garity of a man relating his amorous adventures
in the presence of his wife."
" I know them all, he conceals nothing from
me. In this respect he is candor itself," replied
the little wife, with poorly assumed calmness.
"And you endure it?"
" I have learned to listen with purely psycho-
logical interest."
" Honestly? "
" Well, Claire dear, one does one's best. He
feels himself so great and so objective in this re-
gard and he takes it ajs a matter of course that
in the seven years of our marriage I should have
risen to his point of view. If I did not keep this
belief alive in him, there might really be danger
of losing him."
"And you think there is no danger now?"
Katia smiled, this time in true assurance.
" No, the danger does not exist at present. He
always returns to me from his little excursions
into forbidden territory. He is, fortunately,
ii2 THE THIRD SEX
much too lazy to follow up any affair to a point
where it might become unpleasantly exciting.
You can't imagine how glad I am of this laziness.
And then besides, each time he brings his dam-
aged heart and lays it at my feet, he is so sweet
and so really concerned to win my favor, that I
can only laugh at him a little as punishment, and
that soon heals his pangs of conscience."
" And how long does such a return of marital
feeling last?" asked Claire in curiosity.
" Oh, until the next time," laughed Katia,
recklessly.
A little pause followed, and from the roof
they heard Arnulf's fine voice softened to a whis-
per.
Claire nodded in that direction and qlueried
softly: "And this affair? does it not alarm
you?"
Katia shrugged her shoulders lightly.
Claire continued eagerly: " But he has com-
pletely turned the girl's head, and she is of an
age to cling to any hope. She will not be shaken
off so easily. You can see yourself that she is
over ears in love with him."
"Ah, don't let's talk about it," begged Katia
as if in pain. " He'll come back. He knows
well enough that he will never find another
THE THIRD SEX 113
woman who understands him so well, and with
whom it is so easy to live, as with me."
" You must love him very deeply."
" Why not ? I have no children, no one else
near to my heart. I am faded, and never did
expect to play any great part in the world. I
have nothing but my open eyes and my good com-
mon sense "
" But you must see how she "
" Please don't ! I know he has his little van-
ities, and poses, and that he does not do what he
might do. I know all that, but I know better
than any of you what he really is. He has a
wonderfully broad mind, he brings so many
things into the realm of his contemplation and
his sympathy, that the concentration on one field,
and the mild triumphs of mediocre work would
never satisfy him. He feels and desires the
highest only, why should he not be proud of that?
He does not need the applause of the mass, and
he gives so much to me! I have such a rich
beautiful mental life through his help no, in-
deed, I may well be content."
The beautiful Claire sat for a moment in
thought, then she suddenly grasped Katia's hand
and pressed a hasty kiss on it. " You are truly
a clever woman," she said, " and an artist in liv-
n 4 THE THIRD SEX
ing. But I do not believe that any woman with-
out your talent and your cleverness should
marry."
" If you love him, then you need not fear to
marry him," whispered Katia in the ear of her
beautiful friend. " You can see how he suffers
from your refusal, and he is so goodl If you
really love him you cannot endure to see him suf-
fer."
While the two women thus exchanged their
whispered confidences, Arnulf Rau stood outside
on the roof, his wife's scarf about his throat and
Martha's fever-hot hand in both his own. From
a restaurant in the neighborhood could be heard
the songs of a male quartette. They were fresh
voices, and sounded softened and well harmon-
ized in the distance and the evening quiet. The
reflection of the electric street lamps brightened
the dark sky above the peaceful city, and the stars
gleamed pale as travel-worn coins, or like hack-
neyed lyrics, the easy melody of which can still
work its effect if it fall on the right mood in the
human heart. And Martha Haider's heart was
as soft as porous clay after long rain; every seed
must come to ripeness there, be it nettle or fiery
gladiolus. She dared not draw her hand away,
and her ears drank his whispering greedily.
THE THIRD SEX 115
" Does this marvelous harmony of sensation
give you also such voluptuous pleasure?" he
breathed. " What silly talk we hear of things
poetic and unpoetic! You feel as I do, Miss
Martha, I know it. Loving comprehension can
dissolve even apparent discord in pure harmony.
Can you now, in this moment, feel any difference
between the poetry of a mountain lake in the
sunset glow, with tinkling cow bells and the smell
of the meadows, . . . and this back-yard view
with narrow courts, tiny gardens, roofs, tele-
phone wires and pale stars? The singers down
there may be very ordinary fellows, but do they
not send their song as direct to our hearts as
does the love-sick nightingale? See that window
over there, with the cobbler bent over his work-
table under his" light-ball, does he spoil the effect
for you? I should miss the cobbler were he not
just where he is. And see, down in the garden
there, the cook and her lover, can you see her
white apron gleam in the shadow? She has both
arms about his neck and believes all he is saying
to her. No, do not turn away, love is beautiful
in whatever shape, except "
He broke off, for he felt it were better not to
become too explicit. Then they were silent for
some while. The tenor of the quartette rang out
n6 THE THIRD SEX
with a high b; a dog in the courtyard seemed to
take it as a personal offense and howled aloud.
And then it grew suddenly still, very still. The
softened city noises murmured like distant surf
on the shores of the great quiet. And down in
the black garden shadows the Chevauxleger
kissed the cook or he might have been a heavy
cavalryman, his saber rattled as he drew the girl
to his breast.
Then Arnulf Rau suddenly threw his arms
around Martha, pressed her wildly to him, and
whispered hotly in her ear: " Kiss me, girl,
kiss me I "
She pressed both little fists against his breast
and pushed him back violently. Her eyes
flamed, her lips trembled, but the words would
not come. She ran hastily to the door, paused
there, laid one hand on her heart and fought for
breath. Then she stroked smoothingly over her
hair, and entered the room.
" We have been laughing so," she said.
" There's a dog out there, that howls whenever
the tenor strikes a high note."
Dr. Reithmeyer and Raoul de Kerkhove had
just joined the two ladies again, and a few sec-
onds later Arnulf Rau came in. He coughed
and held his wife's scarf close around his throat.
THE THIRD SEX 117
Martha took a hasty leave, saying that she must
hurry home, or Box would be alarmed at her
long stay. The young Baron thanked his hosts for
their kind reception, then the two hurried away.
The other couples sat together about two hours
longer, but it could hardly be said that they pro-
duced any abnormal amount of intellectuality.
It was slightly past midnight when Mr. and
Mrs. Arnulf Rau made their way homeward.
He took such long steps that the little woman on
his arm had to trot almost to keep up with him,
and when they had nearly reached their own
house, she asked breathlessly: "Well, you bad
man, have you quite turned the dark Madonna's
head? What were you whispering about out
there?"
" Oh, don't mention that woman again,"
growled Arnulf. " She is a silly little goosq, a
counting-machine without a trace of poetry! Let
her stay behind her desk, and not imagine she is
fit for the society of higher organized intellects."
And at the bottom of the last flight Mrs. Katia
giggled gently up at her giant : " Well, who's
the best, after all?"
And he answered as merrily : " Suffering
from swelled head again, you heap of vanity?
There, there, you are my only one! Now you
US THE THIRD SEX
know it ! " He pressed three hearty kisses on
the longing lips, raised the slight form in his arms
and carried her up the stairs.
Claire de Fries was tired when the last guests
had gone and went to bed at once. Dr. Reith-
meyer wished to read a little, and remained in
the living room. Claire left the bedroom door
open to enjoy the fresh air from the balcony win-
dows. About half an hour later, he heard his
name called. He went in and sat down on the
edge of her bed. She took his hand and stroked
it, and then said slowly and deliberately: " I
have thought the matter over, dear, and will do
as you wish."
"You will? Oh, Claire, my darling, mine at
last before all the world I " he rejoiced.
" Yes," she said, " it is really only because your
handsome Arnulf made me so angry with his vul-
garities about marriage. Just to spite him, I'd
like to show him that we can live a true mar-
riage, even in the conventional form." And he
drew her hastily to him, covering her face with
kisses, and stammering blissfully: "Ah, my
darling, my own one! Don't be so awfully
clever! just love me, dearest, understand! just
love me!"
CHAPTER V
THE hot sun of a shining September day
brooded over the art city Munich, and the
Old Pinakothek was full of strangers, who,
Baedeker in hand, were endeavoring to live up
to their education. But the sultriness in the wide
halls was too oppressive even for eager tourists
who usually rush through museums on the double-
quick. They wandered about with deliberation,
like people who have plenty of time and perhaps
even a little interest for the glories of the past.
It was more comfortable here than outside in the
heat of the sun, and it was possible to take a
little rest occasionally, on a soft bench in front
of a picture marked with one or two stars in the
useful red books. The stream of sightseers
moved lazily along, pretty evenly divided
through the main halls, and the odor of warm
humanity filled the sacred chambers. The indus-
trious copyists, about whom little circles of crit-
ical spectators were wont to gather, were con-
spicuous by their absence at this time of the year.
119
120 THE THIRD SEX
They were enjoying the charm of woods and fields
under the pretext of studying from nature.
In one of the darker and therefore cooler side
rooms, where old German art was housed, a soli-
tary painter-lady was still at work. She was a
dainty, pretty little person in a simple, greenish
homespun skirt, and a white waist with green
piping. She stood before her easel with the
palette over her thumb, scratching thoughtfully
through her rich ashen-blond hair with the handle
of her brush, then she glanced imploringly at the
honest Old Master's peacefully silly Madonna
with the Child, which she was trying to copy. A
sincere critic could hardly have dared to assert,
with a clear conscience, that this painter-lady's
work showed any remarkable talent. The shin-
ing gold background was well caught, as were the
lilies in the hands of the Queen of Heaven, and
the ornamentation on her robe; but the flesh tints
were very uncertain, and some sad faults in the
drawing of eyes, mouth and nose struck the ob-
server at the first glance. The dainty little lady
seemed to realize that all was not well. She
came close up to her canvas, then stepped back
again, gazing .at it with her head tilted, sighed,
laid her white brow in furrows, and endeavored
to give the queerly swelled nose a more Madonna-
THE THIRD SEX 121
like shape by several timid brushstrokes. It was
no good. She laid aside her palette, sat down
with a sigh on the cane-seated bench, folded her
hands on her knees, and blinked wearily at the
white curtained windows. She gave a long and
heartfelt yawn, then she noticed that her shoe
lacing was undone and tied it afresh. The
brown leather shoe and openwork silk stocking
encased the daintiest little foot in the world, and
this foot was as undoubtedly a perfect work of
art as the Madonna's nose was an imperfect one.
The pretty artist next took a little leather-covered
mirror from her pocket, looked at herself care-
fully, and busied herself with the turn of the curls
on her forehead and the set of her silk tie.
Then, as she heard a firm masculine tread ap-
proaching, she let the mirror fall into her pocket
again, and took up her palette knife. Although
she did not turn, she was well aware that the
man who had just crossed the threshold behind
her was by no means so fascinated by the simple
charm of the Old German Masters that it should
hold him motionless for several minutes. She
knew very well that his eyes were resting on the
fine lines of her own figure. She scratched about
on the swollen nostrils of her poor Madonna,
with a graceful crook of her little finger with its
122 THE THIRD SEX
diamond ring, and bent her head now to the
right, now to the left, all of which, as she knew,
was very pretty to look at. Then the man be-
hind her back took a few more steps and she ven-
tured to peek in his direction. It was only a very
young and quite harmless-looking ordinary youth
with no beard and many pimples. And the
painter-lady scratched away eagerly, without both-
ering to take any more pretty attitudes.
The youth came forward, and turned his back
on her, but it was astonishing how quickly he
finished with the other wall. Then he ap-
proached her easel again, stopped three steps
away, and gave a gentle cough. But as the artist
paid no attention, he walked on to the opposite
door. On the threshold he turned again, as if to
take in the general effect of the room, and as his
eye fell on the pretty painter-lady, he pretended
to have just discovered her, and bowed with an
embarrassed smile.
The young lady looked up in surprise. Was
this young man trying to make her acquaintance
in such a clumsy manner, or had she really met
him somewhere?
" Have I not the pleasure? Mrs. von Robi-
ceck, is it not ? " said the young man, coming up
with his hat in his hand.
THE THIRD SEX 123
"Yes, but pardon me, sir, I can't remem-
ber "
" My name is Baron Kerkhove. I had the
honor of being introduced to you by Miss
Haider."
" Haider." She could not remember that
either. The young Baron smiled his embar-
rassed smile.
" The lady called herself Schneider that day.
You were in Grunwald with your uncle, and we
were there, too."
" Oh, yes, now I remember," cried the pretty
little Mrs. von Robiceck with a slight blush, " of
course, in Grunwald, it was such a beautiful
day."
" Yes, indeed, a beautiful day."
And then after another embarrassed pause, the
young Baron began : " I saw such pretty things
of your uncle's in the Exhibition you are his
pupil?"
Mrs. von Robiceck smiled a peculiar smile.
" No, I attend a ladies' art school. But it's vaca-
tion now, and I am trying to continue my studies
alone. I think I am the only one of the pupils
still in town."
"Oh, then you live with your uncle?" ques-
tioned Raoul de Kerkhove, somewhat foolishly.
i2 4 THE THIRD SEX
Mrs. von Robiceck looked up as if startled,
and answered hastily:
" Oh, no, I live by myself."
The young man's face began to beam cau-
tiously, and he asked, almost in a whisper.
" You are a widow? "
" No, again," replied the charming lady im-
patiently, " I am seeking a divorce from my hus-
band, if you must know. But why do you ques-
tion me so, Baron? Do you think it quite
proper?" She smiled slyly.
" I beg a thousand pardons," stammered
Raoul, blushing. " I am so glad to find you
again after so many weeks. I could not forget
that meeting, I that is eh " He
stepped to her easel and gazed at her unfortu-
nate Madonna, with the flaming blushes of his
embarrassment on his cheeks.
Pretty little Mrs. von Robiceck laughed gently
and happily to herself, and thoroughly enjoyed
his discomfort. It was some time before she
broke the silence with the question : " Do you
understand anything about it?"
"About painting? Alas, no, I am quite with-
out talent. But I understand enough to see that
your copy promises to be a masterpiece.'*
" Oh, don't exert yourself, Baron ! I see you
THE THIRD SEX 125
really don't know the first thing about it,"
laughed the young lady. " Here I have been
killing myself over this picture for four weeks
now, and I simply can't get it right. I don't see
how those old gentlemen managed to paint so
smooth and thin. I can't seem to do anything
but daub. And the nose is rank blasphemy. I
have scratched it out for the tenth time at least.
It is dreadful!"
" But you do this for your pleasure merely, do
you not? "
" Do you think it can be a pleasure when I
have to work so hard at it? Or do you imagine
it's a pleasure to stay in the hot city all summer,
while the other painter girls are wandering
around in the mountains? "
" Then why do you do it, Madame? "
" Because I have no money to go away, that's
the simple reason. No, I do not paint for my
pleasure. I expect to earn my living at it when
I have gone through my little fortune, which is
likely to be the case in a very short time. Copies
of religious pictures seem to me to be the best
pay."
" Will you give me this picture when it is
done?" asked the young Baron quickly, and his
gray eyes sparkled.
126 THE THIRD SEX
" What do you want with it? "
" I want to buy it. Name a good price. I
will pay it, for in the next few days I expect to
win a lawsuit which will bring me a million
rubles."
"A million rubles?" Pretty Mrs. von Robi-
ceck's great eyes shone admiringly on the young
man. " Oh, Baron, I shall be so glad to sell you
the picture. I have worked some time on it, and
all that is real gold it must have cost me at
least three hundred rubles." And she laughed
in charming coquetry.
" Then let us say five hundred rubles. You
must earn something on it yourself, you know.
Give me your hand on the bargain."
She held out her slim white hand, which he
pressed tight in his own. Then he added softly:
" Now I must ask for your address, that I can
inquire about the progress of the picture."
She withdrew her hand hastily and answered
coldly: "You can meet me here; I clo not re-
ceive gentlemen in my apartment."
Raoul de Kerkhove blushed again, and stam-
mered something about a misunderstanding.
One or two strangers wandered slowly through
the room, let their eyes rest wearily on the stiff
saints, martyrs, and Madonnas, honored the
THE THIRD SEX 127
pretty artist and her work with a long imperti-
nent examination, then disappeared through the
other door. After this interruption the young
Baron thought he had better take his own depar-
ture. But he wanted to find the proper word of
farewell first, otherwise he would have felt as
if he had been thrown out, and he would not have
lost the thread of this happy acquaintance at any
price.
But while he was still seeking the connection, a
new visitor came through the door, and walked
up to Mrs. von Robiceck. This was a very tall
slender man in a stylishly cut summer suit, with
a head of a well-fed baby on his big body.
" Oh, Prince, so you have come to see me
again?" exclaimed Mrs. von Robiceck cordially,
and held out her hand to the gentleman.
The young cavalier kissed her hand, and held
it a moment to his nose. " Good morning, my
dear Mrs. von Robiceck! What a charming
odor of industry your little hand bears! no,
no, I am not joking, I love turpentine, it is
such a healthy smell!" The tall gentleman
spoke in the high nasal tone which seems to be
considered the proper thing in the diplomatic
world.
Mrs. von Robiceck then introduced the gentle-
128 THE THIRD SEX
men. " His Highness, Prince Cloppenburg-
Usingen, Baron Baron "
" Raoul de Kerkhove, doctor of philosophy,"
supplemented the young man with a correct bow.
The Prince bowed also, and let an inquiring
glance meet Mrs. von Robiceck's eye.
Her left nostril trembled a trifle, and she half
shut her eye as she said: "This is a Russian
Croesus, who has just bought my masterpiece here
for five hundred rubles."
" Donnerwetter ! " cried the Prince merrily,
but stopped himself at once with a " I beg your
pardon! There you see, my dear Lilly, there
are still some true lovers of art left alive. You
ought to celebrate the occasion by giving your
friends a nice, wholesome little punch, eh ? "
" I haven't the money yet, your Highness,"
said Mrs. von Robiceck, with comic pathos.
" Payment follows," laughed Raoul, " as soon
as the Madonna is in possession of her proper
nose, and I have won my lawsuit. My father
died in Siberia, his estates were confiscated
your Highness will understand but in about a
week the suit will be settled."
" Well, then, we'll have the punch at my
rooms in the meantime," nasaled the Prince.
" I was at your place just now, to invite you for
THE THIRD SEX 129
this evening. I have asked a few nice people, all
good friends, just a small party. Bring any-
one you like, Parole; beauty or wit. Don't for-
get the ' or ' both at once were too much."
Mrs. von Robiceck did not answer at once.
The young Baron perceived that his presence
embarrassed her, and he had sufficient breeding
to retire after a few polite phrases, and leave the
field to the Prince, who, he saw, had prior
rights. But he hung about in the next room,
which was near the entrance, in the hope of an-
other glimpse of the charming little lady, when
she should have finished her day's work. His
vigil was not long, for in about ten minutes
pretty little Mrs. von Robiceck left the
Pinakothek in company with Prince Cloppenburg-
Usingen. Raoul de Kerkhove followed the
couple at a discreet distance, and saw the Prince
bid farewell to the little artist at the corner of
the Barer and Theresienstrasse, where the lady
mounted a car of the Ring line. Raoul took the
nearest cab and ordered the driver to follow the
street car. At the station the young lady
changed to a car of the electric line, and the cab
horse had troubles of his own in the attempt not
to lose sight of the game. Fortunately the young
Baron had good eyes, and so, in spite of a dis-
i 3 o THE THIRD SEX
tance of a good hundred paces, he could see that
Mrs. von Robiceck got out at the Lindwurm-
strasse and turned in to the Beethovenstrasse.
He stopped his wagon as soon as he saw the lady
disappear in the doorway of No. 10, and entered
the house himself after a few moments. He did
not have to mount any stairs, for on the ground
floor door he found the visiting card, " Lilly von
Robiceck," beside the porcelain name-plate of the
widow of a postoffice official. He wrote the ad-
dress in his note-book, and turned away satisfied.
In the courtyard he met an old lady of confidence-
awakening appearance, and inquired of her
whether there were any furnished rooms to be
had in the house. She gave him several names,
but said that as far as she knew, all rooms were
taken except one in the apartment of the widow
Huber on the ground floor. He thanked her
and left the house. The street windows of the
ground floor apartment were wide open, but the
curtains were drawn on the inside. Without
meaning any harm, Raoul stood a moment under
the corner window and listened. It would have
made him happy to have heard any sound that
recalled the presence of the charming one, such
as the fall of her little shoes on the floor, or the
THE THIRD SEX 131
pouring of water in the basin or anything like
that.
And he did hear something! A man's voice,
deep and pleasant, whispered inarticulate hot ten-
dernesses; and her sweet voice, recognizable in
its characteristic change from gentle com-
plaint to droll high twittering, gave answer.
" Oho ! " thought the Baron, and bit his lips.
" She does not receive gentlemen in her apart-
ment ! Oh, you " He thrust out the
words almost audibly, then a truck rumbled past
and he could hear no more. He called up his
cab and drove away.
The man whose voice the listener had heard
was none other than Franz Xaver Pirngruber,
Mrs. von Robiceck's amiable bicycle-uncle. And
if Raoul de Kerkhove had been able to look in
at a crack of the curtain, he would certainly have
turned green with envy. For Mr. Franz Xaver
Pirngruber, the much-admired master of the
humoristic brush, sat on the sofa, held Lilly von
Robiceck tight on his lap, and showered kisses on
her sweet face, while he whispered in breathless
delight :
" Oh, my sweetest, my precious ! you don't
know how I love you you are much too stupid
132 THE THIRD SEX
to understand it. Oh, you you, you let me
wait for three whole days, and didn't spend even
one and a half pfennigs for a stamp to send me a
greeting. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, lazy
little beast? Didn't you promise to write me
when I was to come? "
" But I didn't want you to come at all, sir,"
laughed the little lady, trying in vain to free her-
self. " You know our agreement, but you don't
keep it. You are much too violent."
" I am sorry, my angel, but I can't help it.
That's my idea of love." And again he pressed
the little figure to him, and held his mouth to her
soft lips.
" Let me go," groaned Mrs. von Robiceck,
" I don't want to." Her arms were strong, and
she pushed them against his breast with such vio-
lence that he had to relinquish his hold. Then
she came out from behind the table, smoothed the
folds of her dress and her disordered hair.
" You horrid man," she pouted. " Huh, the
idea of making one so hot! in this weather!
Why did you come, Mr. Pirngruber, when I did
not invite you ? "
"Why, what's this?" he asked saddened.
