The chamberlain's family went there one sunny Sun-day afternoon;the servant went on first with the tea-bas-ket,and a basket with eatables."Take the door-key!"saidthe wife,"so that we can slip in ourselves when we comeback;you know they lock up at dusk,and the bell-wirewas broken yesterday!We shall be late in coming home!After we leave Fredericksberg we shall go to the theatre tosee the pantomime."
And so they went to Fredericksberg,heard the music,saw the royal boat with the waving flag,saw the old king, and the white swans.After they had had a good tea,theyhurried off,but did not come in time to the theatre.
The rope-dance was over and the stilt-dance was pastand the pantomime begun:they were too late,as usual,and it was the chamberlain's fault;every minute he stoodand talked to some acquaintance on the way;in the theatrehe also found good friends,and when the performance wasover,he and his wife must necessarily go in with a family, to enjoy a glass of punch:it would only take about tenminutes,but they dragged on to an hour.They talked andtalked.Particularly entertaining was a Swedish Baron,orwas he a German?The chamberlain did not exactly remem-ber,but on the contrary,the trick he taught him with thekey he remembered for all time.It was extraordinarilyinteresting!he could get the key to answer everything he asked it about,even the most secret things.
The chamberlain's key was peculiarly fitted for this,it was heavy in the wards,and it must hang down.TheBaron let the handle of the key rest on the first finger of his right hand.Loose and easy it hung there,every pulse- beat in the finger point could set it in motion,so that it turned,and if that did not happen,then the Baron knew how to make it turn as he wished without being noticed.
Every turning was a letter,from A,and as far down the alphabet as one wished.When the first letter was found,the key turned to the opposite side,and then one sought for the next letter,and so one got the whole word, then whole sentences;the answer to the question.It was all fabrication,but always entertaining.That was also the chamberlain's first idea,but he did not stick to it.
"Man!Man!"shouted his wife."The west gate is shut at twelve o'clock!we will not get in,we have only a quarter of an hour." They had to hurry themselves;several people who wished to get into the town went quickly past them.As they approached the last guard-house,the clock struck twelve,and the gate banged to:many people stood shut out,and amongst them the chamberlain and his wife and the girl with the tea-basket.Some stood there in great terror,others in vexation:each took it in his own way.
What was to be done? Fortunately,it had been settled lately that one of the town gates should not be locked,and through the guardhouse there,foot-passengers could slip into the town.
The way was not very short,but the weather was beautiful,the sky clear and starry,frogs croaked in ditch and pond.The ** began to sing,one song after anoth- er,but the chamberlain neither sang nor looked at the stars,nor even at his own feet,so he fell all his length, along by the ditch;one might have thought that he had been drinking too much,but it was not the punch,it was the key,which had gone to his head and was turning about there.
Finally they got to the guard-house,slipped over thebridge and into the town.
"Now I am glad again,"said the wife."Here is ourdoor!" "But where is the door-key?"said the chamberlain. It was neither in the back pocket,nor the side pocket.
"Merciful God!"shouted his wife."Have you not gotthe key?You have lost it with your key-tricks with theBaron.How can we get in now?The bell-wire was brokenyesterday,and the policeman has no key for the house.Weare in despair!"
The servant girl began to sob,the chamberlain wasthe only one who had any self-possession.