Litchfield enquirer., 1875-02-25

d
 Frau Proch, upon the murderer of hel
 son. ''May he die in a foreign land,
 said she. lifting her withered hands tG
 Heaven, without wife to nurse him ol
 priest to speak peace to his sOull May
 his body he unbnried. prey for wolves
 and vultures. May his inheritance pas:
 into tine hands of strangers, and his name
 perish trom the earthr' They muttered
 their prayers, as they encountered hel
 bloodshot but fearless eyes, and left hel
 with her son.
 For a whole day and night he did no
 speak; then a violent brain-fever set in
 and he raved continually. He fanciei
 himself pursued by Hans Stolzen, and re
 coiled as from the blows of his staff Wher
 this was reported, suspicion was directed at once to Stolzen as the criminal; but
 before an arrest could be .made, 1t was found that he had fled. His disappearance confirmed the belief of his guilt. In truth
 it was the rejected suitor, who, in fit ot jealous rage, had waylaid his rival in the dark, beat him, and left him for dead.
 Katrine, who had always disliked Stol- zen. especially after he had pursued her
 with his coarse and awkward gallantry, now naturally felt warmer affection fol the victim of his brutality. She threw of all disguise, and went frequently to Frau Proch's cottage, to aid in nursing the in. valid during his slow and painful recov- cry. She had, one day, the unspeakable pleasure of catching the first gleam of re turning sanity in her hapless lover, as she bent over him and with gentle fingers smoothed his knotted forehead and tenn ples. An indissoluble tie uow bound them together; their mutual love was consecra- ted by suffering and sacrifice; and they vowed to be faithful in life and in death.
 When Carl at length became strong and commenced labor, he hoped speedily to claim his betrothed. and was waiting fa- vorable opportunity to obtain her fathers consent to their marriage. The scars were the only evidence of the suffering he had endured. No bones had been broken, and he was as erect and as vigorous as be- fore the assault. But Carl, most unfor- tunate of men, was not destined so soon to enjoy the happiness for which he hoped,-the love tEat had called him back to life As the robber eagle sits on his cliff, waiting till the hawk has seized the ring-dove, then darts down and beats of the captor, that he may secure for himself the prize,-so Schonfeld. not uninformed of what was going on, stood ready to bounce upon the suitor who should gain Katrine's favor, and sweep the last rival out of the way. An officer in the kings service appeared in the village to draw the conscripts for the army, and the young men trembled like penned-up sheep at the entrance of the blood-stained butcher, not knowing who would be seized for the c1 hn1 l- been a friend and companion of Schon- fields in former days, and passed some time at his house. It was perhaps only a coincidence, but 1t struck the nelghbors as very odd at least, that Carl Proch was the first man drawn for the army. He had no money to hire 8 substitute, and there was no alternative; he must serve his three years. This last blow was too much for his poor mother Worn down by her constant assiduity in nursing him, and tion, she sunk into her grave, and was buried on the very day that Carl, with the other recruits, was marched off.
 What new torture the betrothed Kat rine felt is not to be told. Three years were to her an eternity; and her imagina- tion called up such visions of danger from wounds, privations, and disease, that she parted from her lover as though 1t were forever. The miller found that the light and the melody of his house were gone. Katrine was silent and sorrowful; her frame wasted and her step grew feeble. To all his offers of condolence she made no reply, except to remind him how with tears she had Desought his interference in Carls behalf She would not be com forted. The father little knew the feel ing she possessed; he had thought that her attachment to her rustic lover was only girlish fancy, and that she would speedily forget him; but now her despair ing look frightened h1m. To the neigh bors, who looked inquisitively as he sat by the mill-door, smoking, he complain ed of the quality of his tobacco, vowina that it made his eyes so tender that they watered upon the slightest whifE.
 For six months Schonfeld wisely kept away; that period, he thought, would be long enough to efface any recollection of the absent soldier. Then he presented himself, and, in his usual imperious way, offered his hand to Katrine. The miller was included to favor his suit. In wealth and position Schonfeld was first in the vii. lage; he would be a powerful ally, and a very disagreeable enemy. In fact, Raul chen really feared to refuse the demand; and he piled his daughter with such ar- guments as he could command, hoping to move her to accept the offer. Katrine, however, was convinced of the truth of her former suspicion. that Carl was a vic tim of Schonfeld's craft; and her rejection of his proposal was pointed with an indig- nation which she took no pains to conceal. The old scar showed strangely white in his purple face, as he left the mill, vovine vengeance for the affront.
 Rauchin and his daughter were now more solitary than ever. The father had forgotten the roaring stories he used to tell to the neighboring peasantss over foaming fagons of ale, at the little inn; he sat at bis mill-door and smoked inces- sanity. Katrine summed the festivities in which she was once queen, and her man. ner, though kindly, was silent and reserv- ed; she went to church, 1t is true, but she wore a look of settled sorrow that awed curiosity and even repelled sympathy. But scandal IS plant the needs no root in the earth; like the houseleek, 1t can thrive upon air; and those who separate themselves the most entirely from the world are apt, for that very reason, to re- eelve the larger share of its attention. The village girls looked first with pity, then with wonder, and at length with aversion, upon the gentle and unfortunate katrine. Careless as she was with regard to pubic opinion, she saw not with pain the altered looks of her old associates, and before long she came to know the cause A cruel suspicion had been whisp. cred about, touching her in most tende. point. It WITS not without reason. so the gossip ran, that she had refused so eIigi. ble an offer of marriage as Schonfeld's s, The story reached the ears of Rauchen. al last. With fierce energy, such as he had never exhibited before, he tracked it from cottage to cottage, until he came to Schonfeld's se-keeper, who refused to give her authority. The next market-day Rauchen encountered the former suitol and publicly charged him with the sian. der, in such terms as his baseness desery. ed. Schonfeld, thrown of his guard by the sudden attack, struck his adversary g heavy blow; but the miNer-rushed unou him and left him to be- carried home a bundles of aches and bruises. Alter this the tongues of the gossips were quiet: no WQQ wIlfIno &0 0pcwvow R1- 1