" Lilly mousie, what's spoiled your temper, and
made you so cross ? "
THE THIRD SEX 133
" Oh, nothing ! it's only oh, it's horrid any-
how! I wish I were so ugly that all the people
I met had to turn away in disgust."
"Why, Lilly! Come, tell me the trouble."
He rose from the sofa, stepped to her side and
laid his arm gently around her shoulder. She
stood pulling nervously at her delicate handker-
chief, and pouted, without looking up at him:
" I was planning to get dressed, take a nice slow
dinner, and then to walk about a little with my
new sunshade, the one the Prince gave me - and
then to take a nice nap to throw off everything
and sleep two long hours that's the best thing
I know, and then, toward evening, when it's
cooler, then we could ride out to the woods, and
have supper "
44 But we can do all that ! Why so scratchy,
sweetheart? "
" I am not your sweetheart," she exclaimed
impatiently, turning away from him. " I don't
want to be anybody's sweetheart ! What sort of
an affair is this, anyhow? You can't show your-
self with me anywhere, because everyone knows
you, and we have to play some silly comedy when
we do meet anyone. But you come here
whenever you like, and lie in wait for me, and
attack me with caresses, and when you have
134 THE THIRD SEX
kissed me enough, away you go again and leave
me here in my miserable loneliness. What good
does a love like that do me? Am I nothing but
an object to be kissed, something you can take
out of its drawer when it suits you, and then shut
it in again? Doesn't that rob me of all self-
respect? "
" Why, why I what does all this mean ? Don't
you love me any more, Lilly?" His good-na-
tured blue eyes looked sadly into hers as he
stretched out his hands. She laid both arms
around his neck and said in her gentle, complain-
ing tones: "Don't be angry, dearest I do
love you you are the best of them all, I
know you don't think badly of me,
but "
"But?" he asked, as she did not finish the
sentence. He sat down in the nearest chair and
drew her on his knees. " Come, Lilly, tell me
what you want. You know we have agreed that
neither shall interfere with the other's freedom
would you rather have someone you could
marry? "
" For Heaven's sake, don't talk to me of mar-
riage."
" Well, then? You know I have a good wife,
whom I love and honor deeply, and you mustn't
THE THIRD SEX 135
ask foolishness of me. I saw you and lost my-
self, and I am drawn to you as the moth is drawn
to the flame. And because you are so clever and
not merely pretty, you promised that you would
shine for me, but not burn me. In gratitude
I will pour of my oil on your lamp; you shall be
part of my mental life, you poor lonely little one,
and my humor shall brighten your wick for you,
if your own lack of joy dulls it. That is all.
Our love is to gild an episode of our life for us,
according to the principle, * Adorn thy Home.'
Adorn every corner of thy soul, say I, that thou
mayst feel at home within thyself. I believe
every artist needs that, and you are an artist, too,
my dainty little Lilly not with the brush, you
know, but well, in general in your power of
sensation. You have wrought a masterpiece, and
that is yourself, and all I want to do is to keep
you from spoiling it. I want to educate you to
an artistic enjoyment of yourself."
She fell on his neck and kissed him silently,
and when he raised her head a few minutes later
to gaze into her eyes, he saw that they were full
of tears.
"What is it, dear?" he asked gently.
" I don't know, but I am so ashamed," she
replied. Then she straightened herself up,
136 THE THIRD SEX
rubbed her handkerchief over her eyes and gazed
thoughtfully into space. She stroked his curly
blond hair gently, and began to speak:
" Ah, dear God, if I had only been born a
man. What might I not have done! But now,
my whole life is a living disgrace. I am nothing
but the Female, and whenever I show myself the
male creatures run after me like the dogs on the
street. I am alluring in the lowest and vilest
meaning of the word. When one is very young
and does not know the man-animal, then it is fun
it makes one coquettish couldn't be other-
wise. And then the men think they are delight-
ing us, when they dance about us like idiots. I
know perfectly well, I might be the silliest goose,
or the most degraded creature, they would act
just the same. Oh, I get so angry about it some-
times, that I would like to tear my face to pieces,
or to throw vitriol over it Can there be a
greater disgrace than to be looked on merely as
the female animal? Yes, if I were reckless or
light-minded, all vanity and sensuality, then at
least I might see some fun in passing from one
hand to another. But I assure you, I don't need
any man. I could live in a convent and not feel
any lack. If I had any belief, I would enter a
THE THIRD SEX 137
" Poor little girl, I am really sorry for you,"
he said gravely, without looking at her.
" There you have it I " she cried with a harsh
laugh, her delicate features tortured in an angry
grimace. " Pity ! That is the most I can ex-
pect from the very best of you. And what will
you have for me, pray, when I am old and ugly?
Nothing but scorn I The human being in me,
whom you have never cared to know, will be all
the more an object of your contempt, when the
Woman no longer attracts you. ' She's had a
lively past,' you'll say, and you'll laugh behind my
back when you see me painted and fussed-up like
one who cannot grow old in honor, because you
have robbed her of her youth."
Franz Xaver Pirngruber did not reply, and sat
tenderly patting her arm. He was thinking, and
she waited patiently until he had arrived at a
conclusion. She looked at him questioningly, and
he spoke : " Lilly, dear, I believe you should
marry again, as soon as you are free of your first
husband."
" Much obliged. Good advice that," she
laughed, getting up from his knees. She lit a
cigarette and threw herself on the sofa.
" Do you know, my dear, what my lot in mar-
riage, in any marriage, will be? Only an
138 THE THIRD SEX
amorous fool will take me, and he'll be cruelly
disappointed because I cannot give him what he
expects from my face and my coquetry. And
then he'll treat me brutally and torment me with
jealousy. That's how it was with the first, and
that's how it would be with every one. No,
dearest, you must think out something else
for me."
"Then there's no help for it; you must try to
make an independent existence for yourself."
" And how? With my brush? "
" Oh, Lord, no 1 " he cried, almost in alarm.
u Hold on, I have a splendid idea. You have
another talent of far greater importance, and if
you do not balk at using it, you will win the re-
spect of the world for yourself, and also, perhaps,
inner peace, and contentment. Shall I tell you
what it is? But you mustn't be angry with me."
" No, no, I won't ; tell me."
He took a letter from the table, found a pen-
cil in his pocket, and wrote on the unused page:
" Lilly von Robiceck, modes et robes" He held
the sheet across the table to her, and said:
" That is your salvation."
She read it and laughed.
" Hm," she said thoughtfully, " that wouldn't
be so bad, I'll think it over. But please go
THE THIRD SEX 139
now, dear. I must get dressed, or I won't get
a decent thing to eat in my restaurant."
He rose and took his hat and gloves from a
chair by the door.
" Well, if I must, I must, I suppose," he said
with a comic sigh. " Don't you want a maid?
I'd so like to help you."
" No indeed, my dear, never again! "
" But it was so sweet," he whispered, bending
down to reach her ear. " Well, if you don't
want to, I won't plague you. What are you go-
ing to do to-night? Shall we have supper some-
where?"
" Sorry," she answered, blushing a little, " I
have another engagement for to-night but
wait that's an idea ! The Prince asked me to
bring somebody come with me, do! That
would be lovely ! " and she sprang to her feet,
clapping her hands in delight.
" What Prince ? " he asked, with a frown.
"Oh, you mean your Cloppenburg-Usingen ? "
" Of course, he's the only Prince I know. He
is charming; you really ought to know him."
" My dear child, that is impossible ; I am a
little too too grown-up for that. If the
Prince wants me, he must come for me him-
self."
I 4 o THE THIRD SEX
11 Oh, don't be stupid! " she laughed. " Why
are you so formal all at once? "
He took her hands, played with them, and
replied in gentle gravity. " Dear child, it is
necessary to think of the rules of good form oc-
casionally, even for the freest of us. He who
despises all form, gives every cochon the right to
call him brother."
" But the Prince isn't a cochon," she pouted.
" I did not mean to infer that," he laughed.
" But I don't fit into his circle. I know that he
considers me among the old-fashioned artists, the
artistically dead in his opinion. He patronizes
only the very youngest and the very craziest.
Well, I don't begrudge him his pleasure, but I clo
begrudge him you."
" You don't think . . . ? Oh, fie, that's
nasty of you." She shook herself free angrily,
stepped to her wardrobe and opened its doors
wide.
" Oh, well, I know," he said, " the Prince has
the reputation of being insensible to feminine
charms. Who else will be there?"
She shrugged her shoulders. " Haven't an
idea. The Prince invites only the very nicest
people young artists, diplomats, officers in
THE THIRD SEX 141
careful selection, and such like. Shall I put
this on?"
She unhooked one of the wooden forms, over
which hung a dainty white batiste gown with a
flowered silk waist.
" That's very pretty," he answered indiffer-
ently, and continued with more emphasis. " And
the ladies? What sort of women go to the
Prince's house?"
" Oh, very nice ones," answered Lilly absently,
shaking out the delicate skirt and holding it up to
the light. " Ladies of the Court theater, and the
beautiful Rosie Unger "
"Count Rimsky's latest?"
" Do you know her? "
" Well rather. She owes her career to my
colleague Piglheim; he painted her often enough,
in great style."
"A model? I didn't know that. I don't
care much for her, anyway." She took the gown
over her arm, and started for the bedroom door.
With her hand on the knob she turned, and
nodded carelessly to her tall friend. " Then we
won't see each other again to-day? I wish I
knew who to take with me."
He stepped quickly to her side, and tried to
142 THE THIRD SEX
take her hand. " Lilly, I want to talk seriously
with you."
" But I don't," she answered, slipped through
the door and bolted it on the other side.
Franz Xaver Pirngruber stood there, snapped
his fingers angrily and gnawed his lower lip, but
he did not take his departure. He meditated
for a few moments, then the open wardrobe at-
tracted his attention. He stepped up to it and
drew his fingers absently over the garments hang-
ing there. The tissue paper wrapped around
some of the waists rattled, he heard the rustling
of silk and satin, and the delicate aroma of a per-
fume unknown to him floated about him. He
closed his eyes and drank it in slowly, and it was
as if the fragrance of her warm skin, her soft
loose hair, enveloped him. He crushed his cap
in his hands, then threw it violently on the table
and stared again at the wardrobe. On the upper
cross shelf were her hats, all carefully wrapped
in tissue paper, on the floor stood her boots and
shoes in an even row, and between them hung the
charming gowns, all of which, as he knew, she
herself had designed and carried out with the help
of a seamstress, all of them showing exquisite
taste and rich imagination. For Lilly von Robi-
ceck this wardrobe had the importance that a vol-
THE THIRD SEX 143
ume of choicest novelettes would have for a poet,
or a collection of rare studies for a painter. She
had cast many such volumes, many such collec-
tions, to the winds, and gone eagerly at the
making of new ones. She had developed this
talent from her childhood, as carefully as does
any ambitious artist her heart, her very life
was bound up in it. Her exquisite body, before
the pure lines of which Franz Xaver Pirngruber
had sunk to his knees in adoration, not daring to
touch it in his awed reverence for the glory of
Perfect Beauty this body was to her nothing
but a foil for the many dainty coverings upon
which all her energy and her love of art were
expended.
Oh, woman, woman! No sooner had Mother
Eve tasted of the Tree of Knowledge than she
became ashamed of her divine nakedness. She
plucked a leaf from the nearest fig-tree, and gig-
gling, with averted eyes, she handed it to her
good Adam, who probably stood looking at it in
dazed ignorance, long after Eve had fashioned
her first fancy apron. The talent for conceal-
ment the love of the game of hide-and-seek!
This has been her thought from the beginning,
and in this art she has achieved the greatest re-
sults. The core of things has no interest for her,
144 THE THIRD SEX
and the answer to the question, " Does this be-
come me? " is all-important. Every true woman
has a wardrobe full of such coverings, which are
the object of her tenderest care; and a true man
pays no one so grudgingly as he does his tailor,
for in his heart of hearts he denies the latter's
right to existence. Therefore the true man and
the true woman can never entirely understand one
another; therefore there can be for the man no
happy medium between brutality and foolish sub-
mission, and but little choice for the woman, in
her relations with the man, of anything but
slavish subjection, or a malicious, obstinate war
of revenge.
The woman who truly loves a man feels the
burning desire to fill the shell of her personality
with something that is real ; and the woman whose
proud self-sufficiency does not know this longing
cannot love any man. But man's love grows out
af his hatred for the concealing covering. It
attracts him, allures him, as does every obstacle,
every secret. He must know what lies behind
everything, he would catch and hold the evanes-
cent; the Strange and the New must bend before
him. It is the male love-impulse that leads the
hunter, the conqueror, the explorer to his goal.
If women ever tired of the eternal masquerade,
THE THIRD SEX 145
then love would lose all charm for men. Nat-
ural selection would stop and the police would
have to arrange for the propagation of the
species. Therefore it is ordained in the scheme
of creation that one half of humanity shall make
itself contemptible in the eyes of the other half,
to lure this other half to love.
Similar thoughts ran through Mr. Franz
Xaver Pirngruber's brain as he stood, gnawing
his lips and nervously clasping and unclasping his
hands, before the open wardrobe where hung his
love in manifold shape. Which of them loved
him? For one at least really did love him, that
he had felt with deep happiness. Was it this
one in velvet, or the one in silk, was it the woolen
one, or the gray, or the green? Disgusting!
Atrocious! Must we always pay for the few
sweet hours that spice the heavy dough of daily
existence, by making fools of ourselves? He
was too proud for that, he would go at once, and
never see her again. He grabbed for his cap,
then he caught up the nearest chair and dashed
it on the floor with a crash, and in a cellar-deep
roar he cried, " Good-by, Lilly."
A slight scream was heard in the next room,
the bolt was pushed back, and charming little
Mrs. von Robiceck stood on the threshold, the
i 4 6 THE THIRD SEX
white cloud of her batiste gown floating around
her, while she fastened the last hooks of her
bodice. " Good gracious, how you frightened
me ! " she remarked, with a reproachful glance.
"Why are you still here, Xaverl? To what do
I owe this honor? "
In two steps he was at her side, and caught her
arm in hands that trembled. " I can't stand it,"
he cried, " I can't see you throw yourself away."
" Oh, please, sir, who's throwing themselves
away?" she rebelled. "Don't crush my new
waist."
But he would not loosen his hold, and growled
between clenched teeth : " Don't you realize
that you are taking foolish risks with your repu-
tation?"
"Ah, this is sudden," she laughed bitterly.
" I suppose it doesn't hurt my reputation at all
to have people know me as your mistress? "
" Nonsense I that's different. I don't compro-
mise you, I don't boast of my triumph like those
young fools; I am with you only in secret."
" You are very nai've, my dear." Her smile
was cruel. " Do you remember the meeting in
Grunwald? That young Baron Whatshisname
has already permitted himself some impertinence
on the strength of it."
THE THIRD SEX 147
" I'll land him one on the ear that will "
" I thought you said you never compromised
me?"
" Stop it, woman ! " he whispered in a rage
of passion, holding her closer. " I'd strangle
you, if I didn't love you so absurdly. Don't go
to the Prince's to-night, don't for my sake."
She rose to the tips of her toes and caught at
his hair.
" No, no, you big stupid Xaverl, if you hate
it so, then I won't go. But see what you have
done to my gown. I can't go out looking like
this!"
" Much I care ! " he cried, raising the slight
figure in his arms, tossing and squeezing and
kissing her, until she could scarcely breathe.
" You're just horrid," she panted. " Let me
go I I'll be good."
" You will? You will really? " he whispered.
She crept to the door, and turned the key.
Then she raised both arms to him, with a
strangely sad smile and sighed: " For peace'
sake, then "
CHAPTER VI
PRINCE CLOPPENBURG-USINGEN was
the most amiable, sympathetic personality in
the world. His temper appeared to be as rosy
as his complexion, and his eyes shone with un-
dimmed good-nature, like the eyes of a child just
awakening from a long healthy sleep. No one
had ever heard a sharp word from his lips, or
witnessed any brutality of emotion on his part.
His refined mind and ready wit made him a fa-
vorite guest everywhere, and his happy knack of
humor helped him to endure the one sorrow of
an otherwise enviable existence: the fact that he
was not a great artist. He had given up the mil-
itary career early in life, to devote himself
entirely to his passion for the arts. His fortune
was large enough to permit him to arrange his
life according to his own ideas of comfort, with-
out any exaggerated luxury, and to enable him,
within moderate limits, to play the part of a
Maecenas. He did not keep a stable, and cards
interested him as little as did women. With the
THE THIRD SEX 149
thousands saved in this way he had gathered a
notable little collection of pictures, which were
divided between his city apartment and his villa
on the Chiemsee. He had had a young actor
educated at his expense; had sent two young
painters to Paris and Italy; had opened a dress-
making establishment for his valet's forsaken
sweetheart; had subscribed to all monuments for
men of brains, and had lent money to his many
good friends in cheerful assurance that he would
never see it again. So it must be acknowledged
that in spite of his youth he had already done
much that was useful. And in consideration of
this, it could be forgiven him that the verses he
had printed at his own expense showed nothing
more than a certain purity of feeling; that his
manuscript compositions proved only that he had
studied carefully; and also, and finally, that his
own paintings were never completed.
On the particular day of which we are writing,
Prince Cloppenburg-Usingen was to celebrate his
thirtieth birthday. His full-cheeked baby face,
with the tiny blond mustache on the curved upper
lip, made him look scarce two-and-twenty,
whereas the assurance of his carriage and opin-
ions might have put him down for fifty. The
Prince was nervous and irritated, although a care-
I 5 o THE THIRD SEX
less observer might not have been aware of it.
He had wished to celebrate his thirtieth birthday
in worthy style, and for this reason alone had left
his Chiemsee villa and come into town. But he
had been unfortunate with his invitations. Most
of his friends of both sexes were in the country,
and as the weather happened to be particularly
good, none of them would venture the trip into
town just for this little fete. So at the very last
moment he had bethought himself of charming
little Mrs. von Robiceck, who always had some
passable men hanging about her; and of Arnulf
Rau, whom he really could not abide, but who
made a good figure in an intellectual crowd with
his easily delivered paradoxes. He had asked
the great Arnulf to bring friends if he wished to.
Besides these necessity invitations, the only ac-
ceptance was that of Count Rimsky, with his
spouse of the season, Rosie Ungerer.
The first to come was the great Arnulf Rau,
and who should he bring with him but Baron Dr.
Raoul de Kerkhove, whom Lilly that very morn-
ing had described to the Prince as a horrid little
bore. The two men sat talking to the Prince for
nearly an hour, filling his drawing-room with the
smoke of his most expensive cigars and cigar-
ettes, and admiring his antique furniture and
THE THIRD SEX 151
modern objets d'art, but no one else arrived.
The Prince's cook was in despair, and had twice
sent the valet Luigi, a clever Italian who spoke
three languages and cherished a tender affection
for his master's wine cellar, to say that supper
was spoiling and that she still did not know how
many places were to be laid.
T-r-r-r-rl at last the electric bell buzzed, and
Luigi flew to the door. The talk stopped, and
the three gentlemen gazed toward the entrance
in anxious expectation. Count Rimsky, lieuten-
ant of heavy cavalry, appeared on the threshold,
wiping his heated brow with his handkerchief.
" You are alone ? " cried the Prince.
" Yes. I am very sorry, but " He in-
terrupted himself, bowing in military fashion to
the two strangers. The Prince murmured the in-
troductions, and then Count Rimsky drew him
into the ante-room with a stammered excuse, lead-
ing him by the arm as far as the window.
" What is the matter ? Why didn't you bring
your Rosie?" whispered the Prince.
"The devil take that confounded woman!"
answered the Count in the same low tone.
" She's just been making a scene because I de-
clared that I can buy her no more new gowns
this summer. She's getting to be atrociously
i 5 2 THE THIRD SEX
exacting since she's discovered that I have come
to the end of my tether. The rats are leaving
the sinking ship."
"What does that mean? more difficulties?"
" Don't ask such silly questions, Cloppenburg.
You know my affairs. The Colonel came out
with it to-day c'est fini, I must ask for my
leave."
"Really?"
" My papa has written to the Prince Regent
I am requested from High Quarters to ask to
be kicked out."
" Poor fellow, and what then? "
The Count shrugged his shoulders : " 'N'sais
fas, wine agent, life insurance, or painter.
C'est tout egal."
" Hm! Can I do anything for you? "
" Not unless you insist on ruining yourself.
It's a matter of some sixty thousand. I have
spoken to a lawyer already; we'll make a con-
tract with my creditors, by which I promise to live
to be eighty and pay off my debts from my in-
come. Fine idea, eh? Ah, bah il faut
prendre la chose en philosophe. Congratulate
you, by the way, many happy returns."
" Thanks you remember it? "
"Of course; didn't we have a jolly time here
THE THIRD SEX 153
this day last year? Who's that in there now? "
The Prince smiled a little dolefully and whis-
pered in his ear.
11 The blond with the swelled-head expression
is * One Who is Enough in Himself.' He looks
to me like a man sitting for his monument. Le
Petit a I'aire melancolique says he is a nephew of
Prince Krapotkin, and plays the Nihilist."
" The devil ! that's interesting," laughed
Rimsky, in his accustomed tone of merry mockery.
" Any ladies coming? "
" Yes, little Robiceck promised to be here."
"Lilly? Charming I I breathe again." The
young Count hooked his arm through that of the
Prince, and led him into the drawing-room again,
just as Luigi ran up anxiously to his master, and
confided to him in gesticulating Italian, that the
cook declared she would leave the house if the
supper was not served subito, subito.
" Va bene," decided the Prince with a shrug,
"fa venire la zupa. E quando vengone le sig-
nore, eh! dc la sua colpa se fanno espettarsi."
Luigi skipped away, and the two men returned
to the drawing-room. A few seconds later the
folding doors to the dining-room were thrown
open, and the company took their places at the
table. Two of the original eight seats had been
i 5 4 THE THIRD SEX
removed, and the center places at each side of the
small table were left free in expectation of Mrs.
von Robiceck and a possible friend.
A tasteful bronze electrolier, with a dozen
lights softened pleasantly by their colored glass
globes, shed its mild light over the quiet elegance
of the table fittings. Heavy old silver, china dis-
creetly decorated, beautiful old glasses, and a sin-
gle ornament, a Venetian vase with flowers, gave
the whole an appearance of refined taste. A
bunch of unusually large and glowing poppies
filled the vase, and deep red roses and carnations
were strewn thickly over the shining damask cloth.
