The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-04-11
GRETCHEN.

being shut in the distance, and the
voices OF women could be heard in
the night air as they closed their
shutters. Good night" O.chel!
Good night, Gredeil' Sleep well!'
Then all was silent, and Theodore
was alone i'll the quiet street; the in
Vulnerable stars over his head, the
gentle moving trees at each side all
along the way--lookiug, listening
and dreaming. What fugitive
things the night reveals to us! List
en- to the vague murmur-the rust
ling of the trees, the birds that chirp
so low SO low that the cat always
on the watch is scarcely able to hear
them. Theodore liked the night;
he took a few steps; stopped, turned
around, listened. When he looked
up to the sky, the words Of Conrad,
the weaver, came to his memory:
"Guard thy soul. guard thy soul!''
But when he looked on the earth,
when he breathed the sweet per-
fumes of the autumn-tho breath
of the new hay, the faint odor Of
the dying lcaves-then he dreamed
Of Gretchen, tho pretty Gretchen;
50 fresh, so beautiful, with lips so
sweet and red, with great blue eyes
so merry and clear, with laughter
so frank and chidlike. How beautl-
lul she seemed to him, then, and
how his heart bounded He could
almost see her move from table to
table, pouring the beer into shining
measures-her arms lifted up, as
white as ivory, her form slightly
bent; the two braids Of her blonde
hair almost touching the bottom of
her pretty red dress; her teeth daz-
zllng as crystal. Gretchen laughed
with every body except Monsieur
Theodore. As soon as she saw him
enter the room, she became grave
but at the same time her great blue
eyes filled with an expression 50
tender that the heart of the poor
fellow melted with love. He would
lose his breath and stammer unin-
telligible words. Theodore dream
ed all these thing. He saw also
old Reebstock, Gretchen's father,
with hls great peruke, and his eau
did look lull of benevolence; he saw
th4 tavern, with its low, smoky
beams; the clock, with its white dial;
the lamp suspended from the cell
ing gliding the brown faces of the
wine dressels, who had Their caps
pulled over their eyes, and little tin
III their hard, rough hands.
"Lifc is in the world, not in the
sky" he said. "This fresh life
this lie of love, of sentiment, of
prosperity; the wine, the fruits, he
perfumes and Gretchen; all this
life is on The earth" II trembled
in thinking of the young girl. She
seemed 70 near to him that he coun-
ted every thread in her dress,
every stitch in Der collar, every line
OF her rosy, dimpled smile. Not n
shadow escaped him. He looked
at the stars and saw Gretchen; he
listened to the breeze and heard the
voice of Gretchen; he thought OF the
world and Gretchen; was there, al
ways there, listening to his thoughts
replying to it. O lovel love! who
art thou.. Whence contest thoul
Theodore wondered thus in the
luminous night; behind the village,
along the bushes, walking in the
little paths bordered with fences,
and The fields freshly moved; look
ing at the irregularly constructed
houses, with their outside stairs,
their worm eaten ratings, their farm
yards, their great spreading roofs,
all boarded with dark mysterious
shadows. At the end of his long,
winding way, he found himself again
bcfJre the house of Reebstock. lie
stepped under Gretchen's window,
and looked at the shutter, with
the round hole in the top that gave
LIGHT to the interior little room, he
said to himself. "She is there.
And thinking she was there his gaze
became SO fixed, so absorbed, that
to see him you would have supposed
he Saw something strange, some
thing curious. But he saw nothing.
He thought. "I5he was there?'
And from high up in heaven the
moon whitened his forehead, shone
in his eyes, sllvered his light beard,
and streaned over his artistic cos
tune, which was lose and flowing,
: full Of free and picturesque elegance.
: In his left hand he held q large gray
; hat, whose plume swept the ground;
, with his right he sent his love to
! ! Gretchen in q kiss
; At the end of quarter OF an hour
) of that silent contemplation, lie
: : climbed over the low fencs OF the
. garden, and entering the yard, 'aw
at the right, through the open door
of the brewery, the large tub with
v its great brown hoops, seeming
larger still in half light; at its foo
was carpenters bench, Il shor
. handled hatchet which threw q blu'
s light III the shadow, plane, pincer'
i all the utensils of a cooper-iar
|. ther off, behind all, the press, OF
which the rays of the moon fel
!, obliouely. He advanced slo"ly
. bresthing the odor of the ferment
g ing hopes and grapes. Besides this
a nat sound, not breath; from th'
n little skylight in the roof came
calm. sweet light. He sat down on
. n barrel and said to himself, "Ah
. this is pleasant placel -,
4 He saw the arbor festooned VIII
= iyv, the little basins in the yar'
: where the hens ate, and the door o
the washroom on the left. And al
. th;a becs,,se Gretchen walked there