The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1873-12-24
address, so that he might be.known In

FrIlz Hoffman forgot the danger and
only eXulted that their dear one was
destined 10 share the lanrels OF the con-
querlng hosts, until the news came OF
the victory at Sedan, and with II INC
fathers name on the list Of wounhed'
Then followed long days OF GUS
pense, and the fem OF something
worse, tho inip0sslbility OF goslg 20
him In u hostile country and lhe
dread Of his exposure 10 greater IAN
gers and ut last, the Intense sense OF
relief when "A letter came from himself
written IN the hospital at Nershl les,
10 which he had been removed, lclllng
them TINT no had obtained u illrl0ugll
for Christmas, aud leave 10 rennln NJ
home until fully restored and capable
Of taking his place IN the ranks again,
Hence The JOY to-day, ana the gao
preparations. ~,
At ten o'clock, the mother hNNlns
rot everything In readiness for NE
happy evening even ~ the Trays OF
supper refreshments IN tho slOro-r0oln,
and the torch laid ready by the tree to
light the tApers wiIhal, came into The
dwelling.rOOm cloaked and wrapped ~
furs. N must 10 out for m hour or So
dear children she sRidl "be good, ana
obey sister Greiel, while AM gone,
"Thou gocst TO bring the dear father,
ia II not 20, Muttcrchen"' And
Fhtzel hung 10 her skirts, and pulled
the tassels Of her muif,
Wise little Carlotla, who had Jumped
up hastily, aud held her hands behind
her, full of knitting work, tossed back
her mass of ilRypn hair, and broke ~
with "dch poih thou foolish ,FrllIel,
the father comes only AFTER dinner"
Mother kissed the little boys earnest,
dimpled face. and went out, laughing
softly to herself IN tho happiness of
her heart, while Olga, who had hardly
got through her work in time, hurried
after hGr, drawing on warm mlllens
~ she went bqlf fight behind FRAU
Hoffman all the way down stairs,
They wore much alike, tl,is noillH.
and little daughter, and the mother
was little and young looking too eocIu"
that she had the responsibility q
30 many children on her hnaul-
ders; right mothcrly, though dcm
| little soul with II Ilrm way about her
in spite Of her lovely brown eyes and
gentle looks,
"Bless the dear heaven who II
bringing my Fritz back to meW she
thought. ~ do wonder II he will
think the children much improved y
she unused for, at least, the hundrcdth
time in her fond mothers heart. "Our
| vai al, Ia Al /
comfort, and Paul has been truly n
good boy while the dear father has
been away. Then Frtzel, Carlotta and
my Olga, h-smiling and holding out
her hand to the little girl who, laden
with u basket, now joined her, and the
sweet motherly eyes filled with happy
tears as she named over her treasures.
They presently entered mean look
ing door, and went up flight afler flight
of stairs to the rooms of some Of their
pensioners. To one poor soldiers
family after another the two went
like Christmas angels, leaving gifts for
the little ones who had no father on
earth, this Christmas day, and COM
forting more than one moth
er's heart with reminders Of
the dear Father in heaven, who cares
for the widow and orphans, raising up
for them friends Ia the bitter hour of
need. The round Of visits was COM
pleted, and near the noon, Olga was
dispatched home with an important
message to old Chrstel, the cook, and
Frau Hoffman, wrapping her fur cape
more closely about her--for the wind
was keen and bitter-set of at a quick
pace for "Unter den Linden" where
she had an errand at tempting book
sellers shop. Here, carefully, she Sc
lected the beautiful book, Ruckerts
poems, illustrated-it happened to be Il
fayorite of her own aud her husbands
lin which she inscribed, then and
there, the beloved name, for fear she
would be too much hurried at home to
do it properly. Her pleasant task ac-
complished, she set her face homeward;
but few steps from the book store was
telegraph office, rouAd which crowd
had collected-so customary an occur
renee, however, in these war times,
that she did not pause to wonder at it,
hes des (she thought of this afterwards
with passion of remorse at her sell
iishness), was not all she cared for in
the war on its way to her at this mo-
ment? What to her, in comparison,
was prince or king, beleagured city or
hostile camp, or even fatherland itself,
AT this moment familiar face con-
fronted hers, the owner thereof push
ing through the crowd; but it was such
a pale, haggard face, with such
startled eyes, that the sight of
1t thrilled her with vague
dread 1t was old Herr Scharlach,
friend and colleague of her husband,
at the Polytechnic. He saw her; and
growing a shade paler, half turned
aside, rs though he wished to avoid her;
but she had noticed something
white paper-in his hand, partly thrust
behind him; and scarce knowing what
she expected or thought, seized his
arm with an imploring "What is it,
my friend; what have you heard? ~
All her light-hearted confidence had
vanished. \ great blank dread stared
her in the face. She seemed to read
her doom in Herr Scharlach's face, as
mechanically she held out her hand tol
the paper. Then he reused himself.
OhiN ~ Ntti ne
managed to say in constrained voice.
''Let me see."
She spoke coldly and clearly, al
the feeling gone out of her tones Sine
took the paper-a bulletin. At one
glance she saw 1t amid an hundred
names, the one-the only one for her
"Killed, Private +. Hoffman, Queen
Elizabeth Regiment, - Company"
That was all. 1t happened in a slirm-
ish, near Mont Aaron, against lie
Bourget, two days before, when that
company had lost heavily. She took
1t all in somehow; and when she looked
up from the paper it was as though she
had been reading it for hours, and she
seemed tohave known it all hun
dred years before. 1t was an old,
old sorrow, but sorrow that would
always endure, the bitterness of death,
which should never be overpast She
raised her pitiful, sad eyes to thepsod