Litchfield enquirer., 1875-02-25

rooms. Rauchen himself gfeW younger
 especially after the birth of a grandson, and often resumed his old place at the inn, telling the old stories with tine old SGstO over the ever-WelcOme ale But one
 morning. not long after, he was found dead Tn his bed; smile was on his face
 and his limbs were stretched ont as in peaceful repose.
 There was no longer any tie to bind Carl to his native village All his kin, as
 well as Katrines, were in the grave He
 vas not bred 8 miller, and did not feel competent to manage the mill. Besides,
 his mind had received new ideas while he was Tn the army. He had heard of coun- tries where men were equal before the
 laws, where the peasant owed no allegi- 1 ance but to society. The germ of liberty had been planted in his breast, and he could no longer live contented with the rank m which he had been born. At least he wished that his children might grow up free from the chilling influences that had fallen upon him. At his earnest per- suasion, Katrine consented that the mill l should be sold. and soon after. with his wife and child, he went to Bremen and embarked tor America.
 We must now follow the absconding Stolzen, who, with his bag of thalers, had made good his escape into England. He lived Tn London, where he found society among his countrymen. His habitual shrewdness never deserted him, and from small beginnings he gradually amassed a moderate fortune. His first experiment Tn proposing for a wife satisfied him, but m great cltg his sensual nature was full ly developed His brutal passions were unchecked; conscience seemed to have left him utterly At length he began to think about quitting London. He was afraid to return to Germany, for, as he had left Carl to all appearance dead, he thought the officers of the law would seize him. He determined to go to Australia, and se- cured berth in clipper ship bound for Melbourne, but some accident prevented his reaching the pier in season; the vessel sailed witheut him, and was never heard of afterwards. Then he proposed to buy an estate in Canada; but the owner failed to make his appearance at the time ap- pointed for the negotiation, and the bar gain was not completed. At last he took passage for New York, whither Hebrew acquaintance of his had gone, a year or two before, and was established as a brok- CT. Upon arriving in that city, Stolzen purchased of an agent a tract of land in a Western State, situated on the shore of Lake Michigan; and after reserving sum of money for Immediate purposes, he de- posted his fnnds with his friend. the broker, and started westward. He travel led the usual route by rail, then a short distance in s mail-coach, which carried him within six miles of his farm. Leav- ing his luggage to be sent for, he started to walk the remaining distance. It was a sultry day. and the prairie road was any thing but pleasant to pedestrian unac- customed tn heat and dust After walk ing less than an hour, he determined to stop at small house near the road, for rest, and some water to quench his thirst; but as he asssseoached, the baying hounds, no less thsd slas squalid children about the door, repelled him, and he went on to the next house. He now turned down a green lane, between rows of thrifty trees, to neat log cabin, whose nicely-plaster- ed walls and the regular fence inclosing it testified to the thrift and good taste of the owner. He knocked; all was still. Again and thirsty as he was, he was on the point of leaving, when he heard-a step within. He waited; the door opened, and before
 
 She did not know him; but he had not forgotten that voluptuous figure nor those melting blue eyes Ills preferred his re- quest, looking through the doorway at the same time to make sure that she had no protector. Katrine brought the stranger gourd of water, and offered him chair. She did not see the baleful eyes he threw after her as she went about her house. hold 6ufioa Cfol1ov, bod 1por-ol e.o.. her Armament like fallen and forgotten star. Secure in her unsuspectine inno- cence, she chirruped to her baby and re- sumed her sewing.
 That evening, when Carl Proch return ed from his field, after his usual hard day s labor, he found hls wife on the floor, sobbing, speechless, the child, unnoticed. crying in his cradle. His dog sat by the hearth with look of almost intelligent sympathy, and whined as his master en- tered the room. He raised Katrine and held her in his arms like child, covered her face with kisses, and implored her to speak She seemed to be in a fearful dream, and shrank from some imagined danger in the extremest terror. Gradual ly her sobs became less frequent, her tre- mors ceased, and she smiled upon the emanly face that met hers as though she had only suffered from an imaginary fright. But when she felt her hair float ing upon her shoulders, saw the almost speaking face of the dog, Bruno, and be- come conscious of the cries of the neglect ed child, the wave of agony swep over her again, and she could only utter broken elaculations. As word after word came from her lips, the unhappy husbands s flesh tingled; his hair stiffened with hor- TOT; every nerve seemed to be strung with a new and maddening tension. There was for him no such thing as fatigue, no dis tance, no danger,-no law, no hereafter. no God. All thought and feeling were drowned in one wild desire for vengeance. -vengance swift terrible, and final.
 He first caressed the dog as though he had been 8 brother; he put his arms about his shaggy neck. and shook each faithful paw; he made his wife caress him also. God be praised, dear Katrine, for your protector, the dogr' said he. "Come, now, Bruno" - katrlne saw him depart with his dog and gun; but if she guessed his errand, she did not dare remonstrate. He walked oil rapidly the dog In advance, now and then paying as though he were on a trail. In the night he returned, and he smiled grimly as he set down the rifle in its ac- customed corner. His wife was waiting for him with intense anxiety. It was mar velous to her that he was 90 cheerful. He trotted her upon his knee, pressed her a hundred times to his bosom. kissed her forehead, lips, and cheeks, called her hls pretty Kate. his dear wife. and every en- dearing name he knew. So they sat. like lovers m their teens, ;, till the purpling east told of new day.. ,.as34- a-|-,s ', The luggage of one Stolzen, stage coach passenger, remained at the tavern uncalied for, for nearly year. No one knew the man, and his disappearance, though profound mystery, was not an uncommon thing in new country. The Hebrew broker in New York received no answers so his letters. though he carefully preserved the post-ofice address which Stolzen had given him. He began to fear lest he should be obliged to fulfil the du- tyof heirship to the property deposited with him. To qulet his natural lapprehen- slons Tn view of this event, he determined to follow Stolzen's track, as much of it as