The mountain Democrat., 1864-06-18
future to which his fatal compact must

by year upon his agonies Of regret, as re-
pentance shadOwed out TO him, as in
mirror, the image Of what was still to
come. But the fact was, that by the time
Gretchen had lived on to be fine,
healthy, and engaging woman Of thirty
five, Hans had gradually dwindled down
to an awkward, long-Shanked hobblede
hoy of fifteen. All his manly beauty had
faded away; his fine flowing beard had
| long since disappeared; his mustache had
crumbled off; his whiskers had evapo-
rated his voice suddenly jumped up an
octave.
oh, nv goodness gracious! ! exclaim-
ed the Marchioness.
'Ah, you may say so, indeed y said the
Count but this was nothing to what
happened afterwards. All Germany was
in an uproar about it,
1t was in vain that the most eminent
physicians were called in; Hans bati1ed
! them all. The whole faculty had hithcr
TO been engaged in preventing people
from growing older, but to stop the pro-
grcSs of patient that did nothing but
grow younger every day, was clean be-
yond their skill.
1t woS lusus naturG - a case extra ar.
tenn medicam, and, as old Dr. Slaukenfu-
Eel acutely observed, it was impossible
to put nature on its legs, when it was
positively determined to walk on its head.
Well, as observed before, the Fiend
knew what he was about, if the doctors
! did not.
But pray interrupted the Marchio-
ness, how did Gretchen support this
remarkable diSpcnSation
Oh much better than her unfortunate
, husband deserved. She began to consider
herself as widow imagined Hans was in
some way his own child, and began to
love him over again, because he was SO
like his father.
She had once been an affcctionate wife !;
she now became an equally afiectionate
mother; and lucky it was for Hans that
she was so kindly disposed, Tor from this
time to the tenth year Of his apparent
age, he rapidly sank through the gradua-
ting scale OF a boy affection for ma,bcS,
peg.tops, hoops, lollypopS and clccam-
pane.
There was no saying after this period
how rapidly his person diminished, and
his clothes grew too big, as he again sank
downward from the boy to the child,
when, just as poor Gretchen began to
think - But don't know, madam, whe-
ther ought to go on
And |. Count, can't understand why
you should stop
Well, madam, | was only going to oh
serve, that just as poor Gretchen h"gan
to think that the milk Of human knI-
ness with which she had hitherto sup
ported him. might not be sufficiently nour
ishing for his constitution. and had ar!u-
ally cast her eyes upon a fine, healthy
young person, an event took place which
relieved her from any further anxiety on
this score, for suddenly ly-uneXpcctcdiy-
in the second year OF his second chi'd'
hood, and on the very anniversary Of his
first interview with thu Black Ficn1 OF
the EIartzwald, Hans Sptzbubcn died o!
the measles.
'Wrll,' said the Marclouc>s, | tod
You at first that did not believe a word
Of it,
AMI now, assure YOU again, madam,
that it is as truc-aS true as
But the reader must not be detained
while the Count finds his simile and
when he is informed that the skeleton OF
Hans is still to be seen in glass case at
the museum Of Of GotZhcrg, with Ger
tificate of the Burgoma>tcr atteStng the
truth Of the story, no reasonable doubt
can, or ought, to remain in the mind Of
any one. F. l.. 5.
REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE TIE New STATE
a Nashville, Tennessee. letter of May
5th. saws:
"a little excitement was created in le
gal circles in thi, city ycstrrday,hy Judge
Cntron. Of the United States Supreme
Court, who is holding Circuit Court in the
United States Court room. An attorney
was reading a declaration. setting forth
that one John Doe, citizen of West
Virginia.
Stop said Judge Catron.
The attorney halted.
Read that again. continued the Judge
John Doe, a citizen of West Virginia,
interrupted the Judge; strike out the
word West before Virginia.
The plea was amended accordingly and
duly filed" \
HIBERNIAN AklTnMETIC.-A hi>hman
asked a Dutchman, day or two since, if
he could build him a pig pen.
"Nein," says Mynhcer.
"Nine?" retorted Paddy, faith, wan'Il
do me, aisy enough"
"Nein. nein. ;" reiterated Hans, "in mine
| cOnntrv nein means mo w
cit dOes?" says Paddy, /" thin, be ia
bers. in your country eighteen names
Wis for the grammar says two negatives
is aquil to an affirmative"
------- A-----
Is IT NOT so ?-There are thousands of
almost pcnnlcSS and disappointed men,
| picking up a precarinus living at the eX-
tremity Of life, because they have, in the
course oftheir existence, tried over a hun
dred different things, and abandoned all
! in turf, hecanSe success was not in>tanta-
nrouS. To few men only it is given to
do more than one or two things well =
There is scarcely any pursuit that If fol
lowed out with Singlencss of purpose, will
not yield rich return.
HERE is long sentence Of thirty-two
words, which some ingenious person has
got up with Just the letters found in the
word maiden: "Ida, q maiden, n mean
man named Ned Dean, and Media. mad
dame, made me mend die and a dime.
and mind a mine in a dim den in Maine"
A COUNTRY editor, in praiSing a success
ful politician, says he is one of the clev-
crest fellows thnt-evcr lifted hat to
lady or boot to hlackguard." ."
Mrs. PARrlNGroN says that if she should
he cast away. she would prefer meeting
with the catastrophy in the :" Bay of Bis.