Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-02-21
gsse gxvs sisters IS CeIeGzss, =

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painters study. started with but afew
shilnngs in my pocket; but / had colors
and brushes, strength Of limb and deter
~nination of heart. 1t wasfny practice, on
entering a town. to offer to paint portrait,
in exchange for so many days bed and
board; OF, when found no mans vanity
to be thus played upon, applied at all the
likeliest shops, and | seldom failed OF work.
Thus [ was enabled to carry out my
scheme, while most of nay fellow students
were vegetating where | had left them,
with minds anenlargedl by contact with
the men and the arts Of other counties.
Though left England with-a heavy heart,
for 1 was rleaviug behind, me lfeNand
though was on away my walk through
Europe more than two years, in weari-
ness y. land sim fasting often,M yet J.
h never envied the unambitioas routine, the
notorious repose,i Of my less enterpfisng
friends T was constantly obliged. to go
without dinner, when turn OF ill-luck
(some temporary Illness, or the ARTISTIC
obtrsepes5 OF 9, whole city, had drained
my purse very low, but seldom lost ,coaf-.
courage and confident hope in the
| future .,.........-,.
was. nearly in this plight, however,
| when entered Cologne late one evening
in September l had been laid up at Dus-.
seldorH for many days with low fever,
and the belt in which ,arried my thalers
round my waist had been lightened in con
| sequence NY illness had left me Very
weak and crawled into the town dusty
and f3otsore Twilight was gathering
| around the many spires and towers as l
crossed the bridge Of boats; dark ruddy'
! light alone remained in the calm river,
| where purple shadows were fast deepening
! into black; and the reflection of a, candle
| here and there fickcred in long scales of
| gold upon the water. 1t was very. hot. /
| sat down on a stone outside the cathedral,
1 too exhausted to go from pillar to post,
bargaining for aIbed, as was my Woht j.
pulled a crust and bunch Of grapes from
| my wallet Vespers were going forward,
as / knew from seeing q few oevoutoo OH
women hobblipg up the teps and d(isaps
bearing through the heavy leathern door,
| In no like spirit it occurred to me, after a
while, to follow them 1t would be pleas.
anter than outside: the soothing Influence
of music, the Whit of incense, the luxury.
Of straw bott6med chair,-thesea were
the ATTRACTIONS, i fear, that drew me in
Heaven knows that WAS properly pun
ished sinasmuchi9 as Ii''can never again
hear Cologne Cathedral named without a
shudder1g Tq9q FTU2NC2 or '!t
There were but few persons present, and
those were huddled together in one of the
side chapels, dinlY lighted by the flare of
half a dozen CANDLES upon the altar where
the priest vas offici lting. The only other
light throughout the great shadowy pile
was given forth by a feeble lamp of votive'
candle here and there, bnrning its little
life away, before the Mother Of Seven Sbr-
rows, or the presiding saint of some small
er betinselled shrine, and struggling out
into the great sea Of darkness fast gather
ing over, all. The chairs were piledIaway.
in blocks, except a few, for the use of the
levout, near the altar. preferred Sink
ing gintofa. confessional against the wall,
where no ray of. light penetrated I laid
my head upon my knapsack. | heard the.
priests monotOnous drone, the tinkle of the
little bell, the low heavenly murmur Of the
organ, and, then----IL fell asleep r. Az
|Jl Did II drean what follows? AS Z am
telling you, as simply and truthfully as I
can all that know Of the matter, begin
by saying that have never been able to
satisfy myself entirely on this point. AS
suredly the strangeness is no way lessened,
but-rather increased twofold as the sequel
| will show, if one can believe that the
strong and painful impression left
upon my brain was produced while | was
! asleep. .'' - 20" re d, -'.' a.,
/ woke--that is to say that my -f own
| distinct impression is that | woke-jjust as
the service was finished In half an hour
| the cathedral would be silent and deserted;
| then it would be locked up for the night
If possible, why not pass the night here,
instead of seeking and paying for bed
elsewhere? My legs felt nightly disin-
clined to carry me a yard further. AT
dawn, when the doors were opened, i should
| rise up refreshed to seek for work. But
even while revofved these things in my
mind, saw light coming down the aisle
| where l was,-nearer and nearer. l skunk
| as far back as possible into the corner of
the confessional, hoping to escape detection
| But it was not to be- The sacristan was
| upon his his rounds to see that there were
| no loiterers in the sacred building; his Wig
liant eye spied me. He laid hand on my
| shoulder; he shook mel must move off
| With a heavy sigh I rose and then for the
| first time, perceived two young women
standing behind the sacristan their eyes
! fixed upon me-, No doubt they were leav-
| ing the cathedral, and had stopped, arrested
| at the sight of a young man being I'M
earthed from confessional
| 1t was impossible to- mistake that they
were sisters, though one was shorter and
/ much less we'll favored than the other; but
they had the same gray, piercing eyes, fair
skins, and hair which was something be-
You'd flaxen-it was almost white. This
hair was worn in strange fashion, which
/ / cannot describe though Isee it even now
before me-the glittering spiral threads
hanging partly down the back, and sur
mounted by some sort of black Golf or con-
i ical head gear Their aspect, altogether,
was very singular; / found that, so soon
as my eye had fallen on them, could not
take it off and, to- say the truth, if | stared,
| the young women returned my stare with
interest. AS moved YEARLY away, the
elder one spoke
| @ Have you.no money 10 buy yourself a
nights lodging young man %" e.
@" have enough for that, Fraulein,' = I
| replied, cOloring; "but am almosi too tired
| to go about and look for one. L have
been i'll, and have walked someImiles to
day" III
The sisters exchanged glances. =.
of it be so, we will give you a supper
and nights lodging. We need no pay.
ment. We are bound by VOW to help
any poor wayfarer so far. You may come
| with US, young man" ~ l'a'EoH a7.sf =s
Something within me said, "Do not 90"
| But.why What young fellow oftwenty
would refuse the hospitality of two hand
some women, especially when he has but
few shillings in his pocket, is tired and
hungry Yeti hesitated J q -
accept it or decline it, said she who
was still the spokeswoman, somewhat i'm
| patiently. 1--WE cannot wait here any
| longer"
We were at the door as she said this. ,s..