The dining-room was not large, and besides the
necessary tables and chairs it contained no furni-
ture except a charmingly fantastic sideboard, com-
posed by Hans von Berlepsch, and two antique
chests. The only decoration on the walls was a
large tapestry piece by Hermann Obrist, a fan-
tastic tree of golden blossoms on a gray-brown
silk background, which hung between the win-
dows, and on the opposite wall a large Moonrise
on the Moor, by the Worpswede Master, Otto
Modersohn.
The soup was eaten in silence, but with little
reverence. All four men still felt the unpleasant
effects of the long term of waiting, and the right
THE THIRD SEX 155
sort of joviality would not come. The conversa-
tion moved slowly, grating on its forced phrases
like a badly oiled wheel. While waiting for the
hors d'oeuvre, the Prince poured out the vino
santo, and remarked that he never enjoyed this
noble vintage except in the presence of la-
dies.
" I find," he continued, " that a nearer ac-
quaintance with the other sex is not conducive to
philosophic thought, nor to the free development
of the artist's soul ; but as table decoration I can-
not dispense with pretty women. If one eats just
to fill up, then women are in the way. But when
one sits at table for esthetic enjoyment they are a
necessity am I not right, gentlemen ? "
" Undoubtedly," answered Count Rimsky for
the guests. " They are indispensable, if for no
other reason than because we men, when alone
at any gathering, invariably fall into heavy drink-
ing and cochonerie."
Arnulf Rau let his white fingers play with his
bread, and threw out the following sentence :
" I wonder if the New Women will be able to
escape drinking and cochonerie in their convivial
gatherings? "
" What do you mean by New Women? " asked
the heavy cavalryman.
156 THE THIRD SEX
" Well, the Third Sex, that is coming into be-
ing."
And as the Count demanded more explicit defi-
nition, the handsome Arnulf delivered himself of
the following explanation : " With the term
' Third Sex,' I classify all those female existences
that through natural inclination, or by pressure
of circumstances, have come to feel themselves no
longer mere sex individualities, but simply human
beings. There have always been many women
who have had to deny themselves the fulfilling of
their natural destiny, and who yet have felt no
regret, because of their lack of any strong de-
velopment either of sensual emotion or of ma-
ternal instinct. In former days, however, these
natural Neuters have been obliged to adapt them-
selves to the scheme of feminine existence, as law
and morality forbade them any part in the physi-
cal or mental occupations which were considered
man's sole property. They floated through life
like gray moths, and on their tombstone was writ-
ten only that they had been somebody's Aunt.
The development of economic conditions into a
state of brutal capitalism has had for effect an
enormous increasing of the army of the aunts by
battalions, voluntary or conscript. Men are sel-
dom able to marry nowadays in the years when
THE THIRD SEX 157
nature brings the sexes together, and the families
of the proletariat, which make out ninety-three
per cent, of our population, cannot support drones.
Therefore the millions of women who have no
chance to marry must find their salvation in their
own work. The majority never lose the longing
for marriage, and remain women. They consider
themselves oppressed slaves of necessity, and do
not know how to appreciate their own freedom.
But there is a minority, steadily increasing, which
has learned to find contentment and satisfaction in
work, and these are the recruits of the Third Sex.
The present-day emancipation of woman has for
its object the Revolt of the Aunts. They are
made discontented, they are inoculated with the
virus of culture, and whipped by the lash of am-
bition into a competition with man in all possible
fields. The Third Sex is to be the proof of the
mental equality of man and woman."
"Do you believe in this equality?" asked
Count Rimsky.
" Of course not," smiled Arnulf Rau. " The
ladies themselves give the strongest proof against
it. As a capacity for the competition is shown
mainly by those who have first rid themselves of
their sex qualities, it is clear the second sex, of
itself, cannot compete with the first."
158 THE THIRD SEX
" Bravo I I can see that," exclaimed the Count
eagerly. " My experience has taught me that
women are divided by nature into two groups, the
pretty ones and the ugly ones. The pretty ones
have a right to Love, to the power we give them
through gallantry, and well, to all the good
things of life generally. The ugly ones must be
content with work and piety. Therefore, I am
for the preservation of religion and capital-
ism."
The others rewarded these brilliant remarks
with hearty laughter, in which the Lieutenant him-
self joined with the utmost good-nature.
Then Raoul de Kerkhove ventured the timid
assertion that nowadays there were a considerable
number of pretty women among the amazons of
the Third Sex.
" Well, and don't you think that is horrid, sim-
ply degoutantf " nasaled the Count.
" Pardon me, but degoutant is perhaps too
strong an expression," answered Raoul, " although
I confess it is sad. But we would be too severe
in our egotism if we were to treat these ladies
with contempt. I must confess I suffer with
them."
" My young friend is still battling with Ego-
tism," said Arnulf Rau with a patronizing smile.
THE THIRD SEX 159
" When he is a little older he will learn to honor
selfishness as the great motor impulse."
" Then you are no Socialist, thank goodness 1 "
cried the Count, touching glasses with Arnulf.
"No, not in the least," answered the latter.
" For if, because of the immaturity of the age,
socialism should become a fact, it will serve only
to hasten the development of the Bee State, and
that appears to me to be the worst misfortune
that could occur to humanity. For it would fa-
tally delay the coming of the Super-Man."
"The Bee State?" The Prince repeated the
words with an approving nod. " Workers,
drones and queens hm horrible prospect !
Although one could look on the production of a
third sex against the will of nature as a triumph
of the human mind. The Bee State would fit well
in a world where mankind, instead of eating, took
its nourishment in the form of pills, and where
there was no love, but only the driving of the fe-
males in herds to the breeding business."
During the last words Luigi entered with a
plate of lobster and caviar. The gentlemen
helped themselves and ate with the look of mar-
tyrs conscious of taking part in the last festival
of the old two-sex world.
The sharp rattle of the door-bell broke the si-
160 THE THIRD SEX
lence, and as one man the company looked up
from their plates and gazed in expectation toward
the hall.
** Thank goodness, here come the ladies,"
whispered the cavalry lieutenant with a sigh of re-
lief. Arnulf Rau took the liberty of asking who
was expected.
" Charming little Mrs. von Robiceck," an-
swered the Prince. " She promised to bring
some friend with her, and as she has excellent
taste, I feel sure she will do us credit."
" Mrs. von Robiceck? " cried Raoul, and could
not hide his joyful blushes.
11 You know the lady? " Arnulf Rau turned to
his neighbor.
And the Prince said : " I am surprised you do
not know her. She is at present the most per-
fect thing of her kind that the walls of Munich
enclose."
"And this kind is?" queried the handsome
man.
" Third Sex, tragically complicated by beauty
and feminine vanity."
" Mrs. von Robiceck Third Sex? Impossi-
ble!" cried Raoul de Kerkhove in youthful en-
thusiasm. " Why, I saw her in conditions that
only the second sex can ever get into."
THE THIRD SEX 161
Sudden laughter warned the young Baron that
he had innocently made a rather shady joke. He
stammered a blushing excuse and was about to
explain himself more clearly, when the Prince
whispered a sharp " Discretion ! " across the table.
At this moment the door was thrown open, and
Luigi ushered in Mrs. von Robiceck and two
young men. The four men at the table sprang
up, and rushed to meet the long-expected one.
Her two followers were scarcely noticed at first
in the general joy at the presence of the Eternal
Feminine. The Prince and the Count seized her
two hands and gallantly kissed her long white
gloves, and not until she had had her scolding for
her late coming, and heard the compliments for
her charming costume silk muslin embroidered
in flowers over olive silk, with wide sleeves,
slightly open neck, and pink sash did she find
a chance to introduce the two young men.
" Mr. Werner Rudolfi, Mr. Joachim von Los-
sow, both painters. You see, my dear Prince, I
have taken advantage of your kind invitation.
Now, gentlemen, it is up to you to do me credit."
She gave each of the young men a little pat with
her fan, and then let the Prince lead her to her
place between Count Rimsky and Arnulf Rau.
The men introduced themselves to each other,
162 THE THIRD SEX
and took their seats as soon as another place had
been laid. Their host gave no sign that he would
have preferred ladies in their stead, and the ap-
pearance of the two young artists was in their
favor. They wore well-cut coats of the newest
style, and immense black ties that left only a hair-
breadth of their high collars visible. Mr. Ru-
dolfi was very blond, and endeavored to give his
peaceful amiable face a more energetic expres-
sion by means of a mustache waxed upward a la
William the Second. Mr. von Lossow, a slender
Mecklenburger, brunette and smooth-shaven ex-
cept for a suspicion of side-whiskers, had a soft
nervous mouth, an unfortunate nose, and deep-set
passionate eyes.
" Am I really the only lady? " asked Lilly von
Robiceck, in assumed alarm. "How stupid!
Please don't let me disturb you, gentlemen, pre-
tend I was not here, or else I shall feel I am in
the way. If I had known that, I should have put
on trousers."
" Wouldn't have helped you, Madame," said
Count Rimsky. " One cannot disguise oneself,
when one is as charming as you are."
"Oh, dearie me! is that beginning again?"
cried Lilly, with a drolly unhappy upward glance.
" I warn you, Count, one single flattery, and I take
THE THIRD SEX 163
my two young men under my arm and leave the
place. You must know that I am an independent
woman. I have earned five hundred rubles by
the work of my own hands ! Ask Baron de Kerk-
hove. It is true that I have not yet received the
five hundred rubles, but the mere prospect has
emancipated me. Please allow yourselves to be
much impressed ! "
" Folia, messieurs! " cried the Prince, " there
is the illustration to our conversation of a few
minutes past."
" If that is renewed, then / leave the place in
protest," nasaled Count Rimsky, stopping a mo-
ment in his occupation of preparing a lobster claw
for Mrs. von Robiceck.
"What were you talking about?" asked the
young lady.
"No, no, don't tell her!" cried the Count
eagerly.
" Then I must assume you were saying naughty
things about me," was Lilly von Robiceck's opin-
ion.
There was an eager protest against such ac-
cusation, which naturally increased Mrs. von Robi-
ceck's curiosity until the Prince was compelled to
rehearse the main points of the argument. Lilly
listened attentively, then turned to the Count.
164 THE THIRD SEX
" And so, sir, you wanted to shut me out from
such an intellectual conversation, did you? I am
to amuse you, but I must not make you think!
No, indeed, that don't go, and I shan't say any-
thing more to you anyhow, for I, too, am a re-
volted aunt! " She took her wine glass and
touched with Arnulf Rau. " Prosit, my dear sir,
that was very cleverly put."
"Don't you belong to our association?" the
handsome Arnulf inquired after a few moments,
during which he had not touched his lobster but
had occupied himself by devouring his pretty
neighbor with admiring glances.
" What sort of an association is it? "
" The celebrated Society for the Evolution of
the Feminine Psyche. I say our association, for
my wife is an ardent member. I have often lec-
tured to the ladies myself. They meet once a
week at Eckel's to exchange mental impressions.
Very interesting discussions often follow the lec-
ture. The ladies do practical work as well, in
the influencing of public opinion, through the giv-
ing of legal advice, and in obtaining the better
sort of positions for educated women and girls.
Miss Echdeler, a most sympathetic personality, is
our president, and among the other prominent
members are Dr. Babette Girel, Baroness Grot-
THE THIRD SEX 165
zinger, Mrs. von Stummer, Miss Hildegard
Haider, and others equally well known. You
must certainly know the one or the other of the
ladies."
" No, I don't know them that is, I have
probably heard the names," answered Lilly.
" The fact is, I know scarcely any ladies, any real
ladies, I mean. I am afraid of them, I think;
anyway, I am always so embarrassed when with
them. It's funny, I really hate men, they are so
often silly, and yet I can be happy only with them.
When I am with other women I feel they are re-
garding me with distrust; they all seem to retreat
behind a sort of fence when they see me. A
young woman who is fighting for her divorce, who
is alone in the world, and whom men call pretty,
is considered an object of suspicion by all ladies
belonging to good .society."
44 That is unfortunately very true," remarked
the Prince.
44 Isn't it? " she turned to him eagerly. " Just
imagine, I have never had a real woman friend,
at least one whose friendship lasted longer than
until some man appeared. He invariably looked
at me first, and then my dear friend would turn
from me offended. It is the women who force us
to take up with you, gentlemen, and yet I really
i66 THE THIRD SEX
do hate you I hate you bitterly." She turned
suddenly ghastly pale, leaned back in her chair,
and her lips trembled convulsively. The men
looked at each other helplessly. The Prince
arose, stepped behind her chair, touched her
shoulder lightly, and whispered : " What is the
matter, Lilly dear? Aren't you well? "
She started and asked for a glass of water.
The Prince poured it out and she drank thirstily.
Then her glance fell on the young painter sitting
opposite her, and she called to him with frowning
brows and in forced loudness : " Why don't you
talk, Rudolfi? Say something funny." And
turning to the others she continued smiling, " Mr.
Rudolfi suffers from hay fever in the warm
months, otherwise he's so nice, really dear. Ru-
dolfichen, show how dear you can be."
" With pleasure," answered the young man with
the William II mustache, and then sneezed heart-
ily, whereupon he took out his handkerchief and
blew his nose with much ceremony.
Lilly burst into a wild fit of laughter, and the
other guests endeavored to join her mirth to cover
up the unpleasant contretemps. The Prince had
seen the strange seizures that attacked Lilly von
Robiceck occasionally, and he knew from experi-
ence that it was best to leave her to herself as
THE THIRD SEX 167
much as possible. He began a conversation with
Mr. von Lossow, in which Rudolfi with the hay
fever soon joined. The simple story of their
young lives was quickly told. Lossow's case was
the most interesting. From his childhood the
young man had had a strong inclination for the
study of music, but his family protested vigor-
ously against his wish to prepare himself pro-
fessionally for the career of an orchestra leader
and composer. At the age of fourteen they had
even forbidden him to take piano lessons. He
had gone through the High School, had studied
law during two university terms, then finally his
so wise parents had permitted him to follow his
longing for an artistic career, on the condition
that he enter the school of painting in Munich.
They considered painting not quite unworthy a
nobleman, as among the painters there were such
names as Count Kalkreuth, Count Harrach,
Baron von Kameke and Anton von Werner.
While music had only Mr. von Biilow to show of
noble lineage, and his moral views and political
opinions were not above reproach.
"Oh, ye gods!" sighed the Prince. "Will
these fossils in our class ever die out? You are
much to be envied, Baron Kerkhove ! "
"I? Do you really think so?" said Raoul,
i68 THE THIRD SEX
somewhat embarrassed, for the Prince had caught
him throwing adoring glances at charming little
Mrs. von Robiceck.
" You are indeed I " replied the Prince, " for
your father died in Siberia, and it is not the slav-
ish souls that die there. And then, if one is a
nephew of Prince Krapotkin! "
"Your Highness knows?"
" Why, of course, you told me yourself, I
think."
Lilly von Robiceck suddenly drew attention to
herself again by a little scream and the angry ex-
clamation : " Please stop that I " which she ac-
companied by throwing a piece of bread at the
handsome Arnulf Rau.
" Why, fairest Madame I " nasaled Count Rim-
sky, " qu'est ce grfil-y-a done? "
" This gentleman is endeavoring to press my
foot under the table," cried Lilly, maliciously.
" But I will not let myself be trampled under foot
that way." Then she suddenly changed her tone
to a merry twittering, and, pointing the tip of her
fork at the culprit's nose, she asked him : " Who
are you anyway, sir? I have forgotten your
name."
"Arnulf Rau," he said, offended by her be-
THE THIRD SEX 169
havior. " I hope to give you opportunity to be-
come better acquainted with that name."
" I hope so, too," she replied pertly. " Any-
how, I'll take you at your word. Will you have
the kindness to introduce me to your association
with the crazy name what was it? Restaura-
tion de la Clique Femininist?"
11 Ha, ha I Eckel ought to write that on his
door," laughed the great Arnulf.
" Yes, if he wants to get rid of all his patrons,"
joked the Count, but Lilly answered promptly:
" I allow no jokes on the subject of the higher
aims of womankind in my presence, remember
that, Count." And turning to Arnulf: "Then
you will introduce me into this society? May I
have the pleasure of calling on your wife? I will
tell her that you pressed me to join."
The pretty bon mot was properly applauded,
and the air cleared again, as Lilly seemed to have
passed safely through her attack. Meanwhile the
menu neared its conclusion, the roasts were taken
away, and Luigi brought the ices. The cham-
pagne corks popped, and then Count Rimsky re-
membered the reason for the festivity, and whis-
pered Lilly that she must make a speech. She
protested, and consented only when the Count and
170 THE THIRD SEX
Arnulf Rau both promised to act as prompters.
Then she touched her glass with her knife and
rose.
" Honored members of the first sex, and fel-
low human beings! If you will permit me to
take advantage of the right your amiability gives
so freely to my sex, the right, namely, to say as
many foolish things as possible, I will make a lit-
tle speech, the first I have ever attempted."
" My virgin speech," prompted the Count be-
hind his hand.
" No racy jokes allowed, Count! " Then she
turned to Arnulf Rau and whispered : " Some
brilliancy quick, please ! "
The handsome man started and rubbed his head.
Lilly shrugged her shoulders in pity and sighed
drolly: "There you have a new proof of the
difference in the sexes
" Women can always find something to say,
You have to first rub the thoughts away ! "
The Prince giggled, Raoul de Kerkhove ex-
claimed " Bravo ! " enthusiastically, and Werner
Rudolfi raised his champagne glass with a hoarse
cry of applause.
Lilly continued: " Our honored host celebrates
his thirtieth birthday to-day. Gentlemen, that is
THE THIRD SEX 171
more than many of us can do for instance, you
will have to wait a good long time before you
catch me inviting you to celebrate my thirtieth
birthday."
The Prince was so amused by this joke that he
fell into a fit of coughing, whereat Werner Ru-
dolfi held out his glass with a sympathetic
" Prosit."
" Our honored friend has indeed made good
use of his life. What artist does not feel his
heart beat quicker to look upon a man who has
been an army lieutenant and yet buys pictures,
in spite of the fact that he paints some himself;
a man who is really interested in music, although
he makes some himself; a man who assists poets
and would prefer not to write his own poems at
all? Gentlemen, a man with such a spotless past
can have only the most glorious future before
him! Yes, Prince, you have a great and noble
task still to do. Just think how many people there
are who have not yet borrowed money of you;
how many pictures there are which you have not
yet bought, and how many geniuses are waiting
for you to discover them. But I, Prince, as a
woman of the Third Sex, I owe you especial and
particular thanks; for of all the men who have
sworn friendship for me you are the only one
172 THE THIRD SEX
who has never said : ' I love you.' For this rea-
son I feel that I should be the first to say : * Long
life to our dear and revered friend, Prince Clop-
penburg-Usingen.' "
The company rose, glasses touched, the Prince
received congratulations, and Lilly much praise
for her fine first effort. She was proud of it, and
scoffed at her two prompters, who had been of
so little use. Arnulf Rau drowned his irritation
in much champagne, and neither threats nor blows
with the fan could deter the Count from telling a
number of rather equivocal stories. The eyes of
the younger men shone in moist brightness; Ru-
dolfi's because of his hay fever, the others' be-
cause of their admiration for charming little Mrs.
von Robiceck.
The meal over, they went into the drawing-
room and smoked, while the Prince brewed the
favorite champagne punch, yclept a " cold duck,"
before the eyes of his guests. The conversation
turned upon literature, and a long line of new
names came up, each of which received an en-
thusiastic acknowledgment from some one of the
company, while all of them were crushed down
and drowned under the waves of Arnulf Rau's
pitiless criticism. The Prince took from his desk
a queer little volume in odd shape with a sym-
THE THIRD SEX 173
holistic cover-drawing on gray paper, turned the
leaves, and then handed it, thus opened, to Arnulf
Rau.
" You have a good voice, stern critic, please
read this to us."
" How can I read that there are no punc-
tuation marks?" said Arnulf, and then with a
mocking smile at the title page, " Ah, Stefan
George."
" Smile afterwards, if you want to," said the
Prince gravely. " I have written this gentleman
that I love him, although there is much I cannot
understand; look it through, please, and then read
it."
The handsome man withdrew with the book to
the neighborhood of a lamp, and studied the text
with creased brows. After about five minutes he
announced that he was ready, and then read the
following poem with good delivery and softly
modulated voice :
As thou drinkest the milk of thy mother,
There watches an envious fairy
Singing of shadow and death.
She gives thee as christening gift
Strange eyes prophetic of sorrow,
Eyes where the muses are hiding.
174 THE THIRD SEX
Scorn wilt thou feel of the rough play
Pleasing thy duller comrades.
Toil that makes sordid the soul,
From thoughts austere and sublime
Shall warn thee and hinder.
When thy brothers complain and cry
O grief! thy secret pain
Tell to the winds in the lone night
And under the rasp of thy nails
Let bleed thy childish breast.
Do not forget: Thou must kill
Thy sweet and tender youth.
Only upon its lone grave
When wet with tears Oh, many, many
tears shall grow
From rarely marvelous green
Rarely beautiful roses.
No one spoke, and after a moment the Prince
looked a challenge at Arnulf Rau, " Well? "
" If it chance upon the proper mood," re-
sponded the latter, " it might win a sudden con-
soling beauty, that I acknowledge."
" I should think that were about all one could
ask of any poem," smiled the Prince.
Arnulf Rau shrugged his shoulders. " If that
is your Highness' opinion. 7 find little to attract
me in this riddle-giving, or in this weary ' world-
THE THIRD SEX 175
melancholy.' I do not by any means believe that
all art should be made for the man in the street,
but art should not be sought in its difficulties
alone."
The Prince glanced about in the little circle as
if to ask for further opinions. Count Rimsky did
not look promising, his mouth was open and he
pretended to be forming smoke-rings to conceal
his yawns. Werner Rudolfi gazed up at the ceil-
ing with moist eyes, as if hypnotised by the gar-
lands of fruit painted there, and Raoul de Kerk-
hove looked as if his shoes were hurting him.
Mrs. von Robiceck sat on the divan and smoked,
with her elbows on her knees and her head in her
hands; she was dreaming open-eyed, and the con-
vulsive twitching of mouth and nostrils which al-
ways preceded her attacks of nerves was again no-
ticeable. Joachim von Lossow sat on another
corner of the same divan, clasping and unclasp-
ing his fingers nervously, and trying to catch the
end of his little mustache between his teeth. His
eyes flamed with suppressed passion.
" Will you not play something for us, Mr. von
Lossow?" asked the Prince.
The young man rose, stepped to the grand
piano, and threw back the top without a word.
Then he sat down, thought a few moments and
176 THE THIRD SEX
spoke at last, in so low a tone that not all of those
present could hear him : " I will try to play that
poem for you."
