St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-05-23
:, Suddenly 4: SAN;

count for my fancy. !: Then theales ap
peared, and ! portion. Of the dress. At
ieh1gth tke whole figdre-an old woman,
hsgsard, 'w1D,, disheveled, thrown d99wshh %
ltEs edge; Of i well, strasgins against q
strong hand that grasped her throat. i Of
:, It was q murder that I was sketehing
TIE crayon fell from my hands. The. old
vi, woman inaan 4i.er face contracted BY terror, her
form bent over the mar rginrf the we'll, both
hands Gzasping the arms Of tho murderer
terrified ne. ~ 1 dared not lookiat, her.
But the man-,-the nprderer-t9 whom the
iimd arm Belonged! ild6 T could not sec him. 1t.
twas impossible to finish ny sketch
,n,;The swest drops stool upon my brow,
4 am fatigued,' I said, Bus 1ittla romaios
Ito be done: i will complete it to-n,orreY;;'
aadda, terrified BY Tie vision, I lay down
aexin upon tie bed, and id Eve minutes
|slspt profoundly. OH 1:'j''ot'',5 ''i
30 The next day, as: was about 10 resume
my work, knock resoundcd at the door.
"Come in" I called out; and a man
somewhat advanced in years, tall, thin, and
dressed in'biack, appeared upon; the thresh:
old. The: whole pi'isiognolDy'of the man
his, closely approximatingy eyes; his large,
acadaline nose, his lofty, broad, apd bony
broww-had something severe aud imposing,
Hssaluted me rgejiave1y:. - ''' ',':,,
-n..N Christian VENUS; the artist ?"' hc
said. !, ~! a3-1.:os :. 4 ! -" 7F''
THAT is my name. sir, . "'vl,>.;.,jt :,
He bowed again, adding: ..,.,,,..,1 s.li.
""rke Baron Ffcdriic, Van Spreckdal.'''
The appatition in MY poor fgarret ot this
rich amateur, judge of the criminal court,
impressed me strongly. ..Lthrey a glanco
upon my worm:ealen furniture, tattcred
drapcries, and, dirty floor, and telt humili-
ated but Van Spreckdal appeared to pay
no attention to these deails.' '''' 90 '';''' -
"Master Venius," he resumed, II have
come, ~ j ..:..i: - TO .,...H {z..; Z.
But at the moment his eyes were arrested
by the unfinished sketch, and be s:opPed:
"Are you the author Of this sketcL?"
he'asked, after moments pause. .''-,
"Yes, sir" .& t ."
}"!lyhat is the price of it?'' ; l,s1anu,
Il Do not sell NY sketches. It is de-
sign for picture ;.
("Ahr, said he; and lifting the paper
with his long, yellow fingers, he took an
eye-gIass from his waistcoat pocket, and
began to study it attentiyely. The silence
was so great that I heard distinctly the
plaiitive buzzing Of a fly caus sht in u spi-
der's web: /. ~ ' ''.'' =. :'''
"And what will be the dimensions of
the picture, Master. 5vepius!' he said at
length, without looking at me. :.
"Three feet by four" " ....
-"And the price "' -. -.
"Fifty ducats." ."']".. -
~Nau7 Spreckdal laid the sketch down
upon. the table, and drawing froul his
pucket long purse Of green silk, began to
Slip Tic rings ,along.-'Fitty ducats," he
said, and counting them out; "herc they
are.'i '.--> 49,. ..... I'll q.
He arose, saluted me, and departed,
,wh le | sat stupe6cd, listening to the elink
of his, ivory. headed cane upon the staircase.
/ When h. ad recovered from my stupc-
faction, / sat down to finish my sketch. :
A few strokes Of the pencil. and it would
be finished. But the few strokes were out
of my power The Inspiration was over,
The mysterious murderer would not olsen
gage himself from the convulsions Of my
brain Z l tried again and again. 1.forced
myself to draw but the features were as
I Idiscordant as a figure Of Raphael III a
Dutch inn Of Teniers. .,..y ...:
At this moment, uapp, according: to his
praiseworthy custum, opened the door with
out knocking. His eyes fell upon the pile
of ducats, and he shri.ked: ....-.:.; - .,
"Ah,. ha! I've caught you, Monsieur
painter! You pretended you had no mon
ey" and he extended his crooked fingers
with that nervous trembling which the
sight Of gold always produces in a miser.
The remembrance Of all the insults I
had suffered from him exasperated me-
With a: single bound, I seized him., and,
thrusting him o:cr the threshold, Aattcned
l,ls nose with the door. The old usurer
shrieked::
Ny money thief! robber! my money! =
till every ,lodyer in the house ran out, ask
ing, "W hat is the mattery" / opened the
door quickly: and with single stroke OF
the foot sent master Rapp rolling down the
staircase.
"ihat is the mattcr,'' 7 said and clos
ing:my door, double locked it, while shouts
Of laughter from the nelghbors saluted the
old mlser on his progress down stairs. -
The adventure had inspired me, and |
resumed my work with some@ prospect Of
success; but an unaccustonied noise soon
interrupted my labors. 1t was the click Of
arms, and the tramp Of men ascending the
staircase. A cold chill ran over me. Can
l have broken that rascars neck, and are
they coming to seize me ?, There was a
knock at my door, and a rough voice said:
.'ln the name of,the law; open 7, +