Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1847-07-15

Then he had enjoyed every view down into
the valley, music and singing. He had en-
joyed for an hour long the most simple food
which his mother used to prepare and bring
out to him at his coal pit. When he look
ed back thus upon the past, strange sem
sation came over him at the thought, that he
never now laughed, and formerly he used to
laugh at the smallest jest; ifothers laughed,
he moved his mouth out of politeness, but
his heart did not laugh with it. He felt that
he was quiet, but yet he did not feel con-
tented. 1t was not homesickness, nor grief,
but emptiness, superiority, a joyless life
which at last drove him home.
As he came oyer from Strasburg and saw
the dark forest of his home, when he per-
ceived for the first time, the strong forms,
the friendly true faces of the Black fores-
ters; when his ear heard the sounds of
home, strong, deep but musical, then he felt
suddenly for his heart, for his blood moved
quicker, and he thought he must rejoice and
must weep; but how could he be so foolish
he had only heart of stone, and stones are
dead and neither laugh nor weep.
His first visit was to Dutch Michael who
received him kindly. Michael" said he.
81 have travelled, and have seen every thing,
but it is all stupidity, and l am weary
of every thing Moreover your stony
thing that | carry in my breast, to be sure
saves me from some things; am not angry,
| am never sad, but then / am never glad,
and it is as if l were only half alive. Cam
not you give a little more feeling to the
heart of stone, or rather give me my old
bnnrt1 I hol - =.
five and twenty years, and if it sometimes
played me bad trick, yet it was still amer
ry and gay heart"
The wood spirit smiled grim and bitterly
"When you are once dead, Peter Munk, !"
answered he, "then it shall not fail you,
then you shall have again your soft sensitive
heart, then you can feel what comes, joy or
suffering, but here you can never have it
more. Yet Peter, travelling as you have
done, and living as you have, would not make
you happy. Settle yourself down here in
the forest, build house, marry, manage
your property; you have wanted something
to do; because you were idle you felt wea-
ry, and laid all the blame on this innocent
heart"
Peter saw that Michael was right, about
the idleness, and he resolved to grow richer
and richer. Michael gave him another hun
dred thousand guilders, and they parted
good friends.
Soon the tale spread about the black for
est, that goldman Peter Munk, or gambling
Peter, was again there, and much richer
than before. Things went on as always !;
when he was beggar he was turned out of
doors into the sun, but now when on Sun
day afternoon he made his first appearance,
they shook him by the hand, praised his
horse, asked him about his travels, and when
he played again with Ezekiel for hard dol
lars, he was thought as highly of as ever.
He did not carry on the glass works, but
the wood business; this, however, was only
for appearances. His principal trade was
in corn and money. Half the black forest
became in debt to him, he loaned money at
high interest, and sold corn to the poor who
could not afford to pay, for three times as
much as it was worth. He was now in close
friendship with the sheriff, and if any one
did not pay Peter Munk at the day, the sher-
if and his men rode forth, sold house and
barn, and drove father, mother and chill
dren into the woods
AT first rich Peter felt some little uneasi-
ness at this, for the poor debtors clamored
in crowds about his door, the men prayed
for delay, the women tried to move his stony
heart, and the children begged for a piece
of bread. But he procured pair of blood
hounds, who soon put an end to this cat mu-
sic, as he called it; he whistled and set them
forward, and the poor people shreked and
ran away in terror.
His greatest trouble was the :" old wo-
man." and this was no one but mother
Munk, Peters mother. She had fallen into
poverty and want, her house and barn had
been sold, her son when he came back rich,
had taken no care of her. She came some
times, old, poor, and leaning on stick, be-
fore his house, but he spoke rudely TO her,
and drove her away, and she feared to come
again. But it grieved her to have to go to
others for support, when her own son might
have made her old age comfortable.
The cold heart was never disturbed by
the sigh of the pale well known features, by
the beseeching looks, by the out stretched
withered hand, by the wrinkled face. Sui
lenly he took, when she knocked at his door
on Saturday evening, small piece of mo-
ney, put it in piece of paper, and sent it
to her by a servant. He heard her tremb-
ling voice when she thanked him, and wish
ed it might be well with him upon the earth ;
he heard her creeping coughing from the
door, but he thought nothing more about it,
but that he had given away piece of mo-
ney for nothing.
At last Peter resolved to marry. Heknew
that any father in the Black Forest would
willingly give him his daughter, but he was
difficult in his choice, for he desired that his
fortune and his wisdom in this matter should
be praised He rode all about the Black
Forest, and none of the young girls there
pleased him-at last, after he had looked in
vain at all the balls for the most beautiful,
he heard one day that the fairest and most
vlrtuous girl in the whole forest was the
daughter of a poor wood-cutter. She lived
silently and retired, employed herself bust
ly in her fathers house, never was seen at
the dancing parties, nor even at Whitesun-
tide, or High Mass.
When Peter heard of this wonder of the
Black Forest, he concluded to wed her, and
he rode to the hut which had been pointed
out to him. The father of the fair Lisbeth
received the grand gentleman with surprise,
and was still more astonished when he learn
ed that 1t was the rich Peter, and that he de-
sired to become his son-in-law. He did not
hnC tatA a.. L ~ Ia oil 4 y. 4