" Yes, yes," breathed Lilly. She threw away
her cigarette, drew up her feet and stretched her-
self at full length on the divan, her arms crossed
under her head.
Joachim von Lossow began to touch the keys
softly, in floating, seeking chords. Then a mel-
ody appeared, gradually growing, a wondrously
sad, monotonous melody, like a cradle song at
twilight. But the melody grew and grew, it
gained shape and form, became heavy and preg-
nant with Fate, carried on the wings of strange
harmonies, until it broke off suddenly; and after
a mightily swelling tremolo, came an allegro of
brave defiance, in which noisy trumpets and tram-
pling bass figures fought against a rising song of
calm strength and greatness. The struggle died
away, the minor melody came again, this time in
richer form, singing the controlled sorrow of a
noble heart, and the fantasy closed in a mystic
apotheosis, full of the spirit of Lizst.
All the listeners, even the quite unmusical
Raoul, were under the spell of this revelation of
a marvelously gifted artist's soul, and none dared
to break the charm by everyday words of praise.
THE THIRD SEX 177
The young musician turned on his chair, and
bowed slightly to the Prince.
" Marvelous! " cried the latter softly. "How
did you understand it? I thank you from my
heart, Mr. von Lossow."
And he pressed the hand of the embarrassed
young Mecklenburger, who rose to return to his
former seat. Mrs. von Robiceck pulled up her
feet to make a place for him, and he saw that her
eyes shone with tears.
" You have been . crying, Lilly? " he asked,
breathing quickly, while his eyes gleamed in hap-
piness.
" It was so beautiful," she said simply, and held
out her hands to him.
He bent to kiss them, but Lilly was quicker
than he she clasped his finger tips firmly, drew
his hands toward her mouth and kissed them both.
Lossow blushed deeply. When she released
his hands he stood nervously clasping them, then
stepped to one side and stared at a picture on
the nearest wall.
Werner Rudolfi had witnessed the little scene
and had also observed that Mrs. von Robiceck
was deadly pale. He rose quickly and came to
her side. "Anything the matter, Lilly? Did
the music touch you so ? "
178 THE THIRD SEX
She clutched at his coat and drew herself up
by it painfully. " I feel so miserable," she
moaned low.
"Shall I take you home?"
She shook her head. The Prince came up also,
with anxious questions whether he had not bet-
ter send for a carriage. She protested wildly.
" Oh, no, no ! leave me here. I don't want to go
home. What shall I do there? the night is so
long! let's be merry. Baron von Kerkhove, play
the flute for us, or amuse us somehow."
Raoul drew up his shoulders and answered
humbly: " I am so sorry, but I really can't play
the flute."
"What can you do?"
" Nothing, I regret to say, nothing but ad-
mire you."
Lilly laughed harshly. " Don't tell your uncle
that, or he'll not let you have two kopeks' worth
of dynamite. Play something more, Mr. von
Lossow."
The young man sat down at the piano again,
and improvised on motives from the Nibelungen
Ring for about half an hour.
During the playing one or the other of the
guests stood up to change his place, and here and
there a low conversation was carried on. Arnulf
THE THIRD SEX 179
Rau worked himself carefully over to the divan
and began to whisper flatteries to charming little
Mrs. von Robiceck, with no other result than a
silent but decided rebuff. The handsome man
was angry. He had not been able to make him-
self important the whole evening, and this obsti-
nate little woman excited him astonishingly. She
was a genius, born to be a poet's love, why should
not this flower bloom for him? She would be
the first to withstand him in the long run. So he
would not take the rebuff, and continued to whis-
per charming words in her little white ear. Lilly
von Robiceck rose finally, and sat down at the
piano immediately behind Joachim von Lossow.
When he had finished playing, the talk became
loud and general.
Count Rimsky took his reward for his long en-
forced silence by telling all manner of court and
society anecdotes, falling into French when they
became too racy. Lilly paid little attention, for
she didn't know French. She took Mr. von Los-
sow's arm and led him into the dining-room, which
had been put in order.
" You never played so well," she said, suddenly
laying her hand on the young man's arm. " Your
music comes directly from your soul have you
loved much? "
180 THE THIRD SEX
" Oh, yes," he smiled in embarrassment.
"As men love?"
" No, as stupid boys love."
" You are a darling! " She tried to laugh, but
without success, and her white face drew into rigid-
ity again, as she said suddenly: " Do you know
what I would like to do now? "
"Well?"
" Shoot myself but I am too cowardly
won't you help me? "
He shook his head and laughed as if he thought
she were joking. " Nonsense, Lilly, why do you
say such foolish things? You only excite your-
self unnecessarily. Go into the country for a
while and drink warm milk, fresh from the
cow."
"Fie on you!" said Lilly, and stepped away
from him to the heavily curtained window. She
played nervously with a tassel, then broke out
into a passionate whispering: " It is not nice of
you to make fun of me. Do you know what a
miserable life I lead? Well, perhaps you are
right, I am not worth anything better, I have
flirted with you, too. Your music drove me mad,
music always affects me strangely and now I am
crazy to hear you stammer love to me, as all the
others do. I am angry at you because you arc
THE THIRD SEX 181
so respectable and reserved, I want you to be like
all the others just that I may enjoy the tri-
umph, you understand. I could throw myself on
your neck to-night in ecstasy, and treat you like
a dog to-morrow. Wouldn't it attract you to de-
stroy a creature like me? My beautiful eyes are
worth at least one charge of powder, I should
think."
He came to her side and stroked her hair:
" Don't make yourself out as bad as that; it is
not true at all. You are ill. Wait until you can
live an ordered life again, when you have your
divorce."
" Ah, don't remind me of that. To-morrow I
must go to the priest and formally relinquish my
Catholic belief, otherwise I cannot get the divorce.
Then I am a heathen, and the devil can have his
sport with me." She laughed nervously.
" Lilly, dear, don't excite yourself so. There
are many who really care for you and would
gladly help you. I know of one who would be so
happy if you would only marry him,"
"Indeed! Who 2"
" Rudolfi."
' Oh, he has hay fever."
The young man was angry. " When you are
like that I can't talk to you. He loves you so
i&2 THE THIRD SEX
honestly, and you have told him that you like
him."
" Why, yes," answered Lilly. " How could I
do otherwise, he is so good? He ought to go
and marry a respectable girl with some
money."
He stroked her hair again. " I never saw you
like this before, what is the matter? Please be
good again, Lilly."
She drew away from him petulantly: "Stop
that rubbing, it makes me nervous."
" You are nervous. Get out into the country,
and grow strong and well again."
" Oh, I'm strong enough," she cried and
stretched out her arms. Then she stooped sud-
denly, caught the slender youth below the knees
and raised him from the floor. " There I " she
panted, and letting him drop again, ran back into
the drawing-room, clapped her hands and cried:
" Lilly wants to dance."
This was easier said than done, for the rooms
were not large and were filled with furniture. The
Prince explained the impossibility to her, and then
she declared that she wished to go to the Amer-
ican Bar.
" Your wishes are a law unto me," said the
Prince gallantly, although he did not in the leaf*
THE THIRD SEX 183
care to go elsewhere to drink, and leave the
greater part of his punch to Luigi.
So the company set out for the pretty cellar
room in the Four Seasons Hotel, where the bet-
ter circles of society and the art world meet in
nightly rendezvous. It was already one o'clock,
but little Mrs. von Robiceck did not seem to know
what fatigue was. She sampled several drinks,
none of which met her approval, nibbled cakes,
and became more and more excited, behaving in
a way that drew general attention.
The Prince was embarrassed by her conduct,
so he pleaded a headache and withdrew, soon fol-
lowed by Arnulf Rau, the latter angry because
this good-for-nothing little woman had so studi-
ously ignored him the entire evening. Count
Rimsky joined a party at another table, where
sat a good friend from whom he could hope for
more affection than from this capricious little
Robiceck.
Lilly remained alone with the three younger
men, whom she kept there until three o'clock.
Then, at last, she let herself be persuaded to give
the waiters their needed rest. There were no
cabs at that hour, and they had to walk the long
distance to the Beethovenstrasse. She took the
arms of Rudolfi and Lossow and started out at a
184 THE THIRD SEX
brisk gait, while Baron de Kerkhove trotted si-
lently behind them. Lilly tried to induce her two
young friends to play all sorts of wild pranks.
She commanded them to climb up the fire escape
of the Court theater, to put out the street lamps,
to sing the Marseillaise, and more of the like.
But they were both too well brought up to give
way to her wild mood, so she finally became angry
and dismissed them at the Karlsthor, of which
they were heartily glad, as they both lived in the
northern part of the city. She told Baron von
Kerkhove that she needed no escort and was going
home alone, and thereupon started off at such a
gait that the little man had hard work to keep
up with her. But he managed to be at her heels
when she reached her own door.
She halted there, panting, dropped him a mock-
ing courtesy and said: " Thanks for accompany-
ing me. Now you know where I live when you
want to send me the money for the picture."
Raoul de Kerkhove did not answer. He drew
a key from his pocket and opened the court door,
motioning her to enter.
" Thanks," she said, and walked in unsuspect-
ingly. He followed and closed the door gently.
As they stood together in the dark, Lilly screamed
suddenly and asked with trembling voice:
THE THIRD SEX 185
"What does this mean? What do you want?
Did I give you my key? " She felt in her pocket,
drawing out the key and some wax matches.
" Where did you get that key? " she stammered
again, in deadly terror.
" I live here," he answered low, and she felt
his breath in her face.
" That's not true 1 you are a scoundrel I I'll
scream if you dare touch me."
" If you scream I will shoot myself before your
eyes," she heard his trembling voice whisper.
" Forgive me, I cannot help it, I love you madly.
This afternoon when you were out I rented the
room next to yours my things were brought
over this evening. Please calm yourself, I would
not hurt you for the world ah, I love you so."
Lilly finally managed to light a match in spite
of the trembling of her hands. She saw the mad-
dened man standing before her, his arms stretched
out as for an embrace, a shining revolver held
firmly in his right hand.
" You are mad," whispered Lilly, achieving a
short laugh with difficulty. " Open the door, I'll
hold the light."
He did as she ordered, took out his other key
and opened the door of the apartment.
She summoned all her courage, and walked past
i86 THE THIRD SEX
him into the narrow hall. But he did not even
take time to close the door, fearing she would
escape into her room and lock him out. When
she heard his steps behind her, she halted and
turned to him with an alluring glance : " Please
shut the door, and put up the chain," she whis-
pered low.
He hesitated a second, and she opened her eyes
wide, something flaming up in them that forced
him to obey her. He turned to the door and
closed it, then wheeled again and saw her cross
the threshold of her own room. In three bounds
he was at her side, and before she could close
the door he pushed it open with all his strength.
He stood there in her room, his breath coming in
quick gasps, and the beautiful young woman trem-
bling and quivering scarce an arm's length from
him.
" I cannot leave you," he stammered in mad
passion, and yet did not dare to touch her. The
cool night wind came in at the open window, blow-
ing out the curtains. Her tiny candle flickered,
her mouth was open, her lips quivering, and her
eyes stood wide in fear.
Suddenly she blew out the light, and gave a
wild spring in through the open bedroom door.
He sprang after her, but could not find the kncfb
THE THIRD SEX 187
in the darkness, and while his hand sought it he
heard the bolt snap into place. In impotent rage
he pressed his shoulder to the door, and whis-
pered : " Open the door, Lilly, open the door, I
want only a word with you."
She whispered from the other side in answer:
" Leave my room at once or I will alarm the
house. I have my finger on the bell."
Then he gave it up, stepped back from the door,
put his revolver in his pocket and wiped the per-
spiration from his forehead. He took out a
match and lit it, looking about in the little room.
He drew his hand absently over the back of a
chair and across the table cover. On the table
lay a large white paper on which was written in
heavy letters
Lilly von Robiceck
Modes et Robes.
The penciled letters were drawn over in ink.
His match went out and he lit another, holding
it up to the walls, and over the desk. Here lay
a portfolio, books and papers in confusion, with
knickknacks and many photographs. Among these
he discovered Lilly's head and bust, the neck and
shoulders bared, and draped slightly with a white
scarf. He took the picture from its little easel,
i88 THE THIRD SEX
and pressed it to his lips. The match went out
and he lit a third, then crept to the door, and felt
his way cautiously to his own room with his booty.
Lilly sat the while on the edge of her bed, lis-
tening to the gentle sounds from the other room.
She had good ears, and could hear plainly when
he closed the door behind him and crept along
the hall. Then she drew a deep breath and
crossed herself. She lit the candle at her bed-
side, shut the window and bolted the shutters.
Here at last she felt safe, and the fearful tension
of her nerves, which had hung over her for many
hours, broke in a fit of convulsive weeping. She
lay on her knees at the bedside, burying her face
in the clothes, tearing at pillows and coverlet with
both hands. She did not rise until her knees be-
gan to ache, and then she undressed slowly. As
she laid her watch on the table she saw that it
was past five o'clock, and the dawn was creeping
through the cracks of the shutters.
Just as she was stepping into bed her eyes fell
on a crucifix, in ivory on black wood, which hung
at the head of the bed. She took it down and
kissed the cold body of the Saviour.
" In farewell," she said with a sad smile,
stretching herself in bed, and putting out the can-
dle, but still holding the crucifix in her hand. She
THE THIRD SEX 189
turned over on one side, pressing it to her breast
she wanted to go to sleep with it, like a child
with her doll. The Saviour should protect her
from all evil spirits this one last night, for the
next day she had to go to the priest and bid fare-
well to the church that was built up on this symbol
of world-redeeming suffering.
But before going to the priest, she called at the
studio of her friend Werner Rudolfi about noon
next day, and the good fellow was so shocked by
her looks that he begged her to leave town and
take a trip into the mountains with him. He
could get rid of his hay fever there, and she should
learn to renew belief, not in the teachings of the
priest, but simply in the possibility of good in the
human heart, and in the pure beauty of that strong
impulse by which Nature renews herself from
eternity to eternity.
Rudolfi went home with her, and helped her
pack a little trunk. Raoul de Kerkhove did not
show up that day, and Lilly von Robiceck in-
formed her landlady decisively that she would
not return until the gentleman had given up his
room.
Something else occurred to her. She turned
back into her room and wrote the following lines
hastily on a piece of drawing paper:
I 9 o THE THIRD SEX
" DEAR FRIEND :
" I am running away from you to-day. Do not
attempt to change my decision. All must be over
between us. I cannot give you what you seek in
me; I would only torture and disappoint you. /
was at the Prince's party last night, after all. Be-
lieve me, I am no good, all your trouble is lost
on me. Try to forget
" Your unhappy
11 LILLY."
She threw the letter into the box herself. It
was addressed to Mr. Franz Xaver Pirngruber.
CHAPTER VII
IT was nine o'clock when Baron Raoul de Kerk-
hove awoke the following morning. He
looked tired and ill and had deep blue rings under
his eyes. He arose yawning, and crept on bare
feet to the door which opened from his little room
into Mrs. von Robiceck's bedroom. The wash-
stand stood in- front of it an'd it was with some
difficulty that he could bring' his ^ear near the
door, but his few moments of listening failed to
detect the slightest sound from the other side.
He stepped back, sighed deeply and beat his fore-
head with his clenched fist.
Heavens, how bad it did look now! his atro-
cious behavior of yesterday evening toward the
sweet little lady, behavior due entirely to the ef-
fect of that confounded alcohol, which he never
could stand! He was honestly ashamed of him-
self. Her stolen photograph lay on his table.
He sat down on the sofa and stared at the pic-
ture until his eyes blurred. And again he beat
his brow with his fist and murmured through his
clenched teeth : " I must have been crazy ! "
191
192 THE THIRD SEX
Then he took stock of the situation. After
his brutal attack of last night it was quite out of
the question that the dainty little woman would
ever treat him otherwise than with the utmost con-
tempt. And here he had settled himself along-
side of her! Decency demanded that he move
out at once, for she certainly would not endure
this state of siege very long. But if he did move
he must pay the landlady at least one month's
rent, and that was quite impossible just at pres-
ent. He caught up his purse, which lay on the
table with his key, penknife, and all the various
boxes and cases that he always carried about with
him, and counted its contents. They came to ex-
actly two marks and a few pfennigs.
Something must be done, and that at once.
He sprang up, dressed with all possible haste and
noiselessness, and when he had finished his mod-
est breakfast he set out at once, glad to be able
to leave the house without meeting Mrs. von
Robiceck. He carried the stolen picture in his
pocket.
He first made his way to the main postoffice,
for all his mail came general delivery. A large
letter with an official seal was handed out to him.
He stopped in the court of the building to study
this seal, as the postmark over the Russian stamp
THE THIRD SEX 193
was quite illegible. When he had made out the
impression his face grew pale with fear, and his
hands trembled. He tore the letter open hastily
and read it. It was the hand of Fate. Would
he be able to escape once more?
When the letter was safely hidden in his
pocket, he looked about anxiously to see if he had
been observed. His face was deadly white and
his knees shook. With uncertain steps he
dragged himself onward through the Marshall-
strasse to the Palace Garden. Here he stopped
to drink a glass of seltzer at the kiosk by the
gate, and then entered the English Garden. He
soon found a solitary bench on which he let him-
self fall in exhaustion, wiping the cold drops
from his forehead and trying to think. Immedi-
ate flight alone could save him, but how could he
flee without money? It seemed impossible for
him to formulate one sensible thought. The fig-
ure of charming little Lilly von Robiceck obtruded
again and again on his mental vision, with such
vividness that mad longing clutched his heart in
a grip of iron. He felt that he would be as little
able to leave the neighborhood where this en-
chantress dwelt as he would be to put her out of
his thoughts. His Fate would overtake him
here.
I 9 4 THE THIRD SEX
He put his hand in his hip pocket and drew
out a pretty red leather case, which looked as if
it might contain an especially valuable meer-
schaum pipe head. He opened it and took out
a dainty revolver with an ivory handle, all six
chambers loaded. He played with the shining
thing, and sank into a new train of reflection.
Would it not be better to make an end of it now,
before the inevitable disgrace had ruined him
morally as well as in every other way? They
would find him here on the lonely bench in the
shadow of the plantains, undisfigured, with only
the tiny red spot on one temple. His friends
would identify him as young Baron Raoul de
Kerkhove, who had been driven to his early death
by the pangs of love, and by his sorrow for his
enslaved country. As clergymen are not allowed
to speak at the grave of a suicide, Arnulf Rau
would probably say some deeply felt words in his
praise. Lilly von Robiceck, as his housemate,
would be the first to hear of his tragic end, and
she would certainly say to herself that she might
have prevented it, if she had not turned away the
poor boy so harshly. She might possibly be at
his funeral. The others would certainly come
with flowers and palms, the Raus, Dr. Reith-
meyer, Claire de Fries, and first of all Moritz
THE THIRD SEX 195
Haider's Daughters, all in black. Martha
Haider had such a pretty black silk dress, and she
would bring white roses in her hands and weep
for him.
A thought shot through his brain; yes, he
would try it, it might mean escape and safety.
He returned the revolver to its case, and took
his way to the banking house of Moritz Haider's
Daughters. He halted a few steps from the of-
fice, wiped his brow, and drew a deep breath.
Then he pulled himself together, entered the
room, and when he had made sure that there
were no customers present, he swung his hat over
his head with a loud, "Hurrah! hurrah! hur-
rah!"
Martha and Hildegard sprang from their
chairs and asked what the matter was.
"Now just guess, ladies!" he answered mer-
rily, taking the official letter from his pocket and
holding it in the air.
" Donnerwetter ! Have you really won your
lawsuit?" cried Miss Hildegard.
"Of course I have," he rejoiced; "this paper
is worth a round million."
"Well, I declare!" laughed Hildegard, fall-
ing into her desk chair, and Martha held out her
hand across the table, saying: "Well, well, our
i 9 6 THE THIRD SEX
little Raoul! I never should have thought you
were worth that much. Many hearty congratu-
lations 1 "
" Thanks 1 thanks I " He was red in the face,
and pressed the paper into Martha's hand.
She unfolded it and looked at the writing.
" But it's in Russian," she exclaimed in disap-
pointment. And then she turned to the " young
man " who had been watching the scene with in-
terest: "Oh, Mr. Zirngruber, you know Rus-
sian, won't you translate this for me?" But
before Zirngruber could answer, Raoul de Kerk-
hove had snatched the paper again. " Don't
trouble the gentleman, I'll read it for you."
He looked at the paper, murmured some Rus-
sian words, and delivered himself of the follow-
ing:
"Si. PETERSBURG,
" CHANCELLERIE OF THE IMPERIAL SENATE,
" You are herewith respectfully notified that
through the most gracious decision of His Maj-
esty, the Czar, of the i5th of August, old style,
the judgment of the undersigned Court of Cassa-
tion has been made effective, whereby the con-
fiscation of the estates and properties of your late
father, Leo Alexejwitsch, Baron von Kerkhoven
THE THIRD SEX 197
of Usmaiken, Hasenpot, Masheiki, Shagori and
Poswal, was declared invalid, and the order has
been handed down that said estates and proper-
ties be returned to the rightful heirs. You are
asked to present yourself before the loth of Sep-
tember in St. Petersburg to sign the necessary
documents. Signed
" COURT OF CASSATION OF
THE IMPERIAL SENATE."
He folded the letter again, and put it in his
pocket. " Now, ladies, what do you think of
that?" he cried, striking an attitude.
" First rate ! " said Hildegard with a hearty
handshake.
u We must celebrate this propitious occasion,"
cried Raoul again. " Command me, what can I
do for you? Shall I give you each an estate for
a dowry? Miss Martha, would you like
Usmaiken, or would you prefer Hasenpot?
Miss Hildegard, I recommend you to take
Shagori."
" We can decide on that later," cried Hilde-
gard merrily. " I would suggest that you take
us up to Schleich's to begin on."
" Why, of course, with the greatest pleasure.
All right then, you are my guests for this even-
I 9 8 THE THIRD SEX
ing; and, say, the weather is so fine to-day, shut
up your shop and come with me now."
Box turned to her sister : " You can go per-
fectly well, Martha, there isn't much doing to-
day. I'll stay until the dinner hour. Go for a
bicycle ride; we won't have many more such days
this summer. Have you your wheel with you,
Baron?"
" No, I am sorry to say. It's being repaired
again."
" Good gracious ! I think you got badly stung
on that purchase."
" And it cost me four hundred marks! "
" Perhaps Mr. Zirngruber will lend you his."
