Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-07-27

into crevice carpeted with moss and
ferns, in order to reach the herdsman' S
path across the woods.
Her whole soul, her savage nature,
flashed out in her expression in a
strange way she seemed TRANSPORTED ;
with her little hands she chung to the
ivy, and with her feet to the assures of
the rocks.
She soon set off again down the other
slope OF the mountain, running, bound
ing along, sometimes stopping sudden
ly and looking at some obJect--a tree,
raylne, an isolated pool, patch Of
/ sweet-smelling grasses-haf stupetied.
/ Although she did not remember hav-
1 ing ever seen these thlckets, these
coppices, these heaths, at each tnrn Of
the path she SAID to herself: 8 / knew
/ it J the tree was here--the rock there
the torrent below!"
4 Although thousand strange remem-
brances, like dreams, came into her
mind, she did not understand them,
could not explain them to herself. She
/ had not yet said to herself: What
Fritz and the rest like, L don't care for,
/ the village, the meadow, the farm, fruit
! trees IN the orchard, COWS to give milk,
/ hens to lay eggs, provisions n the barn
and cellar, and warm room IN winter;
these things make them happy, but as
I for MT, | don't want this; for | am a
4 little savage, regular savage. | was
born in the woods, like the squirrel on
/ the oak, the hawk on the rock, the
! thrush on the fir tree No she had
never reasoned thus, instinct alone
guided her; driven by this strange i'm
pulse, at sunset, she reached the pla-
teau of the Kohle Platz, which is the
place where the gipsies who are going
/ from Alsace to Lorraine usually stop
to pass the night, and hang up their
+ pot IN the middle of the heath.
Myrtle now disappeared in tho midst
of the brambles which skirt the forest.
With one jump she cleared the muddy
ditch, in which the solitary frog croak-
ed among the rushes.
a about twenty minutes she reached
the crest Of the Hollow Rock which
oyerlooks the country Of Alsace and the
blue mountain tops of the Vosges.
Then she turned round to look If any
one was following her there was Fritz,
I his hat over his eyes, still sleeping in
the middle of the green meadow. Fried
/ land, too, and the cattle under thor
/ tree.
4 Listening attentively, she recognized
/ the voices Bremen, Fritz and all the
! farm people were in pursuit OF her.
Without n moments hesitation, Myr-
tic darted deeper into the forest, and
only stopped running from time to
time that she might listen again. At
last the shouts grew fainter. \
Soon she heard nothing but the ral y
id beating Of her heart, and she slack
ened her pace.
At last, very late, when the moon
had set and she was quite worn out
with fatigue, she sank down amongst
the heather and fell into a deep sleep.
She was now twelve miles from Dosen-
helm, near the source of the Zinsel.
She felt sure that Bremen would not
extend his search as far as that.
H.
1t was broad daylight when Myrtle
awoke to find herself alone on the Har-
berg, under an old fir tree covered with
moss. A thrush was singing over her
head, another was answering 1t at a
long distance, far off in the valley.
The morning breeze was stirring the
leaves, but the air, already warm, was
laden with thousand perfumes Of IVY,
MOSES, and Wild honeysuckle. The
young gypsy opened her eyes quite
amazed she looked about her, and
then remembering that she could not
hear Catharine calling out Myrtle :.
Myrtle Where are you, wretcAed
child 4" she smiled and listened to the
song of the thrush.
She heard the murmuring Of spring
close to her, and found she had only to
turn her head to see the fresh water
rushing along the rock and spreading
itself out on the grass. An arbutus
tree, laden with red berries, hung over
the rock beneath it grew a splendid
aconite, with violet flowers spotted with
white.
Myrtle was thirsty, but she felt so
lazy and so contented tolie there listen
ing to the sound of the water and the
singing of the thrush, that she was
disnchned to disturb the harmony, and
let her pretty brown head fail back
again, and, smiling looked up at the
sky through her half-open eyehds.
Z" This is how | shall always be, y she
said to herself Il am lazy; l know /
am. God made me So
As she went ON dreaming in tins way;
she pictured to herself the farm, with
its cocks and hens, and then thinking
+ Of the eggs in the barn, hidden undera
few blades of straw, she said to herself,
| wish [ had got two eggs now, two
hard boiled ones, like Fritz had in his
sack yesterday, and crust of bread,
and salt. But, pshaw If one hasn't