St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-05-23
THE MYSTERIOUS SKETCH;

,.. At the corner Of the Rue 'dcs Trabdiis;;
opposite the chapel Of St. Sebald, in Nj!
remburg, there, stands a little inn, tall a6ti
narrow, with notched gables and; dim vim
dow panes, and its roof sur,nountedi BY
plaster Virgin. In this inn Iepassed the
saddest days. Of my life. T. had gone to
Nuremburg to study the old German mas
ters, but the want Of money had compelled
me to have recourse 10 painting portraits-
and such portraits! Fatgossips with their
cats on their knees, aldermaa in perukes,
burgomasters in, three. cornered hats, &c.,
all brilliant with ochre and ,vcrmillion, :,
From portraits-l descended to sketches,
then to ProfIes at last, even these failed :
There is nothing more pitiable than to.
have constantly az your; heels Landlord
with his thin Ii ps, a screaming voice, and
an impudcnt air, who never Loses chance
to call out: .Are you going to pay me
soon monsieur? Do you know how much
your bill amounts to? Oh, no! .of cours.
this does not bother you. Monsieur eats,
drinks and sleeps quietly. The good Lord
takes care Of the little sparrows. Monsieur
only owes two hundred dorins and. ten
kteatzers.7 4" mere tride,, not worth the
trouble Of mentioning!" - 49,
Those;who have never heard This gamut
sounding in their ears eau have no idea Of
the:horror of it! Thclo love of art, inagiha-
ton, the lofty enthusiasm for the beautiful,
wither at the very breath of such rascal
You become weak and timid you lose even
the sentiments of your personal dixrity,'
and salute ata distance, and respectfully
the most clownish burgomasters.
One night, having not sou in. my peck
ct, and being threatened With prison by
the worthy master, Rapp, l sat'down on
! my trucklo-bed and gave myself up to re-
Aection. The thought Of suicide entered
my head ); and the more I reflected, the
more desirable such an. exit fropA my
troubles appeared to my mind So numer-
GUS and convincing were the arguments in
its favor which thronged upon me, that I
dared not look upon my razor, lest the ir-
resistiblc force Of logic should compel me
10 commit bankruptcy by. cutting my
throat: At ;length'I blew out my candle,
and threw myself on the bed, with deter
roination to come to decision the next
day. 3d..
My dreams were usually of the abomin-
able Rapp; my one desire to get money
that 1 might rid myself IF his odious press
ence. But,this nj ght a singular revolution
took place in my mind In about all hour
I arose and wrapping myself in an old gray
coat, began to trace on paper rapid
sketch in the Dutch style-something
strange, fantastic, quite apart from my ha-
bitual conceptions. ...... f..~-....2.
Imagine to yourself sombre court, in
closed by high dilapidated wall. These
walls, garnished with hooks, seven or eight
feet frotn the ground, suggest at once a
sla"g "ghter-house: On the left, through a
trelIis- work Of laths, you discern a. a:.quartcred
OK: suspended by strong pulleys from the
ceiling;: drops Of blood, 7trickling from it,
collect in gutter obstruc'ed by the refuse
Of the shambles.> Tho lightsin the court
comes>from above, where ehimneys, and
weathercocks, and storied roofs Of houses,
are ,rclieyed1 againstan ang!e1of the sky
At the extremity is a shed ), beneath it a
wood pile. upon which isa ladder, and scat
tered are seen, ropes, bundles of straw, a
rabbit-hut, and hen-coopsr past service, i
!, How. did these Heterogeneous details
come into my head? l, cannot tell. i had
no remembrance Of any, such place. and
yet every stroke Of the pencil seemed by its
very truthfulness an exact copy. Nothing
was wanting. ...,. .,l;.. ,, 2..:. > -.
But, on the right, . corner Of the sketch
remained bare. I did not know what to
mt there hut 7 was disnnieted. aoitated.