Litchfield enquirer., 1873-05-15


 CTS, instead of standing here alone ?'' They:.were about to move away when Helena felt an eager hand laid on her arm. It was OgEostro. = ,,.-...t.
 .'Come away" he said. q have some thing to say to you. There is Annchen's brother; she can join him, You come with me-"
 They were out of earshot, when he said, greatly excited.,- a
 ''Do you see that splendid girl who sings SO plaintively, apart from the oth- CTS? That is the Rhona talked of to you and the Countess many a time She is here l knew it yesterday. Is it not @ strange coincidence?'
 Helena gazed on the group curiously.
 "When the performance is over, will speak to her, he said. .'It is unwise. I know, but must. How she sings Her voice is not sweet, but with what passion and pathos she brings out the meaning of that little song ! And is not the melody itself enchanting? It brings before me the life of such woman-half savage, half splendid, abounding in adventure ! How little she fancies that the wandering mu- sician who has led her in the round many time, is at hand ?"
 The girls figure was indeed striking. and Helena hardly heard what her com panion said, so absorbed was she. These gipsies were Bohemians of the purest race. and not without personal beauty, though of wild, one might almost say, ferocious type.
 Soon the little concert ceased. The band struck up a waltz, and Helena find ing herself on a sudden alone, joined Annchen and her brother. They were soon dancing merrily, and, indeed, with the dance, the eliminating enjoyment of the evening had come. As Helena was whirled round in the waltz, she caught sight of Ogliostro, dancing with the gypsy girl he had pointed out to her. She beg ged her partner to stop in order to assure herself that she was not dreaming. There, in the eyes of all Poppenheim, was the ing with gipsy as unconcernedly as he had done in the solitude of the Thurin- gian Forest She saw the girls hand some face; she heard her reckless laugh, as the pair skinned by; she heard, also, the expressions of amazement from the watching crowd. But on he went; it seemed as if his very life depended upon that wild dance; pair after pair fell aside, painting for breath; and for very wonder at the strange sight, none who rested be- gan to dance again. So at last they were left in the circle alone, Ogliostro neither knowing nor caring why; the girl as heed less as he, her splendid black hair blow ing about her scarlet vest, dark eyes shin ing, brown cheeks glowing, red lips part ed in smile of enjoyment.
 When at last they stopped, and Oglios- tro had led his companion to her friends, another surprise was in store for the somewhat overexcited Poppenheimers. For a scene of confusion followed, such as had never before disturbed the social an- nals of the little city. The gypsies gathered round the offending girl and her admirer in rage. Harsh invectives were heard, weapons flashed, over all Ogliostros voice trying to calm and. assuage; finally his, too, rose into an angry cry; then terri ble scufle ensued, which might end none knew how direfully. OgliOstro's name was passed from mouth to mouth. One said that the woman had been stabbed; anothey that Ogliostro had fallen; a third that he was dead. s,-~,.. .....
 Dancers and musicians were jostled to- gether in wild confusion, some trying to run one way, some another, all hindered by the press; one crying for the police, another for tho soldiers, children weeping, women shrieking-all had become fright and dismay, .-r..-
 yGood heavens! where is my Christine, then?"
 "Dear neighbors, don't be frightened; don't press so. Do please make way for two poor, innocent women, who only want to get home in safety" s#.
 ''That is what we all want. Why doesn't some one tell us what is the mat ter 2"
 ''My poor boy Johann, for aught know, may haye'got broken head in the scufie." ....
 'Ah me there is my best gown torn again, and my lace collar clean gone. What warning to us all to give up pleas ure-seeking!'
 "There come tke police. We are to fall back, they say, but how can we? Oh, what will become of us ?"
 It seemed just then very likely that mis. chief would happen from the pressure put upon the crowd. Helena found herself violently separated from her companions, now swayed this way, now that, finally leaning against one of the illuminated pine-stems, breathless and bewildered.
 She strained her eyes in the direction that the police had taken, but could see nothing; she tried to move, but the throng prevented her.
 But on sudden there was silence. The crowd fell back, and she saw that Oglios- tro was lying on the ground wounded. Her kness trembled, she could not utter cry, but somehow shemade her way to the spot. How she got there, through the masses of horror-stricken gazers, she nev- CT knew; but there she was, kneeling be- side her adored master, alone of all his women friends, doing what she could for him in that hour of humiliation, agony, and dismay. She hardly heard the curses of the gipseis as they were laid hold of by the police; she knew not what was hap pening besides; she only thought of stop ping the wound as best she could, and long before doctor could be found, that much despised limp cambric dress of hers had been torn into bandages, her cheap little sixpenny scent-bottle had re- vived ahe fainting man, and she had pre- vailed upon one of Ogliostro's friends, a stout Kapellmeister, who stood by, sob ping like a child, to fetch tumbler of water. '.The ladies were fleeing as fast as they could, for all kinds of rumors had reached the crowds waiting to see the pro- cession-fre, murder. assassination, and so on. Some of the police were looking after the Grand Dukes spoons and forks, the banquetting booth not yet being clear ed: the miscellaneous mob that delight in a panic was screaming, yelling. and ca pering; in fine, amid such scene of con- fusion as had never disgraced Poppen- helm annals since the wars of Napoleon, poor Ogliostro was helped into carriage by Helena and his friends:
 But as there is ever a comic element in human tragedy, so it was now. The Grand Duke, who had gone to bed early, appeared on the balcony of the palace in slippers and dressing gown, thinking that perhaps, Prussian annexation or the So- cialists were at the bottom of the uproar the young Princesses, who were sitting uI to see the torchlight procession, rushed into their governess' bedroom Feodora the Mischievous waking that plethoric and timid lady out of her slumbers by shouting, ''A revolution revolution we must fly for our lives I'.the royal at, tendants sleepy and stuPid.the Grand