The " young man " was delighted to be able
to oblige the Russian millionaire, and the Baron
assured him of his warmest thanks.
" I shall not forget your kindness, Mr. Zirn-
gruber," he added with a patronizing wave of
his hand.
The young man brought out his wheel, Miss
Martha mounted hers just as she was, and the
couple started off.
They rode out to Nymphenburg, and when
they reached the Grunwald Castle Inn, Martha
sprang down and demanded a halt for refresh-
ments. The sunshine and the shaking up on the
THE THIRD SEX 199
bad roads had made her hungry and thirsty.
They sat down merrily and ate a light lunch with
enjoyment. Miss Martha was in the best of
spirits, and bubbled over with jokes and droll
coquetry. Raoul looked at her and sighed gen-
tly. She was really a 'very pretty girl, her
profile was as pure and fine as that on an antique
cameo, and her smoothly parted hair gave her
something of a Madonna look. She had wom-
anly charm and girlish freshness and sprightli-
ness, but she was just a little red in the face and
looked heated. Strange! He could not imag-
ine Lilly von Robiceck red and heated. The
very, very lovely ladies, for whom one kills
oneself, they never perspire, he thought, and he
felt that he could not shoot himself for Martha
Haider. If ladies set their ambition on having
men shoot themselves for their sake, they must
not tease them all the time.
When hunger and thirst were satisfied, Raoul
de Kerkhove put his hand in his pocket to pay
the bill, but before he could draw out his purse,
Martha interrupted him and said, gravely:
" No, Raoul, I won't allow that you must
not pay for me particularly not now. That
is just my pride."
" Don't be alarmed," laughed the young
400 THE THIRD SEX
Baron in embarrassment. " I perceive I have
left my purse at home, the first time it ever hap-
pened. Here I sit with my millions, and with-
out a cent."
" Then permit me to put you down on our
books for twenty marks."
In pretended affectation, she took a gold piece
from her pretty little snake-skin purse, and
dropped it into his hands.
" Many thanks," the young man blushingly an-
swered. " Rothschild began by lending money
to men of position. Who knows, this double
crown may mean for your firm the start of a for-
tune like his ! "
" What should I do with so much money,"
laughed Miss Martha. " Do you think money
is all we need to make us happy, you young pluto-
crat you? "
" Oh, no, I know well, ' happy alone is the soul
that can love,' as the poet sings."
Miss Martha sprang to her feet, rolled her
eyes drolly, and cried in good Saxon dialect:
" Oh, do stop, you give me a pain! "
Baron de Kerkhove paid the little bill, and
then they rode on to Nymphenburg castle. By
that time they had had enough, for it was very
warm. They left their wheels at the gate, en-
THE THIRD SEX 201
tered the park and sat down on a shady bench
with a view of the swan lake and the Greek tern-
pie.
" Oh, this heat! " sighed the fair Martha, who
found a particular pleasure in talking Saxon to-
day. It was one of her little accomplishments.
Raoul said nothing, and let his watery blue
eyes rest on the unmoved surface of the little
lake. The sunshine sparkled over it, and
through the reeds on the far side two young
swans were making their open-mouthed way.
"What are you gaping at, Raoul?" His
pretty neighbor aroused him from his brown
study.
He was offended by her fun and answered
sadly. " Can't you ever be serious, Miss Mar-
tha? Have you no ear for Life's mournful
elegy, which is everywhere to be heard, even in
the midst of the full harmonies of beauty and
joy?"
"Ah, now, ain't that beautifully said!" con-
tinued Martha the incorrigible.
" You do not understand me," sighed Raoul,
and turned away hurt. " You only want to play
with my feelings. Does that give you so much
pleasure? Oh, I can play, too, but I play with
other things."
202 THE THIRD SEX
He took the red leather case from his pocket,
and revealed the dainty weapon. He let the
barrel sparkle before her eyes, until she shrank
back frightened to the farthest corner of the
bench. Then he laughed like a child amused at
her alarm, and said: "I play with this every
day, Miss Martha, and I imagine how it would
be to take it up in deadly earnest some time.
These things go off so easily. And I know of
nothing worse than the feeling that one is su-
perfluous. I feel so often, nowadays, that I am
not equal to all the great things I have set myself
to do. I feel that everyone else will be as little
inclined as you are to take me seriously, and that
knowledge robs me of all wish to live."
" How can you talk like that at your age, and
when you have just inherited a million," replied
Martha in her usual manner of speaking.
" With your money you can find enough to do,
and the world takes millions seriously enough."
" I do not want to be judged by my money,
but by my personal worth ! " cried Raoul gloom-
ily. "What sort of a life would that be? If
I cannot feel sure that I can be loved for myself,
then I don't want the millions."
" Put up that thing, Raoul, and don't talk so
foolishly," said Martha, taking the revolver
THE THIRD SEX 203
from his hand and closing it in its case. " You
are still so young, you certainly have no occa-
sion to look despairingly on life or on the chance
of love."
41 Really? Do you really think so? Oh, tell
me, Miss Martha " He caught her hand
and gazed into her eyes without completing the
sentence. Try as she might, she could not help
laughing at his tragic face, with the pimple right
on the tip of the nose.
He turned away sighing, and stared out over
the shimmering lake again. They sat silent for
a long time, the spell of the noonday's hot brood-
ing fell numbing on their limbs and thoughts,
they dreamed with open eyes. Raoul de Kerk-
hove had a vision. From out the depths of the
lake came a great white water-lily. Its chalice
opened slowly and in it, softly bedded, lay a ten-
der rosy body, a fine and dainty elf. The two
young swans swam up, and harnessed themselves
to the blossoms with chains made of golden sun-
beams. They drew it slowly through the gleam-
ing water, and as it neared the shore, the fairy
boat grew larger and larger and the little elf in
it grew and grew, too, and became a wondrously
beautiful woman with rich ash-blond hair and
great violet eyes. And when the swans were
204 THE THIRD SEX
very near the bank, Raoul saw that it was Lilly
von Robiceck. The blood rushed to his heart,
his hands grew cold. Deep red darkness lay
over his eyes, and he stretched out his arms in
overpowering longing.
"What's the matter, Baron?" asked the
pretty girl at his side, startled from her com-
fortable dreaming by his queer actions.
He suddenly threw his outstretched arms about
her body, pressed her to his breast and kissed
her vehemently on the neck and under the ear.
She screamed, but there was no one near to
hear. She struggled with him, panting angrily,
and finally freed herself with a violent jerk.
She stood before him trembling with rage.
" What do you mean? You must be crazy "
He fell back wearily on the bench, took off his
hat and fanned himself sadly, saying, in a voice
of extreme fatigue: "Indeed? Well, it may
be possible. Sweet Martha, have pity on me, I
love you."
Miss Martha's black eyes shot contempt down
at him. " That is impertinence, not love."
She turned her back on him, and hurried with
long hasty steps through the shadowy forest
paths. He sprang from his seat and caught up
with her. However much she hurried, he re-
THE THIRD SEX 205
mained at her side, talking softly but earnestly:
" Please listen to me, Miss Martha. Why are
you so angry? What have I done? If you call
that impertinence, then I am sorry. But that's
the way love always begins."
"What do you know about it?" she ex-
claimed impatiently. " Leave me, I don't want
to see you again."
" Oh, you think I don't know what love is? "
he cried offended. " If you only knew, you
would not make fun of me. I know love, be-
lieve me, in all its phases, except the legitimate,
of course."
" Be quiet ! you are indecent. I don't want to
hear you."
" And I want to ask you if you will follow
me to Livonia and share my honors and my
money? "
She halted involuntarily, and looked at him
with wide eyes. He seized the opportunity to
catch at her hand, but she tore it away. " Let
me go. I forbid you to follow me. I am going
home alone."
" Oh, and you will tell your sister that I of-
fered you my hand? "
" No, I shan't tell her, I am so ashamed of
myself." The tears came suddenly to her eyes,
206 THE THIRD SEX
and while wiping them away she hurried on all
the quicker, stammering in her excitement, " I
don't know what I have done to deserve this.
I have never given you cause to treat me like
this."
" Why, you certainly have ! Didn't you tease
me incessantly? I am no boy. Will you take
me seriously now?"
" I don't want to see you again let me go."
" Listen to me, Miss Martha ; I will tell you
something. Love will never come to you, for
you run away from it, and make grimaces at it
from a distance like a scared rabbit. I pity you,
Miss Martha." He stopped, raised his hat, and
let her go on undisturbed.
When he reached the castle gate, he saw her
riding through the avenue by the canal. He
mounted Mr. Zirngruber's machine and rode on-
ward slowly, so that the distance between them
grew steadily greater until he lost sight of her
altogether in the Nymphenburgstrasse. Then
he considered what was to be done now. He
could not return to his old apartment of three
handsomely furnished rooms in the Schelling-
strasse, because he had told his landlord there
that he was going out of town for two weeks.
The good man took no alarm at this, for he had
THE THIRD SEX 207
the new and elegant furniture as security for the
rent, which was still unpaid. He did not happen
to know that the furniture was only rented.
Raoul did not want to return to the new room,
into which he had taken only a light trunk, for
fear of meeting Mrs. von Robiceck. He de-
cided not to go there until after nightfall, which
also allowed him to put off signing the paper for
the police until another day. They could look
for him if they wanted him.
He rode about aimlessly for almost an hour
in the outskirts of the city, just to kill time and
to shake off his unpleasant thoughts. At one
o'clock he put up his wheel in the Restaurant
Frangais, and ordered a good five mark dinner
and a bottle of wine for the same price. Fair
Martha's money should at least satisfy his hun-
ger, even if she herself refused to satisfy his long-
ing heart. After dinner he adjourned to the Cafe
Luitpold, smoked an endless number of cigars,
read an endless number of newspapers, and
asked black-haired Pepi, who was an old friend
of his, if she would take a trip to Italy with
him, as he had just fallen heir to a million.
She was delighted at the prospect, and he gave
her three marks to buy a new pair of gloves.
But even then it was only four o'clock, so he
208 THE THIRD SEX
seated himself once more on Mr. Zirngruber's
wheel and rode out to Aumeister. Tired from
the heat of the day and his sleepless night, he hid
the machine in the bushes, threw himself on the
grass and was soon fast asleep.
When he awoke it was past six o'clock, and' he
hurried back to the city, feeling that he hadn't a
moment to lose. He rode up to the office of
Moritz Haider's Daughters, just in time to re-
turn Mr. Zirngruber his wheel, and to catch Miss
Hildegard closing the place. " Has Miss
Martha gone home already?" Raoul asked cau-
tiously.
" No, she didn't come back here at all," re-
plied Box, unsuspectingly. " She didn't feel
well, she can't stand the heat, so she stayed
home to lie down."
" Oh, I am very sorry ! May I accompany
you?"
" Yes, if you will walk on slowly, for I must
give Schampus his exercise and a swim. You'll
find me at home in half an hour."
He strolled slowly to the Giselastrasse, and
saw by a glance at the wheel shed in the court
that Box had not yet returned. He took stock
of the situation again. Had he better go up and
attempt a second attack on Martha's heart?
THE THIRD SEX 209
When she realized that he was in earnest it would
not be easy, he thought, for a young girl to re-
fuse a Baron with a million rubles. But then
on the other hand, what would happen if she
really said " yes," and he, in his conscientious-
ness, should actually take her at her word?
(Raoul de Kerkhove always drew his conscience
into his calculations, although it had left him in
the lurch more than once.) The girl was too
handsome for a man of his temperament to find
it possible to live a cool marriage of convenience
with her, and yet she was apparently so cold-
blooded that he could hardly hope for an
ecstatic love happiness. So perhaps it was best
to give up his serious intentions with regard to
Martha Haider; besides which, it was scarcely
likely that she would receive him at all now.
Anyway, it was not a good idea to make a pro-
posal of marriage with the object of asking for
an immediate money loan at least such con-
duct might not appear nice in the eyes of a refined
person, although the ladies Haider, as business
women, might be expected to be less sentimental
about money matters. He had better try to
achieve his purpose in a simpler manner. Walk-
ing up and down in front of the house, he thought
over this problem until he saw Box come round
210 THE THIRD SEX
the corner at a sharp pace, with Schampus tear-
ing on ahead.
The good creature, still sopping wet, sprang
up on his friend Raoul in delight, leaving the
marks of his broad dirty paws on the latter's
elegant, new, and unpaid-for summer suit.
Box sprang down, scolded the dog, and con-
doled with her young friend over the mischief
done. Then she put up her wheel, and all three
climbed upstairs to the Haiders' apartment.
The servant was out and Miss Martha opened
the door. She smiled a forced smile when she
saw the young Baron, and answered her sister's
sympathetic questions as to her health with a
shrug, disappearing immediately into her own
room.
Hildegard looked after her with a shake of
the head, and said to Raoul, as she let him pass
in, " Queer girl ! the least little thing upsets her
so. She never spoke a word to me through din-
ner, as if I were the cause of her headache.
And when I commenced about your good luck
she told me to shut up, that you were a little
beast. Now, why should you be a little beast all
of a sudden? Please take a seat, Baron."
" Yes, I'd like to know why myself
thanks." The young man sat down in a com-
THE THIRD SEX 211
fortable arm-chair, drew off his gloves slowly
and smiled a knowing smile.
Box sat opposite him with crossed legs and
asked: "Why that smile, Baron? What did
you do to her? "
" Nothing that I know of," he replied cheer-
ily. " Tell me, Miss Hildegard, do you believe
that lending money always destroys friend-
ship?"
"And why?"
" Well, Miss Martha lent me twenty marks.
Perhaps that is why she calls me a little
beast."
"Nonsense, Baron," laughed Box; "why do
you bother yourself with such trifles in your
present circumstances."
"Yes, isn't it ridiculous? Imagine it, I was
not in a position to pay a bill of one mark fifty!
I have been just a little reckless lately, and my
next allowance will not come for two weeks yet.
Now how shall I get to St. Petersburg? Could
you let me have a thousand?"
"A thousand marks? It doesn't cost that
much, does it? "
" No, not quite, but in Wirballen the Orient
begins, and one must have bakshish in hand.
And then I must make a proper appearance in
212 THE THIRD SEX
St. Petersburg as the future Marshal and heir of
Usmaiken, Hasenpot, Mosheiki, Shagori and
Poswol."
" Do you really get the whole bunch? "
"Not quite; I must divide with my elder sis-
ter and my younger brother, but I have the entail
and the title. I hope this is enough security for
you. And then I have my new and handsome
furniture in the Schellingstrasse, I can make that
over to you."
" Oh, that's such a bother," answered Box in
a business-like manner. " You need the money
right away, and it's easier for you to give me a
note, say for three months you will have your
money then, will you not?"
" Certainly. My allowance comes in two
weeks, as I said, and then I can get all I want
in St. Petersburg, anyway."
" All right," said Box, rising and going to her
desk. " But I haven't the thousand here in the
house would five hundred do? Come to the
office to-morrow and I will give you a draft on
the bank for the rest." She opened the drawer
and took out a little money box. " Oh, dear I "
she cried, " I see I have not even five hundred
here so I'll put you down for three hundred
now. Does that suit you? We'll get the rest
THE THIRD SEX 213
to-morrow you needn't take the very earliest
train?"
Raoul had risen also. " Many thanks, do
just as you think best. I must close up several
matters here anyway, as it will probably be six
months before I can return."
Box had her back to him, so she could not see
his disappointed face. While she was looking
for the proper paper and filling it out, he wan-
dered about the room, looking at the many knick-
knacks it contained. He discovered a case of
Indian workmanship, in silver and ivory, which
he had not seen before. A little key was in one
of the drawers. He opened it in his curiosity,
and then exclaimed in sudden surprise : " Oh,
what charming legs ! "
Hildegard Haider gave an involuntary look
down at herself to see if her skirt was pulled up,
then she turned to him. " Oh, papa's collection
didn't I ever show that to you?"
" No, please pardon my curiosity, it is most
interesting."
u Please write your name here."
He stepped to the desk, and wrote his name
on the note. Looking it over, he found himself
set down as owing three hundred and five marks,
and fifty pfennigs.
2i 4 THE THIRD SEX
Box saw his surprise and explained: "That's
business, you know. One-third per cent commis-
sion and six per cent interest for three months,
recoverable by law in case of a protesting of the
note. Here is the money."
The young Baron bowed in thanks and put the
bills in his pocket. Then he turned again to the
collection of tobacco-stoppers, and Box explained
several of the choicest pieces.
" It is remarkable," he said meditatively, after
a few moments, " how much our imagination has
always occupied itself with women's legs. I
suppose it is simply the charm of the veiled. If
bicycle riding should put skirts out of fashion,
then long robes would have to be invented espe-
cially for the ballet girls, and not even an old
Major would think of stopping his pipe with a
little leg like these."
" Very well put, and very true," laughed Box.
" I believe this question of clothes has a still
wider significance even. If we women could
wear trousers without making ourselves conspic-
uous, then I could do business on the Stock Ex-
change myself. I don't blame the men for
refusing equal rights to a sex that has so much
to conceal, and does it with so much fuss.
We're not even equal before God, for they won't
THE THIRD SEX 215
allow us to take off our bird's nests, or whatever
other foolish contrivance we wear on our heads,
when we wish to show our reverence to the Lord
in His own house. We expect even God to close
an eye out of politeness. And just as long as we
exact politeness and chivalry, we acknowledge
ourselves to be the weaker sex, therefore I, for
one, snap my fingers at chivalry."
Raoul de Kerkhove played nervously with one
of the finest specimens, as he remarked thought-
fully: "Tell me, it would really interest me,
. . . can you, yourself, imagine Miss Hildegard
Haider as a wife? "
"Oh, yes; why not?" she answered without
hesitation. " Only I can't imagine what sort of
a husband I should have."
Raoul began again, timidly: "I suppose you
would prefer an older man, who what shall
I say "
" No, thanks, much obliged, but I have no in-
terest in ruins. A condition of merry war with
a bright young chap, with whom one could have
a good hearty quarrel, seems to me much more
amusing. You see, it is possible that I might get
tired of the banking business some day. Then
I could marry a decent colleague and let him run
the shop; that would be the so-called sensible
THE THIRD SEX
marriage. But if I should marry for love,
no reason to laugh, Baron, if I should marry
for love, then I would find my happiness in hav-
ing a husband whom I could train up in the way
he should go. Men aren't so bad as we please
to think them, if they only fall into the right
hands, that is."
" Then you would, hm ! as it were look
for a position as governess to a single gentleman?
Delicious and very original!" And Raoul
scratched thoughtfully with his nail at a little
black spot on the leg he held in his hand.
" Don't scratch that," cried Box, laughing, " it
won't come off; it's meant for a flea."
" Oh, dear I " cried Raoul comically, blushing
like a young girl. He held out his hand to put
the leg back in the box, but it fell from his fin-
gers to the table and broke. " Oh, dear ! Now
I have broken your pretty leg," he cried in de-
spair.
She scolded him good-naturedly: "You
clumsy thing, you 1 "
" I am most unhappy, Miss Hildegard," he
stammered. " Scold me some more, I have de-
served it. I am just as clumsy with everything
I touch in life, but I have never broken a lady's
THE THIRD SEX 217
leg before, not even her heart. If you wish it,
I will shoot myself on the spot."
And he fished out his famous revolver from
its case in his pocket, holding it to his temple
with a fine theatrical gesture. Box didn't show
much alarm. " Oh, you ridiculous thing, you
make me laugh!" she exclaimed good-
humoredly, taking the revolver from his
hand.
" Give me back my comforter," he begged,
sadly smiling. " You can't imagine how many
serious talks we have had together, my shining
little friend here and I. You see, it is my tender
heart that is the cause of all my misfortune. My
soul is not robust enough to endure the pressure
of sympathy with the millions of my unhappy fel-
low creatures."
" Oh, don't talk nonsense ! " cried Box impa-
tiently. " Sympathy is the worst of all passions.
Every young man ought to have a good portion
of healthy selfishness in his make-up."
" That's just the trouble," he sighed, " I can't
reach that standpoint. I am such a clinging na-
ture, I believe I would have made a most at-
tractive young girl. It is my misfortune to have
been born a man."
218 THE THIRD SEX
" Ha, ha ! it's just the opposite with me,"
laughed Box.
" Yes, you know I've always thought we would
supplement each other remarkably well."
" That wasn't what I meant."
" But it is the truth yes, honestly. Your
heart longs for something to educate and to
guide; mine needs a strong hand."
His pale eyes gleamed moistly past her into
vacancy, and she pricked up her ears in expecta-
tion of what was to come next. But when sev-
eral minutes had elapsed without anything
occurring, she thought it better to prod him with
an encouraging, "Well?"
The young Baron started slightly and recalled
his roving glance. He sighed from his knees
up, and then spoke.
" Ah, Miss Haider, think of my situation. I
must go back to Livonia, to the home from which
I fled, with a feeling of utter loneliness; I must
take the management of my immense estates
upon myself, and it is a task for which I am so
ill-fitted! And then the Russian officials they
fairly flay one alive ! "
" Marry a sensible woman, if you can't take
care of yourself," said Box, giving him a friendly
slap on the shoulder.
THE THIRD SEX 219
He tried bravely to beam, and answered:
" That 1*5 the solution, Miss Haider, but where
shall I find such a one? It must not be an aver-
age woman, a woman in the usual sense, for I
myself belong to the weaker sex. And yet in
all my travels I have met but one strong and
really sensible woman, and that is yourself, Miss
Haider. I do not know whether I dare "
" For mercy sake, are you really going to pro-
pose to me ? " burst out Box, falling into the
nearest chair with a most delighted expression of
face. He pulled his chair up to her, and rubbed
his knees with the flat of his hands.
" There, you see how unlucky I am," he spoke
sadly. " You don't take me seriously, you only
laugh at me."
" Oh, come now, don't be offended," she an-
swered in the friendliest tone. " But it is so very
sudden, I can't seem to imagine myself as Baron-
ess and chatelaine."
"And why not? Didn't I tell you once that
I liked to think of you as an Amazon on a fiery
steed, with a high silk hat? "
"Hm! yes, the hat might have charms for
me," she laughed. " And when I think of the
sort of people that put themselves on the high
horse sometimes, I know I could hold my own
220 THE THIRD SEX
with most of them, anyway. But, don't be an-
gry, it is rather funny, you are so terribly young
and I am thirty-three."
" That's only on the surface," he smiled
mournfully. " My soul is aged, as aged as one
must become when one broods on all the sorrow-
ful problems that vex humanity."
