The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-03-09

tuey WENT, anu, although tnc Hidu
evinced wish to conceal from his wife
some of the horrors spread along the
way, he seemed to gloat over the awful
sights, and to be Oblivious to anything
but them. Very hurried preparations
had been made for this strange journey,
and so when they passed through dis
tricts where the villages had been burned
and the fields devastated, they suffered
intensely from thirst and fatigue, but
even this would not deter him from con-
tinuing on his route.
Strangely inconsistent with this NOR.
bid passion for looking upon death in it's
most revolving aspect, was his conduct
on visiting hospitals where the wounded
were brought. He conversed with them,
encouraged them, and frequently wept
over them; and when he saw the dead
borne by their comrades to their last
repose, his eyes would fill with tears, and
he would keep repeating: Poor fellows,
pity Them" On his return to Dresden
the doctor attending his wife reproached
him with the folly of his journey, say
ing it was the act of crazy man, at
which he became thoughtful, and de-
sisted for a while from speaking of the
horrors he had seen on the way.
In a short time Thomas announced his
intention of going to America. He
hired house on the outskirts of Dres-
den, bade an affectionate farewell to his
family, and correspended with them so
far as he was able on the way. His stay in
America was very brief, as he returned
on the steamer which had taken him
there. He had telegraphed his arrival
on reaching Bremen, and on the night
when she expected him Mrs. Thomas sat
up awaiting him, until, worn out by
fatigue, she fell asleep. Suddenly she
was awakend by loud knocks at the
door, and voice she speedily recognized
as her husbands threatening and swear
ing. She opened the door. and he came
into the room, flushed, angry, and with a
strange, wild look in his face she had
never seen before. From that time he
lost his good humor, avoided his friends,
and sat apart, gloomy, taciturn, and dis
posed to resent any disturbance whatever.
His children, too, whom he had formerly
delighted to fondle, were now neglected,
and no effort of his wife could dispel his
settled melancholy. He was also subject
to fits of dizziness, and when questioned
about it said he had had q touch of sun
stroke, but would soon recover, and en-
treated to be left to his own thoughts.
A marked characteristic of him at this
time was his aversion to people for whom
he had formerly had great liking. Time
and again he expressed his feelings to-
ward them with passionate earnestness
indicative of actual hatred, and when
ever he had occasion to mention them
his speech was most violent and abusive.
Suddenly, however, he became more
cheerful, and announced his intention Of
going to America again. He made the
necessary preparations, and took passage
for England. For time letters came
from him dated from different hotels,
and then correspondence suddenly.
ceased. Time passed, and Mrs. Thomas
in her little house near Dresden vainly
awaited some news of the absentee. Her
money was almost expended, and, living
among strange people, she knew not
what resource to seek. kilograms sent
by her to England were unanswered,
and fears Of some dreadful accident be-
gan to force themselves upon her. While
in this strait she received cOmmunica-
tion from her husband. announcing his
arrival in America, and declaring his
intention of speedily returning.
One day, some time after this, while
seated with her children, Thomas en-
tered the room suddenly, hcsitated for a
moment, and then cast himself beside
her, weeping like child. In answer to
her inquiries he said, in a strange, ram
bling way:
go, how l longed for this moment !!
/ was in the house all last night"
"That could not be-" said his wife ;
I" the doors were locked and bolted."
"Well, l was about it," he replied.
81 walked around it again and again"
Mrs. Thomas endeavored to dismiss
such fancy from his head, and he at
last admitted that he had not been there,
but had seen everything in imagination
Just as if he were. For few weeks he re-
mained about the house, displaying some
of his former cheerfulness, and frequently
laughing and chatting with the children.
His wife rejoiced at this improvement
in his health and disposition, and tried
to believe that he had resumed his old
course of life again, when one stormy
night he burst into her room, muffled to
the throat, and with the rain streaming
from his garments.
"I did not want to grieve you by tell
ing yOu," he said, in voice that trem-
bled with excitement, "but have to &c
away for week or two"
She began to weep as she parted from
him, when he turned and whispered, 81
must go now, but this will be the last
time"
He went away, and in a few days
came letters from him at Bremen and
Bremerhaven. The language of these
missives was strangely rambling, the
words misspelled, and traces of tears
blurring the ink on every page. These
indications of troubled mind seemed
portentous to Mrs. Thomas. She felt Q
presentiment that something dreadful
was going to happen, and day after day
looked for news from her husband. Fol
a long time she heard nothing of him
till one day there came a telegram from
the North Lloyd Steamship Company ad
dressed to "Mrs. Thomas" and bearing
this dispatch:
am sick. Come on here. THOMAS.
Through the misdirection of the en-
velope she was not sure at first that i
came from her husband. So she dis
patched to the steamship company to in
quire, and they sent detective to Dres
den to bring her up to Bremerhaven
She had heard about the great explosion
there, and fancied for a while that he
husband had been standing by and sus
tanned some injury, but the detective
while concealing the fact of the case, in
timated that Thomas had been wounde
by his own hand. This intelligence II
creased her anxiety and dismay, an
served to divert her attention from tn
curious crowd which gathered at ever
station on the route to see her, and
made her unmindful of their scrutiny.
On reaching Bremerhaven, anothe
detective awaited her, whose attendance
she imagined, had been secured by tn
kind forethought of her husband. Will
waiting on the platform for cab, sh
was surprised to behold large concours
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