The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-11-15
MYRTILLE..
BI III. n.

t. IS Hit, itaszg a-7T-tt- 3:.,44e tx, sst3 f5s
On the outskirts of the village of Do.
senheim, in Alsatia, fifty feet above the
sandy path which leads to the woods,
stands pretty little house, surround
ed by fruit trees, its fat roof loaded
with heavy stones, its gable overhang-
ing the valley. Flocks of pigeons
whirl around it,; hens wander up and
down the hedge-rows; ~ cock perches
upon the. little garden wall, and sounds
the reveille and the retreat among the
echoes Of Falberg; q flight of stairs,
with wet linen hangipgup the wood
en- railing, reaches to the second story;
and two branches of vine climb over
the front of the house and spread them
selves to the. very roof. If you ascend
tire STAIRCASE, YOU see, at the end OF
the passage, the kitchen, with its flow
cred dishes and chubby soup-basins,
and if you enter the great hall, with
its ancient oak furniture, its ceiling
crossed with. dark beams, and its an
tique, Nuremberg clock, with its meas
ured tick. A, woman of about thirty
five, her form incased in a long, black
bodice, her head surmounted by vel
vet cap, with ribbon steamers, spins
and dreams. A man in aIyelveteen
coat, trousers of maroon colored cloth,
his forehead large and bony, his ex
preston calm and thoughtful, trots a
chubby-faced boy on his knee, while he
whistles bugle-call.
The village down. in the valley seems
framed ia the little windows. of the
house; the river flows over, its dam
and crosses the winding high street;
the old houses, with their dark shops,
their stables, their dormer windows
and the nets. in the sun !; the, young
girls, kneeling upon a large stone on
the bank of the, stream, washing; the
cattle, grazing and lowing grayely
among the great willows !; the, young
herismen icracking their Whips; the
mountains, on whose summit stands
ont the sharp, Iarrowy tops of the pine
trees-alli this is reflected in, the blue
stream as it flows by, carrying with it
a brood of ducks, and some old trees,
uprooted from its banks. IN. a..
When you behold these things. you
feel, with irresistible emotion, Good is
good, All that He has made is excel
lent, perfect. Let, us give thanks to
| Him, and sing His praises from genera
ton to generation. Amen IA .,y..3r
Ihg Well, my dear friends, such was Bre-
Ilmer's house, such was Bremen himself,
and his Wife Catherine, land their little
son Fritz, in the year of. oar Lord 1920.
Iilcan see them myself, exactly as |
have pictured them to iyou.l Christian
Bremen has served in II the Imperial
IIGuard.o After 1915 he married Cathe-
rine, his old love, no longer young, it
is, true,, but still fresh and graceful
With his own little savings, his house,
his FIVE or, six acres of vineyard, and
the land that Catherine brought him,
Bremen found that he was one of the
wealthiest men of Dosenheim. He
could have been Mayor, Deputy May
or, or City Couusellorj but he cared
little for such honors,, and his, only
pleasure, after finishing his days work
in. the fields, ,was, to take down his gun,
whistle for his dog Friedland, and wan
dertlrough tile woods. 'oT-9I oh sisil
Nov it Happened one day that,tlie
good man returned home from hunt
ing, bringing in his great game bag a
little gipsey gill, ttwoa ort three years
old, lively as . squirrel ana brown as a
nut. He had found her in the bag Of
Ian unfofthnatetgipsy woman who lay
dead from7fatigue aud perhaps hunger
at the foot of tree. ,bo2a9H3i
you can iiIn,dgihe tatheTi ines ontcries
and pTrotestationnss but as S; 'BrSener was
in the habit Of being master ii his own
house, lie Simply n5aheea to his wife
THAT the little one ''wF3aas to Be baptized