Box did not answer ; she sat in silence, thought-
fully gnawing her under lip. Her dark eyes
shone, and the surprise had called up a delicate
color on her white skin; she looked decidedly
pretty and girlish. Suddenly a thought ran
through her brain, she seized his wrist and shook
him gently.
" See here, my little friend," she said, " please
explain how you suddenly come to honor me with
a serious proposal, after paying such energetic
attentions to my sister? "
" Hm ! how can I explain it," he replied softly.
" At first Miss Martha seemed to be the near-
est the most natural friend for me; but just
by reason of the contrast of her youth I seemed
to feel how old I really am and yet she had
only mockery for me."
" That's just her way, she doesn't mean any-
thing by it."
" Perhaps ; but this manner kills all serious
THE THIRD SEX 221
feeling in those whom her beauty attracts."
Box looked at him in sudden surprise. " I
fear you have spoken a true word there; you're
not so stupid anyway, Raoul. If I really knew
that I was not interfering with my sister
hm "
"Then I may hope?" The young man rose
and held out his hand.
She rose also, and raised her right hand as if
to take his, then she hesitated and said: "I
must think it over; don't be so impatient, you fiery
youth ! "
He dropped his hand and heaved a sigh that
would soften a heart of stone.
She smiled into his eyes, folded her hands be-
hind her back, and said, with amusingly clumsy
coquetry: " I suppose you might give me a trial
kiss that doesn't commit us to anything,
does it?"
" You are very kind," he answered blushing,
laid his arm gently round her shoulder and kissed
her hastily on the mouth, without any disrespect-
ful display of ardor.
" Didn't you like it? " he joked, as she rubbed
her lips with her coat sleeve.
" Not madly to be quite frank," she
laughed merrily. " But I promise you that
222 THE THIRD SEX
shan't frighten me. I don't imagine I know as
much about kissing as you do, and one learns
something new every day." She held out her
hand and pressed his heartily.
" Shall we go to Schleich's for supper now?"
he asked.
" No, we'd better give it up for to-day.
Martha isn't able to go, and under the present
circumstances I can't take supper with a young
man alone. You see your offer has suddenly
robbed me of all my independence. Yesterday
I would have wandered about with you until mid-
night, but to-day I feel it my duty to conduct
myself like a mature young girl of good family.
My land, how stupid that must be! So please
go now, and to-morrow you shall have your check
and your answer. By-by, Baron."
He did not go at once. It was evident there
was something on his mind to say yet. Finally
he drew a ring from his finger, and said : " My
dear Hildegard I may call you that now, may
I not? I want so much to give you something
for the broken leg. This belonged to my
mother, please take it, no matter what your an-
swer may be." And he pressed a gold circle set
with a single large turquoise on her reluctant fin-
ger.
THE THIRD SEX 223
" If you really wish it, then many thanks," said
Hildegard in droll embarrassment.
He took up his hat slowly, looked about the
room as if to fix the picture in his mind; took a
few steps and halted again near the desk, as if
the farewell were too hard. Hildegard Haider
stood by the table, with her back turned to him.
She was honestly embarrassed, and was as red
as any ordinary young girl would be, who feared,
or hoped, to be caught and hugged in a minute.
But Raoul was not thinking of any such disre-
spectful action, and instead made use of her inat-
tention to fold up the draft which still lay on the
desk, and to put it in his pocket.
She heard the rattle of the paper and turned:
"What are you doing? That is your note, I
must keep that."
" Indeed? Oh, I beg your pardon," he an-
swered, looking very stupid. " I didn't know,
I never signed one before." He returned the
paper to its place.
" Oh, you sweet innocence ! " she joked.
" Look at him running away with the only se-
curity I have." Then she took him by the shoul-
ders and marched him briskly out at the door.
When she heard the outer door fall to behind
him, she ran into Martha's room, calling out,
224 THE THIRD SEX
before she had crossed the threshold: "Say,
sweet flower, I've just had a proposal from
Raoul ! "
The fair Martha, who was sitting at her table
with a book, turned pale and fell back against the
sofa pillows. " You have?" she exclaimed in
incredulous surprise.
Box came nearer, and continued in an offended
tone : " Well, you needn't appear quite so sur-
prised. Why shouldn't he propose to me?"
" Because he proposed to me to-day," was
Martha's prompt answer.
"To you, too?" Box had to sit down.
"What did you say?"
" I very naturally told him what I thought of
him."
" I don't think that natural, I think it very
stupid. Do you believe he really loves you?"
" He swore it anyway," replied Martha with
a shrug. " He drew out his revolver and said
he would shoot himself."
" That's what he did with me, too," inter-
rupted Box, still offended, " and then "
" Then he became impertinent."
"How?"
" He caught hold of me, and kissed me like a
crazy man."
THE THIRD SEX 225
"The wretch! He didn't do that to me."
The sisters sat opposite each other, glaring
across the table with angry eyes.
" I lent him three hundred marks," growled
Box.
" I got off with twenty," triumphed Martha.
" And you think you understand men. Oh,
dearie me! "
" And you, my dear," was Box's return thrust,
" you'll never capture a man anyway. You
freeze them off, your manner kills all serious
feeling in those whom you attract with your pretty
eyes."
" What I do with my eyes is my own affair,"
answered Martha, frostily. " I'm in no mood
to be scolded by you, just because I don't like a
certain man. Take him yourself and welcome."
They talked at each other in this strain for
some little while, and when the servant came to
call them to supper she found them sitting by
the table with reddened faces. Miss Martha's
beautiful eyes showed traces of tears.
Martha was much too excited to eat, and
Hildegard eased her feelings by sending word to
the cook that no one could eat such a mess. But
she did manage to eat it, and when her hunger
was appeased, her good temper returned and she
226 THE THIRD SEX
was disposed to look at the adventure from the
funny side. Just then the door-bell rang.
"Who can it be so late? " grunted Box, look-
ing at the clock. Their more intimate friends
were all in the country, so they listened atten-
tively to the sounds outside. The girl returned
and announced that a gentleman wished to speak
to the ladies alone about an important matter,
official business. The sisters looked at each
other, then Box decided to have the man
shown in.
An elderly gentleman with a comfortable em-
bonpoint and military carriage appeared in the
doorway, bowing respectfully.
" You wished to speak to us, sir? " asked Box.
" What can we do for you? "
"Are we alone, ladies?" asked the stranger,
and as Box replied in the affirmative, he turned
to see that the servant had shut the door behind
her. Then he came a step nearer and asked
softly: "Can we not go into the next room?
Are you sure the girl does not listen at the
door?"
Martha was alarmed : " Oh dear, what do
you want of us?" she inquired anxiously.
The stout gentleman replied in a tone that in-
spired confidence in spite of its cautious lowness:
THE THIRD SEX 227
"Don't be alarmed, ladies; my name is Sedl-
meyer, Police Commissioner. I come on official
business from our office."
It was Box's turn to grow pale, but she pulled
herself together and asked the officer to enter the
drawing-room. He accepted her invitation to
sit down, and then he took two cabinet photo-
graphs from his fat, well-filled portfolio, handing
them to the ladies.
" If I am not mistaken," he observed politely,
" these are your pictures."
They were undoubtedly pictures of Hildegard
and Martha Haider, excellent likenesses of
both. Box acknowledged this fact, while Martha
was unable to say a word, her heart beat so at
seeing her picture in the hands of the police.
" Do not alarm yourselves, ladies, I will ex-
plain this at once," continued the official, turning
the leaves of his note-book. " I found these two
photographs to-day in a bachelor apartment in
the Schellingstrasse, where a certain Baron Raoul
de Kerkhove had lived. The gentleman left
town yesterday, destination unknown. These
two pictures stood on his desk, and as the ladies
Haider are known to the police, most favorably
of course" (he bowed politely), "I supposed
that you might be acquainted with this gentleman
228 THE THIRD SEX
and could give me some information about him."
And then it came out that the young Baron,
who carried humanity's sorrows about on his
shoulders, was being eagerly sought by the police
of several Russian and German university towns,
on account of a train of swindlings, protested
notes and more such matters. He was not a
Baron, nor was he a doctor of philosophy nor
even a landed proprietor. His name was Van
Kerkhoven and he was the son of a merchant of
Dorpat. He had really made his entrance ex-
aminations and gone to several universities to
study. Everywhere he had told the same story
about his million ruble lawsuit, and had not only
swindled many merchants out of their goods, but
had actually persuaded the Dean of his last uni-
versity to lend him six thousand marks. Here
in Munich he found easy credit everywhere, be-
cause of his assertion that he was soon to marry
one of the firm of Moritz Haider's Daughters.
His story found ready belief as he was seen
everywhere with the ladies, and had made friends
in the best circles. A notice from the Russian
police started inquiries in Munich, and his arrest
was to follow the very next day.
These startling revelations threw Miss Mar-
tha into tears. She had been kissed by a crim-
THE THIRD SEX 229
inal! But Box took it in a more practical fash-
ion.
" The man sat here not an hour ago, on the
very chair you are sitting on now, sir. He bor-
rowed three hundred marks of me, and left me
this ring and an offer of marriage as security.
Please take the ring as an asset. He will prob-
ably seek to get away as quickly as possible with
the money, so I should suggest watching the rail-
way stations. It may be possible that he is still
in town."
The commissary thanked them and started off
in a hurry.
" Isn't it strange," said Box a little later, " that
such a well-educated, and evidently well-
brought-up young man should be such a rascally
swindler? "
"Didn't I suspect it?" triumphed Martha.
" I lent him only twenty marks. It was you, sis-
ter dear, who decidedly overrated him."
Neither Mr. van Kerkhoven, nor the twenty
marks, nor the three hundred marks, were ever
seen again.
CHAPTER VIII
SEVERAL weeks had elapsed. The thou-
sands of North German tourists who poured
through Munich on their way to the Alps had
now poured back again to their flatlands, paying
the customary toll of many glasses of Hofbrau
beer. The city took on its stranger-free appear-
ance once more, which however had little effect
on its classical dirtiness in rainy weather. Nor-
mal performances at normal prices could again
be seen in the Court Theater. But few went to
see them, for October seemed to have set itself
the task of making good the sins of the capricious
summer. The lecture rooms of the various
higher institutions of learning showed yawning
emptiness, although the new term had officially
begun. And of all the interesting people whom
the conscientious scribe of these chronicles has
had the honor to introduce to the gentle reader,
only Moritz Haider's energetic daughters, who
could not leave their business, and Dr. Reith-
meyer, were in town.
ago
THE THIRD SEX 231
Since the world of science demanded a new
and irrefutable proof of his ability to practice a
professorship of Germanics, Dr. Reithmeyer had
spent the summer months writing an epoch-mak-
ing work on Councillor von Goethe's " Meyer of
Westphalia." It will be remembered that His
Excellency, on Sunday, February the I5th, 1824,
remarked to Eckermann that Mr. Meyer of
Westphalia was a very promising young man and
had written poems that aroused expectation. He
was only eighteen years old, and remarkably
clever. To find the scientific data of this Meyer
of Westphalia was indeed a task worthy of much
noble sweat.
Dr. Josef Reithmeyer had succeeded in getting
a list of all male Meyers of the better class born
in Westphalia in 1806, and in discovering that of
these, twenty-seven had written poems. He had
furthermore succeeded in collecting one hundred
and thirty-nine poems which had been written by
these twenty-seven Meyers, and had printed them
in his highly interesting book. In the second,
the critical, part of his work, he had endeavored
to judge these poems from the point of view of
Goethe's taste and opinions in 1824, in the hope
of thus discovering the true Meyer of West-
phalia. This method of reasoning had led him
232 THE THIRD SEX
to the conclusion that it was surely Mr. Karl
Leberecht Gottwald Gneomar Meyer from Haspe.
Unfortunately there were no data of the later
life of the poet to be found, except the facts that
he had studied in Bonn, and had been carried off
by delirium tremens in his ninth term. Dr. Josef
Reithmeyer made the clever assertion that just
this last fact was the clearest proof of the identity
of Karl Leberecht Gneomar Meyer with the tal-
ented Meyer of Westphalia; for he had evi-
dently never been able to recover from the
intoxication into which the praise of the great
man would naturally throw a youth of eighteen.
The regular professor of his branch in the
Munich University, to whom the young licentiate
had shown the advance sheets of his work, con-
gratulated him most heartily on his performance,
and promised his whole influence for the winning
of the desired professorship.
And now that our good Dr. Josef Reithmeyer
had thus laid the corner stone of his career, there
was nothing more to prevent him from carrying
out the desire of his heart, the wish to be joined
in marriage to his beautiful friend, Claire de
Fries. She had been visiting her parents in
Friesland while he was collecting information in
Westphalia, and had now returned to Zurich.
THE THIRD SEX 233
The wedding was to have taken place in Munich
before the winter term commenced. But there
were unexpected delays in securing the necessary
papers, and in the printing of the great book
" Goethe's Meyer of Westphalia " as well, so
that they finally decided to be married in Zurich
towards the close of October. Claire de Fries
had insisted that the marriage must not interrupt
her studies, and Dr. Reithmeyer had agreed to
this condition with a sigh, but with the secret hope
that she might think otherwise after the wedding.
It wasn't in the least necessary that she should
earn her own living by the practice of medicine.
She had money enough to live on very com-
fortably, and he also had an income that would
have sufficed him even as licentiate. If they put
their revenues together they could live most
agreeably with no care for the future. For, as
aforesaid, " Meyer of Westphalia " made the
professorship certain, and his author had a right
to expect other epoch-making works of himself,
which would bring him not only new academic
honors, but also the means to permit himself a
progeny.
It was strange that just these two should have
come together: Claire de Fries, with her per-
sistent zeal for science in spite of her otherwise
234 THE THIRD SEX
phlegmatic disposition, and Josef Reithmeyer,
who otherwise than in his love, was a real little
Philistine. Without any display of passion on
her part, her statuesque beauty had quite dishev-
eled his usually correct thinking and feeling. In
these disordered moments he had written poems
which were better than those of the celebrated
Meyer of Westphalia; and these poems had so
worked on the sober North German common-
sense mind of the Zurich student, that she had
unhesitatingly given herself to the passionate
writer, with no inner struggle, just from a warm
sense of duty. She was far from imagining him
to be the fulfillment of her romantic longing, or
the personification of her ideal of manhood. In
fact the longing for a man had never troubled
her, and her ideal was to become a good physi-
cian. All that was purely womanly in her nature
found satisfaction in the knowledge that she
could make someone happy, and so she remained
unshaken in her fidelity to the only lover for
whom she had time in her ardent studies.
The wedding was to take place on the twenty-
sixth of October, at eleven o'clock in the morn-
ing. The intimate friends who were to witness
the ceremony as assistants to both parties arrived
on the twenty-fifth. Arnulf Rau and his wife,
THE THIRD SEX 235
who had been spending several weeks in Switzer-
land, took rooms in one of the more aristocratic
hotels, and invited the beautiful bride to pass the
evening with them. Miss Echdeler, president
of the Association for the Evolution of the Fem-
inine Psyche, arrived on the same day from
Karlsruhe, where a convention of noted leaders
of the Woman Movement had just taken place.
Mrs. Stummer and her inseparable friend, Miss
Wiesbeck, were in Zurich, studying at the Uni-
versity. The bridegroom himself did not arrive
until evening, accompanied by Miss Hildegard
Haider who had left her sister in charge of the
office for several days, and by an old college
chum, Referendar Kuno Kulicke. For two terms
Josef Reithmeyer had been a member of the
corps, and had been the Fuchs of said Kuno Ku-
licke. The latter had twice flunked his Assessor
examination, but his unchanged fidelity was the
proof of so much beauty of heart that his esthetic
younger friend forgave, for its sake, his other-
wise manifold physical, moral, and mental de-
fects.
The three took quarters in a hotel which was
characterized more by moderate prices than by
elegance or pomp. It was a most sympathetic
touch on the part of Dr. Reithmeyer that he
236 THE THIRD SEX
would not appear on the scene of the ceremony
until the last moment. His delicacy revolted
against what might seem like a forcing himself
on his beloved before the wedding, for in her
position as bride she seemed to him to have a
new right to his protection. He made a formal
call the evening of his arrival in all the glory of
black frock coat, high hat and clean collar, and
not finding her at home, left his card in the most
conventional manner.
There was to be a simple wedding dinner at
one o'clock in a restaurant where, in the earlier
days of his sojourn in Zurich, Dr. Reithmeyer
had a flirtation with a waitress. The esthetic
under-current in the character of this excellent
young scholar would have been offended by the
choice of a house with which he had not the least
psychic relation.
The morning of the twenty-sixth dawned wet,
cold, and disagreeable. The wind that drove the
rain in wet masses across the lake seemed to have
first thoroughly cooled itself off on the Alpine
ice-fields. Shortly after ten o'clock the bride-
groom, with his assistants, Box and Kuno, started
out under their umbrellas to fetch the fair bride.
The men hid their patent leather shoes in rub-
bers, and had their trousers turned up, while Box
THE THIRD SEX 237
pinned up her velvet skirt to the limit allowed
by decency. The three were greatly astonished
to find the bride not at home.
" Where can she be? " cried Box, in moral in-
dignation. " A bride needs at least an hour for
her toilette, and especially anyone as slow as
Claire is."
" Holy Cross, our young lady's getting mar-
ried?" cried the fat little landlady, opening her
eyes wide in astonishment.
"Yes, and the ceremony is set for eleven;
didn't she say anything to you about it?" asked
Dr. Reithmeyer nervously.
" Not a living word. She's off to the hospital,
just like every other day; she didn't say nothing
of a wedding. Nay, nay, but she's a queer
piece!"
The bridegroom stared helplessly at Box, and
Box stared equally helplessly at Mr. Kuno Ku-
licke, while the Herr Referendar himself sought
a support for his fixed and serious gaze on the
little landlady's enormous bosom. The three
stood there in the corridor feeling that they had
been deceived and betrayed, while three dreary
rivulets from their umbrellas sadly sought a level.
Then the bell rang and Miss Echdeler, Mrs.
Stummer and Miss Wiesbeck appeared. These
238 THE THIRD SEX
ladies were equally astonished that the bride was
not in her room an hour before the wedding, al-
though they knew that Claire de Fries would not
be likely to consider the ceremony for the legal-
izing of her love as anything particularly solemn
or sentimental. Miss Wiesbeck offered to take
a cab at the bridegroom's expense, and drive to
the Pathological Institute, or, if the bride were
not there, to the University Clinic. It was ar-
ranged that she should bring the bride to her
rooms as soon as she found her, hurry her dress-
ing, and then join the others at the restaurant
where the dinner was to be, as it was near the
Registrar's office. When she had started, the
rest of the little company made their way on foot
to the restaurant and sat down in the public room.
" Unsympathetic place," said Miss Echdeler,
shivering. And she was quite right. The high
bare room, painted in orange-yellow, was full of
stale odors of tobacco smoke, food and drink, as
the heavy rain had apparently made the morning
airing impossible. The walls were greasy, and a
moist precipitation of dust and smoke had drawn
a thick network of dirty furrows over them. The
rain still ran gray off the high window panes, al-
though it had been working at the crust of dirt
for hours. Two large excruciatingly indifferent
THE THIRD SEX 239
oil paintings and several high mirrors were as
little able to arouse an impression of elegant com-
fort as were the red plush sofas scattered here
and there.
They ordered beer and a trifle to eat, and when
the girl brought the drinks, Dr. Reithmeyer
asked what had become of Lisel. The unsym-
pathetic waitress didn't know, the lady at the bar
hadn't the faintest idea either, anyway the pres-
ent proprietor had been there only a year all
of which tore the slight psychic bonds to pieces
that had drawn Dr. Reithmeyer to this house.
He could read in the faces of his friends that
they did not approve of his choice, so he felt
called upon to offer some explanation.
" Yes, I must say it does not look attractive
here to-day," he turned to Miss Echdeler. " But
what could I do? I used to flirt with a waitress
here, Lisel was her name; then I met Claire and
began to write poems. So I had little chance of
gaining a more intimate knowledge of restaurant
life in Zurich."
Smiles that were more or less dreary, and slow
nodding, was all the answer he received. Then
Kuno Kulicke felt it devolving upon him to ward
off utter boredom, and offered Hildegard " a
half." But Box possessed so little understand-
2 4 o THE THIRD SEX
ing of this honor that she did not even say
" Prosit," although Mr. Kulicke carried out his
part of the ceremony with the utmost politeness.
And when Dr. Reithmeyer mildly suggested that
this student foolishness was out of place in the
presence of ladies, he received a sharp order to
" get into his glass."
" One is one, two is two, three is " Dr.
Reithmeyer responded to please him, and drank
until he was allowed to stop, then wiped his beard
and murmured an audible: " Such childishness."
" Ladies and gentlemen, did you hear that ?
My * Fuchs ' said * Childishness.' Childishness is
Touche, it is worse even than * Foolishness.'
Seppl-Fuchs, when will you be ready?"
Dr. Reithmeyer laughed, and Box tried to calm
the offended Referendar by explaining that any-
thing connected with children would naturally be
in the thoughts of a bridegroom on his wedding
day.
A little pause followed this witty remark, which
was broken by Mrs. Stummer with the declara-
tion: "Ladies and gentlemen, if you continue
to bore each other in this fashion, I see myself
compelled to journey to the nearest pastry shop
to drink a cup of chocolate."
The bridegroom grumbled: "It seems to be
THE THIRD SEX 241
the general desire to spoil my appetite as well as
your own. It is certainly unpardonably incon-
siderate of Claire to leave us in the lurch like
this. She is probably reveling in a post-mortem
on her wedding day, while we are eating sausages
here. I wish I had remained true to Lisel, then
I might have been divorced already. Whereas
now there doesn't seem to be much prospect of
my getting married at all."
Miss Echdeler and Mrs. Stummer laughed
softly, and Kuno Kulicke endeavored to continue
his student fun by starting a song, but no one
joined him and he finally gave it up in despair.
Scarcely five minutes passed during which some
one of them did not look at the clock. It was
now ten minutes before eleven, the rain had
ceased, the sun broke the thick mass of clouds
and a few rays fell through the clean washed
windows on the waiting wedding party in the
orange-yellow room. This glorious moment
would have been most auspicious for the holy
ceremony, but the bride was still absent. The
bridegroom's little touch of humor had vanished
again, and a nervous impatience seized him. He
ran out into the rain, bareheaded, in his patent
leather shoes. Carriage after carriage passed,
but not one halted in front of the restaurant.
