Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1870-09-08
drY fiarmans VIC Nad gone tNers fr0m

L
And so pondered and pondered over all
I these tales, and over the plight / was in,
| till at last began to think Of going and
trying .ny luck as well as the rest. Ny
wife and | talked it over, and settled that
it should be done; and We were Just get
ting ready to start, when one night mes.
sage came that my old uncle, Ludwig
/ Holzmann of the friedrich Strasse (who
( had taken cffense at my marriage, and
never looked near me since) was dying,
and wanted to zee me Immediately. so
| away went (my wife wanted to come too
! but thought she had better not) and
when | got there, l found the old man
| lying in a kind of doze, and nobody with
/ him but the doctor and the old
pastor, who lived close by. SO sat down
/ 10 wait till he awoke; and sure enough, in
about haf-an-hour his eyes opened, and
| fell full upon me. He raised himself in
| bed think see him now, with the lamp
making it look Just like one of the carv-
| ings on the old bureau, which stood at the
foot OF the bed-and said in a hoarse whis-
per: Heinrich, my lad, I've not forgot
! ten thee, although the black cat has been
between US bit lately. When I'm dead,
thou'lt have that bureau yonder; there's
more in it than thou think ST." And he
sank back with sort OF choking laugh,
that twisted his face horribly. Those were
his last words for after that, he fell into a
kind OF stupor, and died the same night.
When his property came to be divided,
every one was surprised; for they had oil
thought him much richer. i got the bu-
reau, Just as he said; and, remembering
his words about it, we rapsacked alb the
drawers from end to end; but found moth
ing except two or three old letters ana q
roll OF tobacco: so we made up our minds
that he must either have been wandering q
little, or else that God forgive him J he
wanted to play us one more trick before he
died. In few weeks more, all was ready
for our going, and away we went TO st.
Petersburg.
Wren we got there, we found it not at
all such a land of promise as the stories
made it out; bnt still there were good wa
ges for those who could work; and for the
first year or two we got on well enough. -
But after time, i'll came a lot of French
fellows, with new-fapgled tricks Of carving
that pleased the Russian gentry more than
our plain German fashions; and trade be-
gan to get slack, and money to run short
All mein Herr, may you never feel what
it is to find yourself sinking always lower
and lower, work as hard as you like, and
ore trouble coming on you after another
till it seems as if God had forgotten you !!
| The old beros voice qnivered with emo
| ton and an unwonted tremor disturbed
| tho placid countenance Of his wife, while
! even the sunny face Of the little Fraulein
| looked strangely sad.
Well, mein Herr, we struggled on in
this way for two years longer, hoping al
ways that our luck would turn, and putting
| the best face we could on it; though many
| a time, when the children came to ask me
| why Inever bought them pretty things now
as I used to do at home, could almost
have sat down and cried At last the time
came when we could stand against it no
| longer. There was money-lender close
| by us from whom we had borrowed at high
er interest than we could afford, who
was harder upon us than any one
| may it not be laid TO his charge hereafter)
and be, when he saw that We were getting
behind with our payments, seized our fur
niture, and announced sale of it by auc-
ton. ] remember the aight before the
sale as if it were yesterday My boy Will
helm was very i'll Just then, and no one
knew whether he would live or die; and
when my wife and I sat by his bed that
night, and looked at each other, and
thought of what was to come, | really
thought my heart would have broken. All
my Lisbeth, we have indeed been in
trouble togetherp
As he uttered the last words, the old
man casped ferveutly the brown, broad
hand of his wife, which returned the press.
ure with interest; and after slight pause
he resumed thus:
On the morning Of the sale; n good
many people assembled, and among the
rest came the district inspector of police.
He was q kind man in his way, and mad
first came over; but he was not very rich
himself and nobody could blame him for
not helping US, when he had his own fam
| lily to think of However, I've no doubt he
came to our sale in perfect good faith,
meaning to give the best price be could
for what he bought. Well, in be came; and
the first thing that caught his eye was the
old bureau, which stood in a corner OF the
room. 1t seemed TO take his fancy, and
ne went across to have nearer view Of it.
lie began trring the grain of the wood
drawing his nail across one part, rapping
! another with his knuckles--till all at once
! | saw him stop short, bend his head down
as if listening, and gave another rap
against the hack Of the bureau, His face
lighted mp suddenly, Us If he had Just
found out something be wanted 10 know
and he beckonod me to him. "Do you
know whether this bureau Of yours has Q
secret spring anywhere about?' asked h 9
''ior the back seems to be hollow" said
had never noticed anything of the sort
nor indeed, had ]; for when We found that
the drawers were empty we looked nc
further Now, however, he and | began
to search in good earnest, and at last the
inspector, who hal had plenty of practice
in sach work since he entered the police,