The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1871-06-23
THE WOOD DEMON OF ROlsTADT.

S0lOSue may pe seen tue ruins Oh
Castle 49,, q castle which was the
pride of the Middle Ages. It was
the dwelling place of the old war
rior, Bardolph, the Iron Count Of
Rolstadt, as he was called after he
returned from the wars OF Emperor
Charles. He found that the castle
had Jared badly during his absence,
and he resolved that it should equal
in grandeur any castle in Germany,
Therefore he set an army of men to
work upon it, until old Bardolph $
oath was fulfilled. The fame of the
castle overspread the empire, and
princes flocked thither TO gaze upon
it, and feast sumptuously within its
massive walls.
AS time passed, the warrior Count
grew old in years. He was forced to
lay aside the staunch armor which
had received the blows of many u
battle-axe and sword, for his weak
limbs could not bear. its dreadful
weight. He sighed as he hung up
the good broadsword on the castles
walls, for he had no son to WELD it
as he had done.
He had a daughter; but her white
hand was not made to clutch the
steel, chair-guarded hilt.
He wished Parthenope would wed
some titled warrior, to whom he
could bequeath that sword, which
should do good work in the war
his old eyes now saw approaching.
Two years prior to the opening OF
our story, Rudolph, Count of Low
stadt, solicited the hand of Parthen-
ope. He merely asked the stem old
warrior for his daughters hand; her
heart was already his.
What ?" cried the old Count,
"my daughters hand craved by Count
Rudolph of Lowstadt? Where are
your decorations won in the service
of your Emperor Out from my
castle, ignoble man coward, L
might say. He who receives my
daughters hand must show me an
armor that wears the marks of the
Franks sword and halberd."
Slowly. and with the saddest of
hearts, Count Rudolph left the castle
gate.
Alas! he could show no war-worn
armor. During the strife Just en- led /,
he had remained inactive, bea.tifying
his possessions. He had no taste for
war, but he was no coward. His an-
cestors had fought and fallen beside
their Enperors, and one had saved
Charles life on the battle field.
Scarce two weeks had elapsed since
the Counts rejection, when be sud
denly disappeared from I.owstadt.
lie left the castle at night, telling
none Of his mission or destination.
The mountain Businesses were pene-
trated: and the drag hooks swept the
bed of the Rhine, but the missing
Count was not found.
81 always took him to be crack
Drained fellow" said the old Count
of Rolstadt, when he heard of Ru-
dolph's disappearance. HE will
turn up some day TO find his lands
confscated by the Crown, and Par
thenope the wife of the man of my
choice.
Parthenope shed many tears when
she heard that Lowstadt was without
master-and that master her lover.
She implored her father to relent, TO
promise her hand to Rudolph if he
would return. But the Count was as
stern in heart as he was in war mat
ters.
''If. he returns in battle-marked
armor he snail become my son." he
answered. "And he must return
soon, or when he does come, if he
comes at all, he will find her Count
ess of something.
Months went by, hut no tidings OF
the missing Count reached the ears
of the woman who loved him. The
beautiful castle aud broad acres oi
Lowstadt reverted to the Crown, and
the affair was forgotten in the wal
which had marched into the Empire.
Day after day tidings came tc
Rolstadt of bloody battles fought
lost and won. Now the Emperor was
flying before the victorious Franks
and now suddenly reinforced, had
| turned their victory into defeat and
| utter rout.
The messengers spoke OF q warrior
| whom none knew, not even the EN-
peror, by whose side he fought. A.
/ the outbreak of the war he had ap
peared to Charles and solicited the
command Of an army. But the Em
peror, who knew nothing of the un
known's prowess, refused him the re
/ quest, but he granted him the per
mission to fight at his royal side
Once upon the field of battle, Charle
was forced to bow to the military gen
ins of the unknown knight, who KEEP
his helmet down and permitted non,
to see his face.
Old Bardolph of Rolstadt praiset
the bravery of the mysterious war
rior, and he eagerly questioned eacl
messenger from the battlefield il
regard to him.
| And Parthenope listened to th
stories of the mailed knight. Ah
what if he proved to be Rudolph, sh
thought; but the thought was sool
dissipated.
| For many days rumors had com
to old Bardolph's ears of wood-de
mon who inhabited the woods of Rol
| stadt. At last the rumors receives
a creditable turn, and one day tn
Count himself saw the demon.
Riding through the wood alone, th
Count suddenly came upon the de
mon, devouring an uncooked bird
It was man whose reason had lon
since fed and whose ghostly, fero
cious aspect denoted him to be Wha