242 THE THIRD SEX
Then he went in again and asked for the " Jour-
nal Amusant." The others followed his example
and buried themselves in newspapers and maga-
zines out of respect for his sorrow. No one said
a word. Kuno Kulicke wreathed himself in smoke
and ordered a third glass of beer. The leaves
of the papers rattled now and then as they were
turned, and the girl washing cups at the sideboard
clattered with her dishes, otherwise it was as pain-
fully quiet as in the waiting room of a physician.
At a quarter past eleven Dr. Reithmeyer threw
down his " Journal Amusant " with an angry ges-
ture, and growled between clenched teeth: "If
she doesn't want me, very well, then it's all over
between us. I do not care to be made a fool of
in this way."
Kuno Kulicke threw down his " Wiener Floh "
with equal vehemence and said: "This is really
too much! The young lady is an academic citi-
zeness, but she doesn't seem to know the first rule
of Comment! "
At this moment the door opened and Miss
Wiesbeck rushed in breathlessly. The entire
company sprang up to meet her.
" Is she there? " they all cried at once.
"Yes," Miss Wiesbeck panted, "she's out
there in the cab."
THE THIRD SEX 243
"Dressed?" asked Box.
" No, just as she was. But it's all right, she
looks real nice, and she says she put on clean linen
to-day, anyway. There was an operation in the
Women's Clinic which she couldn't possibly miss,
it was so interesting. But hurry up now or the
Registrar will be gone."
The little lunch was already paid for, so no
time was lost in starting. Dr. Reithmeyer sprang
into the cab with his overcoat on his arm and his
rubbers in his hand, and sat down beside Claire.
Box and the Referendar squeezed themselves onto
the narrow front seat, as they were to be the wit-
nesses. The three ladies walked on behind, as
there was no other cab to be seen.
Box and Claire greeted each other cordially,
and Dr. Reithmeyer introduced his friend Ku-
licke. He would not look at her himself, and did
not even offer her his hand.
" Well, aren't you going to say good morn-
ing? " began Claire when they had rattled on in
silence for about two minutes. She leaned over
to him and pushed her arm through his. " I know
it was horrid of me to keep you waiting so, but
you mustn't begin by grumbling at me on our wed-
ding day. You must not forget that I have only
six months more before my examinations. The
244 THE THIRD SEX
operating course is of the very highest importance
for me just now. One can get married any day,
but an ovariotomy for a seven-pound multilocular
myxo-cystoma ovarii dextri, with a uterus bi-
cornis, and pregnancy of the left horn, is some-
thing that doesn't happen quite so often. It was
delicious to see the elegance with which our Pro-
fessor worked simply superb 1 I had to super-
vise giving the anesthetic, so I couldn't leave until
the patient had come to again. She will prob-
ably die, but the operation was a magnificent suc-
cess. You ought to see our Professor cut open
an abdomen, and lay the intestines to one side,
as neatly as a sausage maker arranging his wares ;
it's simply great ! "
" Oh, stop, you'll make me ill ! " cried the bride-
groom, wringing his hands in despair. " I don't
believe you have given one single thought to the
importance of this day."
" To be honest, I haven't," she answered
calmly. " One cannot allow oneself any distrac-
tion before an operation of that kind."
The cab rattled horribly over the stones and
Dr. Reithmeyer screamed to his friend Kuno, as
he slapped him on the knee : " Did you hear that,
Kuno ? She calls marriage a distraction ! "
The Referendar made a face like a frog that
THE THIRD SEX 245
had just seen a crocodile for the first time. He
had assisted at the weddings of two sisters and
several cousins, but he had never met anything
like this before. And yet this bride, who reveled
in the memory of a bloody butchery with the de-
light of a Spaniard at a bullfight, was a beautiful
blond of exquisite figure, made to be loved. Kuno
stared at the phenomenon as if hypnotized, while
Box was highly amused. Here was a triumph of
emancipation, of which she, as fellow woman, was
vastly proud. It was time these male creatures
were taught they could not have a monopoly of
all the higher interests.
The wagon halted. Box sprang out first, and
Kuno followed clumsily, opening his umbrella to
protect the bride, as it had begun to rain again.
The bridegroom got out last, and settled with the
driver, while the others fled into the building.
Arnulf Rau and his wife had been waiting for
nearly an hour in the ante-room, and the cordiality
with which a bridal couple are usually greeted in
such a place suffered visibly from the nervous ex-
citement caused by the delay. The presiding of-
ficial had appeared twice in the ante-room, ready
to take his departure, and had been persuaded to
remain only after much talk. An attendant
rushed to announce the party, and the voice of the
&4* THE THIRD SEX
Registrar within was heard in an audible national
expression of displeasure as he ordered them
brought in at once.
The bridal couple, accompanied by their wit-
nesses and the Raus, entered the room without
waiting for the other ladies who were not neces-
sary to the ceremony. The Registrar, a small,
fat, bald-headed gentleman buttoned into a tight
coat, stood ready behind his table, and looked at
them angrily through his gold rimmed spectacles.
" You don't seem in any hurry to get married,"
was his ungracious welcome. " May I ask if
you have made up your minds at last."
" It was my fault, sir," said Claire de Fries in
her sweetest tones, bowing politely. " I had to
assist at an operation in the University Clinic, that
I couldn't possibly miss. It was an ovariotomy for
multilocular myxo-cystoma of the right ovary,
and just imagine, we found uterus bicornis
with "
Dr. Reithmeyer pulled at his bride's sleeve and
whispered : " Claire, that really isn't necessary
here!"
"Are you the bride?" asked the official, look-
ing at the lady's costume in surprise. She wore a
long rubber coat over her gown, and a patent-
leather sailor hat on her head.
THE THIRD SEX 247
She answered in the affirmative, and asked for
permission to lay off her coat, as it was hot in the
room.
" That won't be necessary," grunted the official
impatiently. " It's all over in five minutes."
" Must I take off my gloves? " asked Claire.
"Why?"
"I thought on account of the rings."
" There's no ring here, all we want is your sig-
nature, the rest is the pastor's business."
" Oh, we are not going to have a church cere-
mony I " cried Claire almost indignantly.
The fat little man's patience gave way before
the pressure of his hunger and the knowledge that
his favorite dish was awaiting him at home. " Get
married wherever you like," he cried; " all I want
here is a plain ' yes ' or * no.' "
Josef Reithmeyer took his bride's hand and
led her to the table. The Registrar hastily read
off the papers that confirmed their reception into
the honorable company of the Married. And
then, without the slightest pathos, he put the im-
portant question: "If you really want one an-
other, take each other's right hand and answer
with an audible * yes/ "
Dr. Reithmeyer's yes was given with a touch
of emotion, and Claire introduced a humorously
248 THE THIRD SEX
ironical variation into the usual routine, by say-
ing, after a tiny pause, and with a good-natured
smile: "Well yes."
Then the paper was laid before them to be
signed, and when the bride had written her full
name, Claire Reithmeyer, born de Fries, c&nd.
med. t in her stiff proud writing, they were pro-
nounced man and wife. The ladies Echdeler,
Stummer, and Wiesbeck rushed in breathlessly
during the signing, and were scolded by the of-
ficial for dirtying the place with their dripping
umbrellas. Whereupon the guardian of the holy
institution of matrimony disappeared hastily
through a second door, and the young couple re-
ceived the congratulations of their friends. The
clerk handed the bridegroom his certificate, and
received payment, which completed the sacred act,
and then the little company went out again into
the pouring rain. Kuno Kulicke brought up three
cabs, the Raus and Miss Echdeler got into the
first; the young people, i. e., Box, Kuno, the ladies
Stummer and Wiesbeck, took the second, and the
bridal couple were left to themselves in the third.
When finally alone with his wife, Dr. Reith-
meyer laid his arm timidly about her, and pressed
her hands gently without a word.
THE THIRD SEX 249
She smiled at him cheerfully and gave him a
hearty kiss. " Good morning, dearest," she said
merrily. ** We had quite forgotten that cere-
mony. How are we, anyhow? Do you still like
me just a little?"
" Oh, you naughty girl," he cried tenderly and
pressed her closer. " You really don't deserve
that I should."
They were silent again and only the continued
gentle pressure of their hands showed they were
thinking of each other. When near their goal
he broke the dreamy stillness with the whisper:
" Tell me Claire, are you happy? "
" Oh, yes," she answered with beaming eyes,
" I am to sew up an incision all by myself to-mor-
row, for the very first time."
" You are incorrigible ! " he laughed, half in
anger, half in amusement.
She rubbed his beard tenderly. " Dearest
Seppl, you must get used to that science first,
then pleasure. You knew my conditions. And
now, I'm fearfully hungry! "
The polite Referendar stood ready with an
open umbrella when the wagon halted, the others
having gone on upstairs to the private room. Now
that Mrs. Reithmeyer laid off her ugly rain coat
2 5 o THE THIRD SEX
and sailor hat, she looked very pretty, in spite
of the simplicity of her close-fitting dark cloth
gown. Mrs. Rau wore a handsome silk dress, but
none of the others had taken any particular pains
to make themselves beautiful, so that the quiet-
ness of the young wife's toilette was not too con-
spicuous. The correct Referendar was the only
one of the gentlemen in a full dress coat, Dr.
Reithmeyer wearing a new style long black frock
coat, and Arnulf Rau a dinner jacket. The table
was neatly and prettily set, without any attempt
at pomp, and was served by the head waiter and
the unsympathetic girl. The menu consisted of
crayfish soup, trout, truffled capon, a pudding, and
ice cream. The champagne was served with the
pudding and the company had warmed up by that
time. Arnulf Rau was expected to make the main
speech of the occasion. His wife had already let
fall a hint that he was prepared to be called upon.
It was, therefore, with no little surprise that the
company saw the bridegroom rise and touch his
knife to his glass. No one had ever heard him
make a speech, and his preliminary embarrass-
ment made them fear a mishap. He asked the
servants to withdraw and began timidly, in a voice
that quickly grew firmer, to recite the following
verses :
THE THIRD SEX 251
I bid you welcome on my marriage day,
And for your friendship thank you from my heart.
You come to a strange feast without display,
A wedding in which music plays no part.
And yet I think, although our ways are free,
We shall not miss a true felicity.
The alienated Church we will restore
To our own home and our own company,
Minus the black-robed stealthy servitor
Of sacred, profitable stupidity.
Too hot this ground for those sly slippered feet.
We fear no hell save what on earth we meet.
My own dear love has had to bear with patience
The poison-tooth of numberless old aunts,
And from the circle of the dear relations
The shamed one was expelled with arrogance.
My mother in the grave turns on her side
To see me take the lost one as my bride.
Before this day we challenged heaven's wrath,
But now a ray of grace has lit on us.
The bourgeois world now ventures on our path,
With tendered palm and smiles magnanimous.
The mangy sheep to her own breast she'll hold,
That they may live henceforth in virtue's fold.
As now I lay my hands all reverently
In thanks and blessing upon this blonde head,
Long proudly held against hostility,
In smiling grief, by my love comforted,
252 THE THIRD SEX
And in Love's name pray Sorrow to forbear,
Give all a friendly amen to my prayer.
Be you the priests our union to uphold.
As you are human, you are reverend,
Because your heart-beats ring like bells of gold
In sympathy with stranger or with friend.
He who endures the darts by malice sent
Wins for himself the truest sacrament.
The last two stanzas were uttered in deep emo-
tion, the speaker holding back his tears with dif-
ficulty. When he had finished his right hand lay
on the beautiful Claire's golden curls. She
turned her head under the slight pressure, looked
up at him, and they gazed long into each other's
eyes. Then the young wife raised her arms to
her lover with a graceful unconscious movement,
drew him down to her and kissed him on the lips.
It was so simple and so natural, and yet it seemed
like some sacred ceremony in a holy place. The
others rose and touched glasses with the young
couple, in the silence of a general emotion.
Then the waiter and the unsympathetic girl en-
tered with the ice cream. Arnulf Rau ate tiny
pieces of it with a heavily furrowed brow. Reith-
meyer had stolen some of what he was about to
say, and he had to make hurried changes in his
speech. But when the servants had gone out
THE THIRD SEX 253
again, he rose and touched his, glass. They all
settled themselves comfortably in their chairs as
one does when the curtain rises in a theater, for
an interesting speech might be expected from Ar-
nulf Rau. And he spoke:
" Honored and Dear Friends :
" We have just seen a civil ceremony per-
formed in dreary sobriety, and pouring rain helped
to wash away any beauty we might have expected
from this occasion. But our dear friend Josef
Reithmeyer has come to his own aid and to the
aid of us all, and has shed the brightness of his
verses as a shining wedding torch over this sim-
ple festival. And that is just what is remarkable
in this informal ceremony, that it receives its
beauty and its sacredness from itself alone, with-
out the help of the church that looks so coldly on
the fate of the individual, and without asking aid
from the customs of society, which set the same
pomp and turmoil as a seal on the union of true
love, or on the most dastardly money-bargain be-
tween man and woman.
" Our friends, Josef Reithmeyer and Claire de
Fries, have given themselves the blessing, and
they have won a right to do so. They are of the
Community of the Free Ones, conscious that they
are responsible to themselves alone for what they
254 THE THIRD SEX
do. They have tried themselves before entering
into this union and their love has not been found
wanting. And if this love is called a marriage
only from to-day on, they can rest in the proud
assurance that it will prove a true marriage, in-
dissoluble in that their souls will grow ever more
together in mutual understanding and in mutual
forgiveness. The last seems to me the most im-
portant, for we poor mortals have always some-
thing to forgive one another in that no two wills
can ever take the selfsame road. I will not talk
to you of love to-day, my friends ; that love is best
of which least is said, and there is something else
in my heart. I, who have given the expression,
* The Third Sex,' to the world, find in this wedding
something of symptomatic importance. In the
world of the Dead, of those already dead in her
eyes, i. e., her family and all the other dear fam-
ilies in the herd of the Unawakened, our friend
Claire is called an emancipated woman. She is
looked upon as a woman who has thrown aside all
modesty belonging to her sex to fight with man
for a livelihood in his own field nay more, she
has also dared to live her own life as she chose
it, outside the boundary set by moral law for her
sex. And yet, does she belong to the Third Sex ?
Is she one of those human Things, neither fish,
THE THIRD SEX 255
flesh, nor fowl, whose brain can use its functions
only for the winning of a medical diploma? You
women, who are proud of what your sister has
already achieved in her struggle for the recog-
nition of her own free will, you will say, perhaps,
that she is a Super-Woman, who has conquered
the weakness of her sex and the longing for man's
protection. But I say to you as a man, and every
man who knows her will say the same, that she is
neither a man-woman nor a thing-woman, but sim-
ply a woman, undeniably the second sex. Her
whole being breathes the charm of the true
woman, and it would not be possible for her to go
through life without love. She shall be for us
the proof that a woman may be all woman and
yet be a free human being; that she may be a lov-
ing wife to the man of her choice, and yet live
her own mental life and fill her own independent
place.
" Our friend Josef Reithmeyer will not be of-
fended if I refuse to create a new sex in his honor.
I do not even count him among the Super-Men.
Seppl dear, you are just an ordinary, every-day
man. You have devoted your services to the in-
terest of the state, and to leading growing youth
to the springs of knowledge and beauty in our
literature. You have always done your duty well
256 THE THIRD SEX
and never aimed at the Boundless. But you have
had the courage of your convictions, and that has
raised you from the Herd and stamped you as a
Free Man. And you have found the strongest
and deepest possibilities of your soul in your love.
We all know that you are inwardly freer than you
appear, and that you have bent to the forms of
morality and custom for superficial reasons alone,
and because you knew that these forms could not
injure your love. The best we can wish for your
marriage is that it may be true and good in spite
of the fact that it is a marriage. And when you
are a Professor and begin to grow too tame, then
Madame Claire must stir you up to remember
your courage. It is said that every true woman
is nearer nature than we are, and that she never
loses something of her original wildness.
" But what I wish most particularly to say to
you on this important day, is that you are chosen
to work through example against the growth of
that true Third Sex, the existence of which I once
made clear to you; against those weakling mascu-
line souls in unattractive female forms, which have
set their stupid pride in killing the holy longing
within themselves, in mocking at the rights of na-
ture, while babbling of their rights to work at the
Tower of Culture. Unhappy souls in Purgatory,
THE THIRD SEX 257
for whom no one prays, that is the Third Sex,
created by wrong social conditions and misunder-
stood talk of emancipation. You two, however,
are to show to them that are wandering in Dark-
ness, that it is possible to be a sex being, and yet
a free modern mind. Love one another, beget
strong boys and girls, nourish them with the food
of your wisdom and your experience, and give
them your weapons for the fight against stupidity
and tradition. The boys' fresh hardihood shall
strengthen the maidens' courage, and the girls'
gentleness shall soften the brutality of the boys'
pride of vigor.
" Then you will bring up a race of Free Ones,
which is not ashamed of its double character, and
does not make an absurd bone of contention in
the precedence of the trousers. Sepp and Claire,
beloved friends, I greet you as the ancestors of a
new and glorious race! In this sense, hip, hip,
hurrah!"
The toast was received with rejoicings, and Ar-
nulf Rau was complimented on his superb oratory.
Laughter, jokes, and serious debates on the sub-
ject filled the room with merry noise, and this
unique wedding dinner ended in a burst of jol-
lity, clinking of glasses, reddened faces, and
clouds of tobacco smoke.
258 THE THIRD SEX
In the midst of the wildest noise Kuno Kulicke
asked his neighbor Box if this were not the mo-
ment to propose a toast to the ladies, and re-
ceived the startling answer that there were no
ladies present, only men and women. He
thought that over for a while, and then he sug-
gested that no one had as yet thought of men-
tioning the revered parents and parents-in-law.
His official conscience would not let him rest.
But Box foresaw a fiasco for the good Referendar
and a possible spoiling of the fun for all the com-
pany, if she let him follow the promptings of his
demon. So she rose herself, and in a few well-
put words toasted the messenger from another
world, who had not feared to leave the peace of
his well-ordered opinions to assist his friend
against the very doubtful company in which he
now moved: a glass to the amiable and cour-
ageous Herr Referendar Kuno Kulicke!
The feted one had no time to answer, for a
general departure was made in a few moments.
The company adjourned to a cafe and closed the
evening with a visit to a better class concert, that
the auspicious day might end in harmony.
But even then there was a tiny cloud on the
sky of matrimonial bliss for our good Josef Reith-
meyer.
THE THIRD SEX 259
All his endeavors to persuade his young wife
to take ever so short a wedding journey were
fruitless. She promised to visit him during the
Christmas vacation and to beautify his bachelor
home by her presence there for two whole weeks,
but otherwise she was to remain a wife in absentia
until after her examinations.
So Dr. Reithmeyer set out the next day, with-
out his wife and in the company of Hildegard
Haider, who desired to spend her little vacation
in seeing something of Switzerland. The Doc-
tor left Zurich, as he felt himself unable to en-
dure longer the pang of the enforced renuncia-
tion.
Box tried her best to comfort the disappointed
man, and to instill into his brain the proper re-
spect for the tremendous energy shown by his
wife.
" I don't want respect, I want love," he mut-
tered grimly.
Box shrugged her shoulders. " The speaker
of yesterday was right you are just an ordi-
nary, every-day man."
CHAPTER IX
ON the first day of November the usually
quiet Adelgundenstrasse in Munich wit-
nessed what was almost a small-sized riot. At
ten o'clock in the forenoon the shutters had been
drawn up from one of the low windows of a
ground floor apartment, and a most unusual sight
stood revealed to the astonished gaze of the pass-
ers-by. One large window-pane and a boxed-in
inclosure at the back made a show-case of the
simple window, and the exhibit therein was so
new and so strange that, as aforesaid, it occa-
sioned almost a riot. And during the day many
men, and particularly many women of the better
class seemed to have met by appointment in the
Adelgundenstrasse, to stand talking eagerly be-
fore the window.
The walls of the show-case were covered with
handsome materials in graceful folds, feathers
and artificial flowers strewn carelessly on the floor
gave the appearance of a new sort of carpet, and
on the center of this carpet stood a tinted Venus
THE THIRD SEX 261
de Milo about eighteen inches high. Around
about the Venus, on little easels, or hanging to
the walls by golden cords, was a collection of deli-
cate water colors in exquisite old frames. These
pictures all had for subject the same charming
young lady, in some cases head and bust only, with
fantastic and most becoming hats on her rich ash-
blond hair, but mainly in full length, clad in cos-
tumes that were tasteful and elegant in the ex-
treme, and original in style. Near the top of
the glass window was the name of the new firm
in gold letters:
Lilly v. Robiceck,
Modes et Robes.
The apartment behind the show-case com-
prised four rooms. The narrow corridor, lighted
softly by the deep red glow of an old silver
church lamp, led first into a large front room, the
one back of the show window. Colored shades
softened the daylight agreeably, walls and ceiling
were covered with flowered cretonne. One large
mirror on the wall, a second standing mirror, a
large wardrobe with shelves and closets for ma-
terials, etc.; one large and several small tables, a
sofa and one or two upholstered chairs, made up
the furniture of this room. All the pieces were
262 THE THIRD SEX
new and original in form, in the style of the
Munich Art Reformers. None of them were no-
ticeable from any unpleasant over-costliness, but
all showed aristocratic simplicity and originality
in shape, color and material. The coverings of
the furniture and the decorations of the room
were in pale green and reddish tints. Interest-
ing fashion plates of the last three centuries, a
lithograph of Empress Eugenie in the crinoline,
and a photograph of the Bavarian Princess
Sophie in her wedding dress, hung in white
enamel frames to the right and the left of the
large mirror. Even the most ordinary objects,
the pin trays and the toilet articles, showed the
same pleasing artistic pattern, and the order and
measure books were enclosed in original and at-
tractive bindings.
A glass door separated this large reception
room from Lilly von Robiceck's boudoir. Here
were her desk, her little library, her piano, and
all the little trifles that held pleasant memories
for her, keepsakes from her girlhood days, wed-
ding presents, and many charming gifts from her
admirers. Photographs of Franz Xaver Pirn-
gruber, Werner Rudolfi, Joachim von Lossow,
Prince Cloppenburg-Usingen, and even one of the
almost mythical Mr. von Robiceck, completed the
THE THIRD SEX 263
decoration, and in a dark corner hung her own
masterpiece, the copy of the Old German Ma-
donna with the unconquerable nose. The furni-
ture of this little room was part of her wedding
outfit, and showed no particular modernity. Back
of the corridor were the large light sewing room,
the kitchen and appurtenances.
The morning of the first of November saw a
most select little gathering in Lilly von Robi-
ceck's apartment, even before the clock had struck
ten. Prince Cloppenburg-Usingen, who had
given the money for the outfitting of the new
firm, was there, and the four young artists who
had designed and carried out the entire equipment.
