The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1875-06-10

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the ways and seeming of old Gottleib Mit
burger himself. just what it was woul
have heen bard to say; but BY degrees th
old man came to neglect his pipe, then h
glass of beer, and then be took to his worl
and finally be took to his bed and died
and the neighbors said, almost with ACCORD
that "Frans Hoferdahl had broken his oil
friends beart by going away"
Broken his heart!" said Conrad himseli
"But be did not break minei Apd / have
heart tool can feel it beat. / loved IN,
father very much, and feel ~ if sheul
cry all day if were not SO very big
man.
The strongest evidence that Conrad ha,
a heart, however, was yet to come. A.
the days went by, after his fathers death
the shop, and everything in it and about II
became utterly distasteful to him. Da,
after da- he sat down by the bench ant
tried to work: but the very ticking of the
watches was insufferably oppressive, whi.s
again and again he started up and dropped
his hle or his hammer in renewed astonish
ment at the continued absence of those
tive old men. eff only Christine would
come" he said to himself" and call oil d
Franz home to dinner
But she did not come, and the silence and
loneliness grew more and more irksome,
and so by and ty, when good customer
made Ills appearance, Conrad Midburger
almost gladly closed with his offer to pur
chase the shop and the house. He sold,
too, everything else that his father had left
him, except the old mans pipe and sword,
and the medal his father before him had
won in the old wars with the French.
Neither did Conrad. any more than Franz
Hoferdabl, tell any of his neighbors how
great Or how small was the golden store be
found himself possessed of; but the Mid
burgers had been careful, saving and
close-mouthed race of generations.
Aud when the sales were all completed.
aud the transfers duly made, and Conrad
stood in the moonlight one fine spring
evening, and gazed at the home that was
no longer his, he said to himself.
81 think / could almost break nv heart
now after all, for l did love the house, and
| loved the shop but could not stay there
with the empty place. There were too
mafhy voices that did not speak. That was
it. But what shall | do nowf"
Corrad's question was answered for bim
by the Great French Emperor and by the
King; for Nepoleon had determined in his
old uge that be must fight the Germans;
and SO great many quiet people had to
march away from their homes to be shot at
without the wisest men in the village being
able to give them good reason.
TWAS sad thing for many, but Conrad
Midburger felt tEat he was almost glad to
60. lie was sure he loved his "Vaterland"
in every bone of his body, and if the King
called for him he was ready. Still, as they
marched away from The sleepy old village,
Conrad said to himself.
"There are the old house and the shop,
and the caurch steeple, and the trees, and
graves in the chu-chyard. / did not know
ny heart was so big, for am sure love
about everything / can see."
He could not see anything very clearly
just then, however, For his eyes were strange.
ly dim. No doubt the sun was in them, and
the gleam and glitter of the bayonets; and
if any one had looked in the young mans
face he might have said:
at is very thoughtful face, aud there
are lines of strength beginning to show in
it."
And then there followed swift marching.
comfCrtless camping, ali kinds of severe
and trying soldier work, and good deal of
,ery Lard &, s,htniug. Whatever the news
papers and reports mi..ht say about it, Con-
rad Mibdurger and his comrades learned
that the French men were brave fellows,and
that the glory of beating them was ucyer
very oheaply won.
Being big and strong and brave, good
every day growing more INTEL
igent, Conrad himself won glory that is,
three or four slight wounds, medal, pro-
motion from the ranks, the compliments of
his commanding officer. ind the envy Of his
comrades.
Being man Of property, of respectable
pafentage, and of fair education, Conrad
might have looked forward to almost any.
thing attainable in the German army BY a
man of less than noble blood, if the war
had not been SO very brief; and if the corps
to which he belonged had not been among
the first to be ordered home. Before a
great while he found himself almost his own
master again, though still wi.hin the scope
and control of army regulations. for no
German of Conrad's age is ever beyond
them, Ee said to himself: "Well, loved
the army; always loved fighting; know
/ could love CORY with all my heart. /
know I'm zen times as much of a soldies
as that little white moustached ape of a
baron that Commanded my company. That
is it, think could love q country wh ere
there are no barons. Let me see. think
my heart has been growing good deal
during this war. There is more room in il
than know of. and yet it is always full
l think there are some things in it tha,
never saw their in the old times. l will
go and take look at at the village first
and the house and the shop, and l vii
hasten again to zee if can hear Christine
call her father home to dinner. Then, il
! don't hear her, what theni Well, thinl
! viii just ask my heart shout ie."
Now, al this time old Franz Hoferdah
and his daughter had known very little o