St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1862-05-29

|drit:k king aid revckng, as was their wont
1hetwi"d ifowled i" gusts fitfully, and in
tie. ra,'ses d loud knocking was heard at
the .aken door, til. very door by which
you. ;sntcred this evening. Herr Kaupt..
mann. The 1hurhutcr, J when he opened
the a"9r. saw no ONE, though the moon
was thai moment shining through the
dr,t,o'.f the clouds. but he felt cold blast
SWEEP, across his face So he shut the
,l'n,r. again. aud Thought it must have been
the stolm that had dcctiv d him. I he
next a"mcnt those in the hall saw monk
in black habit, with his c wi drawn over
his head, enter aud walk up to where the
Burun Was sitting 1hen the monk threw
bat his ho"i. aud au old withered face
ghast'y pale, but stern and fierce, gazcd
u' the Baron.
"'Tausc"d sakerment shouted the
Baron, starting up in rage; dog Of an
abbot what brings you here? 1rundle
,.ut the >'lavcliny, and set the hounds up
on him
~ he ahbo, raised his skinny arm,
and said in hollow and solemn voice.
"This night twenty year. you and l met
last. | aul on my way tu the abbey, FOL-
low me
~ he abbot retired as he came, no
one daring t. hinder him.
"'Zum hcnkvr to the hanvman with
him, cried the Baron, choking with rage,
md sprinylny after him. hat moment
the dl bell pealcd out with Il wild clany
from the t"w,r The Baron in his haste
tripped over a stool aud fell to the ground:
When they lifted him up he Was dead. -
Twas SAIL he died of fit. Maybe so-
But that very night one Of the h"Izkncchts
returning to the village rom the Riescn
up in the hills where he hid been work
iny. declared that as he passed the tower
he heard the old bell pealiny, and saw
procession OF m"uk< following bier. and
disappearing within the ruins Next
morni"g tidingS came that the old abbot
had died the day before at St. Wolfyang' .
butaxhere Or when he was buried nobody
ever knew
s"Old Klaus paused to take breath.
ga strange. wild st ry, remarked.
as filed his glass 'lIas the host bell
been ever heard since that time, Klaus p
I'll heard my ta,her say. when | was
a little boy. that no lord of StenSraff ever
died at h nc here that the Gci>tcrtodrny-
locke Was rot heard tolli"g as his soul
passed from his boay.'
"'Pray did you ever hear it yourself,
Klaus? You must remember when the
old lord died 2
"'To be sure l do. 'Ti- NV over
twenty years but he died at Vienna,
whore he WAS in Attendance upo" the En-
pcror Franz If he had died at home
should have heard the bell warrant YOU.
This strange tale affected nle more
than cared to acknowledge | am not
naturally crcdulous. but the shock | had
received, added to the vearness OF jour
ney of several days. had, suppose. svme-
What shaken my nerves. I stole up once
more to the sick room FrieIcr:ch still
slept heavily 10 my iqniry the rhysi-
c N answered with shake ct his head,
"' lis the sleep, fear, that will wake
repaired for the WORST
II returned to the chamber below. and
sat down very sadly The thought Of the
y,ung.%ir| whose cup Of happiness was, IN
all probability, So soon to be dashed from
her hand. came upon me Then | qucs-
toned old Klaus, AMI learned trat she
was all her lover could desire. Since / is
illness she had entrcated to be permit cd
to attend upon him, but her request was
denied and int lligence was constantly
transmitted to Ler OF the state Of the
young Baron.
"'Ah, Herr Kauptmann,' said Klaus,
should my lord not recover, l fear i: will
go hard with the young lady. There will
be two bnrials instead Of one bridal aud
tw" noble houses will come to an end, for
each is an only child
Our conversation gradually tagged, in
spite Of our efforts to keep it alive. The
dark, still. solemn night dcerrned around
US. There was not ii sound to be heard,
within or without. except the ticking Of
the clock in the great hall. How sharply
every beat Smne upon my ear, netting out
to nc, as it seemed, the life Of one whose
existence was now measured by minutes,
not hours, or days, or years How slowly
and painfully the moments Of that sad
nj ght wore on I shall never forget it,
wcr. l t. I've through a thousand lives.
Poor old Klaus at last. dozed off in his
chair The su,pc"se became intolerable.
I rose aud paced the rn'm. a book lay
open upon little table, a. if some one
had been reading it recently. l took it
up: it was the Bible; and read the
fourteenth verse Of the fourth chapter Of
the Epistle OF st. James: 'i'ie ihr nicht
~issrt acos n orgen *cyn ,oira De"m ,cas
is. ruer /ebe"?' Elm Dunpf ist IS, der