The idea of using the charming head of the firm
herself as the most attractive advertisement had
sprung from the brain of Werner Rudolfi, and
most of her costume portraits were from his
brush. The remainder were done by Joachim
von Lossow, and the two other young men had
designed the furniture and supervised the work
of the upholsterer and decorator.
The youngest of the gentlemen drew up the
shutters promptly on the stroke of ten, while
Joachim von Lossow played a festival march
composed for the occasion. Lilly and her guests
took turns at peeping through a little hole in the
264 THE THIRD SEX
back of the show-case, to enjoy the impression
made on the passers-by, and as the crowd grew
larger and larger Lilly clapped her hands in de-
light, seized the worthy Prince and whirled him
around the room.
She wore the reception costume which she had
designed for this solemn occasion, a long loose
skirt of fine mouse-gray cloth, with a little open
jacket of the same trimmed with braid, over a
loose blouse of flowered silk held together by a
dark red velvet belt. Lilly's other gowns and
hats, in which Rudolfi had immortalized her in
his pictures, were arranged on forms, or laid care-
lessly on the sofa and chairs in the reception room.
No one appeared for an hour after the opening,
and the two sewing girls, in fluted caps and im-
mense white aprons, waited with impatience for
the ring of the door bell which should announce
a customer. The bell did ring at eleven o'clock,
but it was the boy from Dallmeyer's delicatessen
store, with some cold dishes the Prince had or-
dered. Messengers from the wine merchant and
the florist followed, and in a few moments a
dainty little table was set up in Lilly's boudoir,
covered with the most alluring cold lunch dishes
and any number of drinks. The gentlemen fell
to, and showed an appetite worthy the festal
THE THIRD SEX 265
occasion, glasses touched and toasts were drunk
in honor of the charming owner of the estab-
lishment, with all good wishes for her suc-
cess.
Little Mrs. von Robiceck was naturally con-
siderably excited. She listened with one ear only
to the praise and compliments of her good friends,
while the other was cocked for the first sound of
the bell. But the longed-for signal was not
heard until a quarter before twelve, and then one
of the girls came in to whisper that a gentleman
was in the reception room, and wished to speak
to Mrs. von Robiceck.
The jolly company was struck dumb in respect-
ful silence, and Lilly glided through the door into
the reception room. There stood Franz Xaver
Pirngruber ! He waited until the girl had closed
the door behind her, and then he ran toward Lilly
with wide open arms. She turned in alarm
toward the glass door, knowing that her guests
were seeking transparent spots in the pattern on
the panes through which they could watch her
reception of her first caller, and with an energetic
gesture warned her old admirer to restrain his
ardor.
"Lilly, you sweet, naughty Lilly!" whispered
Franz Xaver excitedly, scarcely able to control
266 THE THIRD SEX
his longing to seize her in his arms. " Why
haven't you let me hear from you all this long
time? It was only through the circular my wife
received yesterday that I knew you were here and
had followed my advice. Oh, Lilly, I love you
just as much as ever. Don't you care for me at
all now?"
" My dear sir," answered Mrs. von Robiceck
with droll dignity, " I have opened this establish-
ment to clothe the ladies of Munich, and not to
receive declarations of love from their husbands
therein. Kindly remember that fact. But other-
wise I am very glad to see you again on con-
dition that no mention shall ever be made of our
past relations. That is all over and done with
now. I have divorced myself not only from my
husband but from my entire past."
Franz Xaver Pirngruber drew a long face and
stammered in conflicting emotions: " Indeed?
is that so? well well, then I congratulate
you and oh, yes, I wanted to give you a
little something for your opening day, so I per-
suaded my wife to come here it would please
me very much if she were the first to wear a cos-
tume made by you."
Lilly clapped her hands in delight, blushing
charmingly, and exclaimed: "Really? Oh,
THE THIRD SEX 267
Xaverl, that was awfully nice you are a dear
fellow after all! When will she be here? "
"Any minute; I ran on ahead to prepare you.
I had better be off now, or I might meet her,
which would be embarrassing."
" No, no, that won't do ! " cried Lilly hastily.
"Stay here a while; I'll hide you with the oth-
ers." She took his hand and ushered him into
the next room.
The master of the humoristic brush was not a
little astonished to find a company here in secret
convivial enjoyment. Lilly introduced him to the
gentlemen as an old friend and served him her-
self to the lobster salad and champagne, describ-
ing enthusiastically the while what the others had
done for her.
" Well, well, well, and you didn't say a word
to me about it," complained Franz Xaver. " As
father of the idea, I should have been the first
to know of it."
" And as a married man, the very last," smiled
Lilly. " I never compromise my good friends."
The bell rang again and a few seconds later
the maid came in and beamingly announced a
stylish lady. Lilly rose from the table, took a
deep breath, and entered her reception room with
dignified mien, while the gentlemen crept silently
268 THE THIRD SEX
to the glass door, seeking holes to peep through.
This first customer was in truth the handsome
Mrs. Pirngruber. She was honestly delighted
with the samples of her talent that Lilly showed
her in the shape of her own clothes, and a long
serious consultation followed, Mrs. Pirngruber
sitting on the sofa, and Lilly on a chair in front
of her.
The watchers in the boudoir began to find this
tiresome, and drew back to the table, eating and
drinking in whispered conversation. Mr. Pirn-
gruber alone remained at his post, and could not
seem to look his fill at the two women, the one
so stately, the other so dainty. Each seemed to
set off the other, each to give the other just the
foil she needed, and Franz Xaver loved them
both, he hardly knew which he loved the more,
and he saw no end to his capacity for loving. He
felt that he was a happy man, a man truly to be
envied. After which he returned to his lobster
salad.
The consultation of the two ladies lasted a full
half hour, and when Lilly finally returned to her
friends, she sparkled with happiness. She laid
her arm across Franz Xaver's shoulder and cried
in a voice of suppressed jubilation : " Oh, you
dear, dear friend! what a charming wife you
THE THIRD SEX 269
have ! Just think, she told me she thought I was
lovely! And such a pretty gown as we have
thought out, sweet enough to eat! She says it
can cost three hundred marks."
" Heavens above, I see my finish ! " groaned
the happy husband, falling into his chair. " She
told me she wouldn't spend more than a hundred
and fifty."
Prince Cloppenburg held out his champagne
glass to the crushed one, and said merrily:
" Come, revered master, join us in a glass to the
health of our dear friend, Lilly."
Lilly von Robiceck straightened up suddenly at
the sound of the glasses, as if struck by an in-
spiration, and sent her voice out into the jovial
noise:
" Be quiet, friends, I want to make a speech."
" I herewith solemnly declare you men to be
a delightful sort, except when you are in love.
No sensible and self-respecting human being can
consort with women for any length of time, for
they are death to common-sense and self-respect.
Everything bad that has ever come to me in life
has come to me through women, and simply and
solely because more of your sort run after me than
after the others. Just recently the leading rep-
resentatives of Munich's progressive women, the
270 THE THIRD SEX
heads of that celebrated association with the name
I never can remember, declared me to be un-
worthy to join in their good work. In spite of
the fact that I had the most impressive recom-
mendations from the influential Mr. Arnulf Rau,
these ladies declared me to be an outcast. And
why? Again, simply because more of your sort
run after me than they do after any lady of the
unpronounceable association. Gentlemen, I have
cursed my sex and my face as long as I wandered
in the paths set apart for femininity, helpless prey
to all the wild beasts that range the so-called rose
garden of Love. But now I have found the way
out, and have discovered a neutral zone, where
I need no longer be merely a woman, and where
I can yet utilize my true womanly talents to ad-
vantage. I will take my revenge on my fellow-
women by making money on their vanity. And,
gentlemen, in this happy zone love is not known,
please remember that. I put the sum of my ex-
perience thus far in the following assertion:
4 You men are devils when in love, but you are
angels in your friendship for a woman.' As my
friends, you have shown me the way to my sal-
vation through work; you, my dear Franz Xaver;
you, best of Princes; you, my darling Werner,
THE THIRD SEX 271
and my good Joachim, I thank you with all my
heart. Long life to my dear good angels! "
The dear good angels were much delighted at
the praise awarded them from such pretty lips,
and at the close of the speech they each received
an unasked-for kiss from those same pretty lips,
as advance payment for their assistance with ad-
vice and with labor. Thus ended the memorable
breakfast.
Lilly von Robiceck had sent out five hundred
circulars to the prominent women of the royal
residence city, Munich, but only three of them vis-
ited her establishment. Quite different, how-
ever, was the impression made by the new cos-
tume worn by Mrs. Pirngruber at a gathering in
the Hanfstangel house. Several ladies appeared
in the rooms in the Adelgundenstrasse the very
next morning, and when finally an order came
from the still handsome and extremely elegant
wife of a rich brewer, Lilly von Robiceck's for-
tune was made. During the Carnival season she
had so much to do that she kept ten girls and two
forewomen busy, and at the close of the season
she had an order from a Princess of the Royal
house. Before the month of January was out
she paid back to Prince Cloppenburg a good por-
272 THE THIRD SEX
tion of the money he had lent her, and it was
the very first return from any of his many
loans.
Her faithful friends were heartily glad of her
great success, but they were not particularly happy
over it, for sweet little Lilly hadn't a moment for
them now. The one or the other would drop
in during the day occasionally, for five minutes'
chat in the quiet boudoir between her sessions with
her aristocratic customers. But it was no par-
ticular pleasure to sit for two hours reading il-
lustrated papers, as if in the waiting-room of a
celebrated physician, just for a pressure of the
hand, and a few friendly words. They came less
and less frequently, and at last only when espe-
cially invited for an evening. The younger of
them were particularly grieved because Lilly
could not be persuaded to join in the festivities of
the winter season. The year before she had been
the life of all the public balls she had visited, but
this season she would not attend one. It was true
that just at that time the pressure of work was
tremendous, but every Saturday was followed by
a Sunday, when she might have allowed herself
a little pleasure.
If the good gentlemen, who were as naive and
as unsuspecting as are all respectable men, had
THE THIRD SEX 273
listened with a little more attention to the gossip
of their womenkind, they would have discovered
another reason for the refusal of the charming
gown-composer to attend the balls. And also the
reason for her sudden predilection for loose hang-
ing blouses and very wide pleated skirts in her
own costumes.
Franz Xaver Pirngruber heard the news from
his wife, and he turned pale at the hearing, so
deeply did he suffer with his unhappy friend.
He took heart one evening and called on her
after business hours. She had just sent off her
forewoman, and was at her simple supper when
he arrived. She received him cordially, and
chatted as merrily and easily as in the first May-
time of their love. But sweet as she was, the
good Franz Xaver couldn't seem to catch her
mood, for he had a momentous question on the
tip of his tongue, which he couldn't get any fur-
ther. Toward ten o'clock she asked him to go,
as it was her bedtime, and she yawned heartily
to corroborate her statement.
" Aren't you well, Lilly dear," he asked, " that
you go to bed so early? "
" Oh, yes, I am very well," she answered,
" but I am very tired this evening. I get up
early in the morning so as to have an hour for
274 THE THIRD SEX
myself then it is the only time of day when I
can sit down with a book."
"Hm! Well, good night, Lilly dear." He
took her hand and held it, looking attentively at
her.
" Why do you look at me so, Xaverl? "
" I was thinking your hard work seems to
agree with you you are growing stouter, I
think," he said blushing like a young girl. " Or
does it only seem so because you wear such wide
loose things now? "
She smiled up into his eyes and shook her fin-
ger at him. "Confess, my dear, you don't
dare say it out, the ladies have been gossiping
about me? "
" Is it true, Lilly?" he whispered, timidly.
She nodded with a sudden blush.
He sighed a comically deep sigh, then looked
helplessly at her and, with a question in his eyes,
laid his forefinger on his own breast.
She shook her head smiling.
"No?" he cried, and sighed another deep,
deep sigh.
She seated herself on his lap, something she
had not done since their parting in the summer,
looked down at her finger tips for some time, and
then said, with a deep blush : " You mustn't ask
THE THIRD SEX 275
me anything about it, Xaverl. It is my child,
mine alone, and no one else has anything to do
with it."
" Why, Lilly ! " he cried aloud, and nearly let
her fall from his lap in his shock. She stood up,
shrugged her shoulders, turned from him, and
threw a glance of sweet innocence up at the Ma-
donna with the unconquerable nose.
They were both silent for some time. The
master of the humoristic brush rubbed his brow
meditatively and she awaited his judgment.
Finally Franz Xaver found his tongue.
" You know, little woman, I'm not reproaching
you, that would be too stupid, but this affair looks
devilish like Oh, dear! oh, dear! The
poor innocent must have a father."
"Why?" asked Lilly simply. "I can take
care of it myself perfectly well."
" But what are you going to do with it? you
can't have it here? "
" Indeed, I intend to have it here with me."
" But Lilly, think of your name, your busi-
ness ! "
" I don't care. If the ladies here don't want
to get their clothes in an establishment where
there is a child, then I'll pack up and go to Ber-
lin or Vienna. I can find a place anywhere. I
276 THE THIRD SEX
don't intend to leave the poor little thing to the
care of some indifferent stranger. Oh, no, you
don't know me, any of you I My child stays here
with me, and I will be a good mother to it, even
if it should ruin me to do so."
He rose and took both her hands. "'Lilly
dear," he said in emotion, " you are a brave lit-
tle woman, and I respect you for it. If the fight
proves too hard for you, count on me for as-
sistance. Whether the child is mine or not, I'll
stand by you. God bless you, dear heart."
He kissed her hands, and hastened away that
she might not see his eyes were moist with tears.
CHAPTER X
LILLY VON ROBICECK disappeared from
Munich about the end of April, and every-
one knew why. She returned again in July, and
presented a dear little girl as her daughter to her
forewoman and her five sewing girls the other
half of the force had been dismissed before her
departure. The forewoman gave notice at once,
for she was a strictly moral person, and the five
sewing girls divided themselves into two camps,
the one for, the other against, their mistress.
The party in sympathy with her consisted of four
of them, each of whom already had a child of
her own, the fifth was alone in the opposition.
But she stayed on, as she felt flattered at being
the only white lily in this pool of iniquity.
Lilly had been obliged to leave the Church to
gain her divorce, so she did not have her child
christened. But soon after her return she gath-
ered her more intimate friends at a private fes-
tival in which Lilly the II. (she had named the
child after herself, so as not to compromise any-
77
278 THE THIRD SEX
one) was made welcome in the community of the
New and the Free, who do not stand on the
Other Side of Good and Bad, but who desire to
stand on the Other Side from all loveless preju-
dice.
The ladies who came to order their summer
clothes could sometimes hear the hearty little
voice of the new Lilly in the neighboring room,
and those who asked received the startling an-
swer: "Yes, Madame, that is my baby.
Please excuse me a moment, I nurse it myself."
And when the customer exclaimed in astonish-
ment: " But you have been divorced for so
long?" Lilly would reply with a smile: "Oh,
yes, that is not Mr. von Robiceck's child, thank
God! I do not see why a woman who is per-
fectly independent, as I am, should not have a
child for herself alone, about which no one else
has a word to say."
Some ladies, after this exciting revelation, de-
cided to have their gowns made elsewhere. But
there were others who now came of themselves
to the celebrated establishment managed by Lilly
von Robiceck. The entire executive board of the
Association for the Evolution of the Feminine
Psyche appeared, and threw itself upon the im-
agination of the talented gown-composer for the
THE THIRD SEX 279
making of new coverings for the New Woman.
Now that Lilly von Robiceck had a child, she
was a heroine in the eyes of those very same ladies
who once refused her admission to their associa-
tion, and her child was to them a symbol, it was
the New Child. Lilly received glowing letters
from excited young ladies who were about to
throw off all conventional fetters, and even gray-
haired priestesses of the new Religion for the
Emancipation of Women, such as Baroness
Grotzinger, offered her their friendship. The cos-
tumes ordered by these new friends were not so
expensive, but they could be more striking and
original, and served well as advertisement. The
dull season brought slight business, but with the
coming of autumn most of the renegade custom-
ers had given up the attempt to balance them-
selves timidly on their moral principles. They
decided it was better to stand firmly on the
ground of the fact that nowhere else were such
good clothes to be had as in the nursery in the
Adelgundenstrasse, and so they all appeared
again, even the two forewomen.
The business prospered, the baby prospered
and so did the new friendships. Yes, it was to
be only friendship for all time now. Werner
Rudolfi had made another attempt to induce Lilly
280 THE THIRD SEX
to marry him, as for her sake he would like to
have had her little daughter christened Lilly
Rudolfi. But she refused gently and firmly. So
the good young artist packed his toothbrush and
night shirt in a satchel, and set out for a little
consolation trip in company with Franz Xaver
Pirngruber. These two had felt strangely
drawn to one another lately.
Hildegard Haider was one of the new friends
of the mother of the " New Child," and the two
grew to like each other more and more, the bet-
ter they became acquainted. Many eager de-
bates they held, in the little boudoir back of the
reception room, on the questions that excite the
minds of the more intelligent women of our time.
And Box spoke one evening : " Do you know,
it is all these horrid men-women, who dabble
amateurishly in art and science, and talk so much
about their equality, who ruin the business for
true progress. They are not women at all, but
merely abnormal beings such as every generation
has seen. But there are plenty of women who
do not need man, and yet are swayed by the truest
feminine impulse I mean, of course, by
maternal love. Now true progress seems to me
to mean a state wherein these women will not be
forced to give up all independence and joy of life.
THE THIRD SEX 281
In former days they had to crawl in -anywhere in
the family and eat the bread of charity as maiden
aunts. They were allowed to make themselves
useful, and all the unpleasant tasks were forced
upon them which have always been the portion of
our supposed patience. They were permitted to
train stupid, malicious children, spoiled entirely
by the imbecility of their parents; they were made
to care for unendurable old men and women; and
to play watchdog when the family was off enjoy-
ing itself. Our Arnulf Rau has found the right
word here, what we want is the Revolt of the
flints. Just think of the power they would be,
if the enormous army of the Aunts could work
its way through to independence. We must put
out of the world, not only this silly contempt for
the older unmarried woman, but also the moral
indignation shown toward the unmarried mother.
It is possible that with the other weeds the sa-
cred institution of matrimony may also be plucked
up and cast into the fire. But I can't say I think
that would be such a misfortune. Marriage is
an unnatural state of affairs for man, and for
woman it is a happiness only in the rarest cases.
Whence come the hypocrisy, the lying, and the
petty malice, the envy and the malicious joy in
the destruction of things one holds dear, all
282 THE THIRD SEX
these qualities that disgust us so in present-day
femininity whence do they come, except from
the necessity of the dependent woman to find a
modus vivendi with the men to whom they must
look for support ! I am convinced that there are
just as few women who can feel respect and con-
fidence in their husbands during the whole term
of their marriage, as there are men who can be
eternally faithful to their wives. The man be-
comes brutal, the woman vulgar. Marriage de-
stroys the character, for it demands too much
politics. When two free human beings really
belong together, they will be glad to stay to-
gether, so that in a state where there is no com-
pulsory marriage, there could be only happy
marriages. Of course the mother must be al-
lowed all rights to her children, and be able to
support them herself; and the men must be com-
pelled by law to care for those of their wives and
children who of their own free will have given
up their independence."
"But the family?" Lilly put in thoughtfully.
" The family can only gain by it," replied Miss
Haider confidently. " There would be families
consisting of mother and children, and some con-
sisting of father and children only; and in these
families the children would be spared the demor-
THE THIRD SEX 283
alizing example of a constant conflict between
parents who no longer love and respect each
other. Whereas in the families with mother and
father, eo ipso, happiness and peace would reign
supreme. But otherwise I can look on the change
only as a benefit, for the influence of the family
leads to tyranny of the finer, more delicate na-
tures, and is an obstacle to the welfare of the
whole of humanity. I expect a most beneficial
freshening of the race from the break-up of the
old-fashioned marriage and family ties, a phys-
ical and mental improvement to mankind, because
then more children will be born of true love, and
they will have more intelligent mothers."
" I know another advantage," cried Lilly,
with a sly smile. " The ugly women could no
longer be so haughty and disagreeable, because
mere virtue of itself would have no value."
" Quite right," agreed Box. " Arnulf Rau
has spoken of that, too. He says the overrating
of virginity is the means by which men hold
women most surely in their power. It is a brutal
overpowering through stupid vanity. But we re-
fuse to bow to it any longer. In my opinion a
girl who stands up bravely and acknowledges her
child in the face of the prejudices of our imbecile
society, and gains universal respect through her
284 THE THIRD SEX
personality and her work, this girl, I say, does
more for humanity and progress than the woman
who achieves a professorship of astronomy, for
instance."
" Thank you," said Lilly, blushing with pleas-
ure.
The ladies were silent a few moments and
then Hildegard Haider spoke again:
" It is strange how many interesting female
types our own little circle can show. There is
Katia Rau, the wife who lives in fear and trem-
bling, and has become past mistress in the art of
clever hypocrisy; there is Claire Reithmeyer, the
woman with the strong gift for science, but with
strong sensuality as well, who needs love to keep
her mental balance; and then the strong intelli-
gences without sensuality, Babette Girel, who is
a true man, and Meta Echdeler, who is a true
lady. Then there is my poor dear sister, the
' sweet flower,' still of the old-fashioned type,
who makes alluring eyes and sends out her nets
without success, because the men she would like
prefer the New Woman, and she herself doesn't
care for those who still like the old style. Yes,
yes, that is a very modern conflict. And then,
there is you, and here am I, and they all think
me one of the Third Sex because I stand as firm
THE THIRD SEX 285
as any man on my own feet, and allow no one to
draw the wool over my eyes. To be frank, I am
sorry for that I would love to have a child
of my own. I will confide in you that I once
made a timid attempt at it, but the object in ques-
tion was unworthy, he skipped with three hun-
dred marks of my money. Tell me, dear friend,
how did you come by your sweet little daughter? "
Charming little Mrs. von Robiceck smiled deli-
cately: "That is a business secret."
The thoughts to which Hildegard Haider gave
expression in the conferences in the cosy little
back room in the Adelgundenstrasse were in the
main the mental property of the great Arnulf
Rau, and he had decided to use the interesting
material for a novel which should bear the title,
"The Third Sex."
But, as one is never quite sure whether Arnulf
Rau will really carry out his world-upheaving
plans or not, and as in my opinion the world
should never be spared a wholesome upheaval, I
have taken the liberty of forestalling him. I
crave your forgiveness.
THE END
Hilda Against the World
By VICTORIA CROSS
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