East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-03-14

iroii the BrouHu. OH the lelt was
trellis of laths, through which on,
saw an OK cut in quarters, suspended
by s:rosg pulleys from the roof of {
shed. Streams of blood flowed acros,
the pavement, and met in a trencl
filled with refuse and rubbish. Al
one end of the court was cart house
through the open door of which wer,
seen pile of wood aud some bundle.
of straw. Pieces of ragged rope, al
old hen-coop, and a broken rabbit.
hutch fingered in tho foreground On
the right, one corner of the sketch re-
manned blank, i hesitated what to put
there; something seemed to move,
to hover around it. Suddenly a foot
turned up and detached from the
ground appeared to my minds eye
Following the inspiration, l sketched
on rapidly, and beneath my crayon
drew leg Joined Ia the feat. tban q
floating garment, at length the entire
figure of an old woman, pale ematia-
ted, with disheveled hair, thrown
down against the low parapet of a
well, and struggling against a hand
which elutched her throat.
/ was drawing the scene of mur-
der; the crayon fell from my hand
i shuddered as l looked at the wo-
mans face, contracted by terror, while
both her hands eonvulsively grasped
the arm of her murderer. But his
face, i saw it not, it was hidden from
me as by some vailing shadow l
could not finish the sketch
81 am fatigued," l said, RAISING my
hand over my damp forehead to-
morrow will finish the design there
remains but that one fgure TO put in. I"
Hastily undressing, i went to bed,
and before five minutes had elapsed,
l was sunk in profound slumber.-
When / awoks it was broad daylight.
l hastened to dress, and was prepar-
ing to resume my task, when heard
two knocks at the door.
"CoTe in 7"
The door opened and a tall old
man dressed in black, stood at the
threshold.
HerEHeinerich Kapf, the paint
er ?" saidhe.
"At your service, SIR"
He bowed his head, AMI said, in
PRODUCING himself: 'Baron Frederick
Won Spreckdahl."
That the rich amateur You Spreck-
dahl, who was also Judge of the
criminal tribunal, should condescend
to visit my poor attic, was indeed an
unlookcdfor event cast an en-
barrassed glance at the mean scanty
furniture, the low ceiling and the
worm eaten flooring; but my visitor
paid no attention to any of these de-
tails. Seating himself near my small
sr
come'-
AT this moment his eyes fell on
the unfinished sketch, and he gazed
at il lixidly for some moments.
"Are you the author of this draw
ing?" he asked, looking at me with
the same attention which he had be-
slowed on my work.
81 am, sir"
What is its price ?"
II do not sell my sketches; it is
merely design for a painting.
"Ah ~ said he, taking up the paper
delicately with the tips of his long
sallow fingers; and with the aid Of
his eye-glass no studied the sketch
closely.
A ray of sunshine entered oblique-
" through the small dormer window.
Won Spreckdahls long nose became
more hooked, and his thick eyebrows
contracted, lending a sinister express
sion to his lean, wrinkled face. The
silence was so profound that / heard
distinctly the plaintive buzzing of a
fly caught in a SPIDERS web.
"And the dimensions of this paint.
ing Herr Kapf?" said he at last
without looking up.
"Four feet by three"
'Its price 2"
'Fifty ducats.'
My visitor drew from his pocket d
long, well-flled purse of green silk
Fifty ducats," he repeated /; "there
they are.
And throwing down the pieces, the
baron saluted me, and was gone be-
fore | had sufficiently recovered from
my amazement to utter word q,
thanks. / heard his walking sticl
strike on each stair as he descended
and / ran down after him, but wher
=. ] reached the door of the inn he was
already gone. looked up and dowr
the street but he was nowhere to bt
seen.
"Well, this is odd enough" NUT
tered and having remounted the five
flights of stairs, sat down at the tn
BILE, frightened by the unwonteC
gleam of gold, and resolved to fnisl
the sketch without delay; a few mor'
touches Of the crayon were all tha
was required. But these few touches
try as l would, / could not give.
had lost the clue to the design; th'
mysterious parsonage would not come
Oub VI tllt lIfilDo VI
was of no use to draw and cilace, an'
draw again, and retouch the crea
ture of my pencil was as discordan
with his surroundings as one of Ra
phaels figures would be in villag
alehouse by Teniers. l threw dowI
my crayon in despair, and the prespi
ration stood in large drops on m.
J forehead. At that moment Rap
} opened the door, and entered abrupt
"; he stood transfxed ut the sight o
the pile of ducats.
"Ha ha! l have caught yois mas
ter painter he cried tell me agail
! that you have no money"
Enragod at the mans insolent look
and importune entrance, suddenl
. seized him by the shoulders, an
! pushed him violently outside the doc1
! The landing place was very narrow
, he missed his footing, and rolled dow
{ several stairs, shouting as he bumpe
! Il IA