Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-04-01
Selerf Galt.
From the New Eclectic Magazine.
LITTLE BAREFOOT.
FROM THE GERMAN OF BERTHOLD
AUERBACU
AUTucn OF "oS THE nGHrs, IHE VILLA
on HE RHINE. ETC, ETC.
CHAPTER I.
rnK onILpRES KNOCK AT THE boo

=
are walking hand in hand through the au,
tum mists, along the garden path
which leads out oftEe village. The girl,
who was evidently the elder, las her
books, slate, and copy>book under her
arm: the boy has his in an open gray
salchel thrown over his shoulder. The
giIl wears cap OF white muslin, which
reaches almost to hei brow, and throw =
the prominent arch OF her forehead irtc
still stronger relief; the boy was bare>
headed. You can only hear one step. for
the boy has heavy shoes on, but the girl is.
bare footed. As often as lie path will
permit. the children go side ty side; but
where the hedges come too close together,
the gili goes alw,. 5 in irort.
\ v fite haze covers the wcthered leaves
oi Tic bushes. The white hawthorn, The
spindle tree, and the stiff seed>p0ds on The
bare stems OF the wild rose. appear as If
silvefed over. The spsrrows iwtier on
he i,s:ages, and fly up in restless iiocks at
the approach OF the children, and alichi
no. iar from them; then they by whcr>
ring mp again, and finally dart into gard
EN-, where they settle in an apple tree, the
leaves of which fail rushing down. 4 jay
rises up suddenly in iheir path, ami flies
across the fields to 4 large pear tree, whore
the ravens are quietly perching; Size must
have told them something. fer The ravens
fly up, circle about the tree, and one of the
old ones settles again, swaying upon the
very topn:ost iwig, while the oil cTs find
good points for a lookout On tic lower
branches They are longing II know
why the children with their school things
are going in the wrong direction. and out
of the village; one OF the ravens fies oui
as scout and settles on the stubblr fields
near the fsh~punh. But lie Children still
pursue .heir way. nn,il reaching the high
road by the alGers near the pond, they
cross 10 Il low house standing on the other
side. The house is locked, and tie child
rem stand Lt fore the dot. and knock solt>
ly. The girl cries boldly: 'Faiher,-
niO.hcr. and the boy cries iimidy alter
her: Father. mother, The giIl scIzcs
the iiosted latch and at first presses il
gently; the boards cn ak, ihc noise ceases,
but no;hing fui'ows; and now she violent
ly iatlles the thing Up and down, but the
sound dies away in The rooms; no Luman
voice replies, and The boy, putting lis
mouth TO Il crevicc in The door. again
cries, 'Fa,her: mciiicr.' lie looks en-
quiringly al his Sister, and his breath turns
isio time en',i:s Il Dor as lac looks dewn
Frum the village, wrapped in fog.
sounds il:c regular fail OF the ihrcshe-.
now rapidly iA quick succession of beats.
Lnw siIwly ~ sid WEAKLY dr.ggilg, again
distinctly gathering, and then again with
a drad aiid 'rsiiow sotnd; now only a
single beat can be heard, "a moment after
they come an feverberaiing from all sides.
The children stand as il lost AT last they
cease knocking and calling, and sit down
upon an uprooied slumr. Th,se lie IN a
heap about the trunk of n mountain ash,
which stands near The horse, and is spark
ling with red berries. The children still
look up al the door, bul it remained clos
ed. snr
Father brought these from the Moss
Spring foros., the girl said, pointing 10
the s.uaips and added. with knowing
ar, These make you nice and warn,
they ate worth good deal. there is much
pine wosid in them which burns like a
candle bnt the wages of The wood cutter
is The best thing of all. 8 I'd SIS
oh. ii were only big, answered the
boy, | would fake my fathers great axe.
and The becchen ma,let, and The Two iron
wedges, and the ash wedge, and eve:y>
thing would have to split like glass then
would build a beausifnl gabicd house
like the charcoal burner Mats, in the
i"resi, and when .father come home
woeldn, hc be giad.' But the girl al
ready eppeared to have forebodirg. that IL
would not do tc wait fur their father and
molher, for she looked very sorrowfuily
st her brother and as her glance fell Gt,
his shoes, she said: Then you must al>
so put on faihef's bouts. But CONE let as
skip stones. And YOU will Sc. that can
throw further lLan yuu. F1i
In going, the girl said 'i1l give you q
riddle. What wood is it that warns you
Without burning up?
The schooi,lnasiers ruler. when you
catch it on your hands, answered th.
| boy. r.4.sf F1
No, DO not mean that; tie. yoot
which you spit, that heats you without
burning up. And stopping BY the hedge
she asked; Upon little stem il sis, q
little red coat its scdy fiss, ard poucl
full Of seed, can yuu this riddIe read p
The boy considered quite seriously ant
cried: Stop. you must not tell me wha
il is..........It.s $ Wild rose pod. I
The girl nodded assent. with an air al
ifshe had proposed tho riddle to him, fo
the first time, while In fact she had Otter
done SO before, and only continued 10 ASK
it because il cheered him: 1,s 7ill .
Inc sdn had dispersed the fog. and Tho
little valley was clothed in radiant beauty
when the children went TO The pond Il
skip flat stones over the water. In pass
ing. the girl once more pressed ;ae latch
but ii opened no mote Than before, and al
the window rothirg appeared. The child
rem now played, full Of laughter, at the
pond, and Inc girl appeared 10. be, pariic-
ulsr pleased that her brother was always
more skill.ull than herself, AID that te ex'
ulted over il; indeed, the girl evidently
made herself more awkward than she
really was, for the stones she threw pIung-
ed almost always at the first touch into the
Dond. at which there 7gas great laughter