The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-03-22

Once upon time there lay, off the
coast of Zealand, right opposite to Hol-
steinborg, two wood-clad islands, Venoe
and Glanoe, with churches, villages and
farms upon them; they lay near the
coast and near each other; now only one
island is there.
One night there blew a dreadful gale :;
the sea rose as it had not risen in the
memory of man; the storm grew worse
and worse; it was doomsday weather
There was a sound as if the earth were
splitting. The church bells swung to
and fro, and rang without the aid of
man.
That night Vanoe vanished in the
depths of the sea it was just as if that
island had never been. But many a
summer night since then, when the tide
is low, and the waters are still and clear,
and the fisher is spearing cells by the
torchlight at his bows, he has senior
his eyes are sharp-Vanoe deep down
beneath him, with its white church
tower and high church walls. ''Vanoe
is waiting for Gl@noe," it was said. He
has seen the island, he has heard the
church bells ring under the water-but
no, there he was wrong it must have
been the cry of the wild swans, that
often gather ON these waters; their
whoopings and wailings sound like a
distant peal of BELLS
There came time when the old folk
of Glaenoe still talked of that stormy
night, and told how they themselves,
when children, had driven between the
two islands at low water "just as now
a-days," they said, &C from the coast of
Zealand, not far from Holsteinborg, one
drives over to Glsenoe, with water only
halfway up the wheels. "Venoe is
waiting for GlRnoe, was the saying, and
it became a settled tradition.
Many little boy and girl lay in
stormy nights, and thought, "To-night
Will come the hour when Vanoe fetches
Glenoe." In fear and trembling they
repeated :" Our Father" fell asleep, and
dreamed sweet dreams the next morn
ing Glanoe was still there, with it's
woods and corn-ields, its friendly cot
tages and hop-gardens the bird sang,
the deer sprang, the mole could smell no
sea-water as far as it would burrow.
And yet Glanoe's days are numbered ::
we cannot say how many they may be,
but they are numbered; one fine morn
ing will the island have disappeared.
1t may seem but yesterday, perchance,
that you were here on the seashore. and
saw the wild swans float ON the water,
between Zealand and GIenoe; a boat
with swelling sails glided past the wood
land you yourself drove over the shall
low ford, there was no other way across :;
the horses tramped in the water; it
splashed around the wheels.
You have left the place, and have
roamed a little in the wide world, per-
chance and after few years you come
back again. You see yonder wood in
closing wide stretch of green meadows.
where the hay smells sweet in front of
tidy cottages. Where are you? Why,
here is Holsteinborg still haunting its
gilded steeple, but no longer down by
the piord; it lies higher up the country.
You walk through wood and field down
to the shore. Where is Glenoe? You
see no wood island before you, nothing
but open sea. Has Venoe fetched
Glanoe, which it waited for so long ?
When was the stormy night in which
this happened-when the earth ouaked
so that old Holsteinborg fitted MANY a
thousand cock-strides up the country.
1t was no storm-night: it all came to
pass IN the midday sunshine. The skill
of man shut out the sea, the skill of man
blew away the pent-up waters, and bound
Glenoe to the mainland. The piord has
become Il meadow of living green-Cilse-
noe has grown fast to Zealand. The old
manor-house stands where it always
stood. 1t was not V,enoe that fetched
Glanoe; it was Zealand that, with long
thke-arms grappled it, and with machine
pumped breath blew the stormy spell,
the magic words of wedlock, and Yea
land won many acres of land for a bridal
gift. This is fact, proclaimed and es-
tablshed; your sight will prove the say
ing the isle of Glsenoe has disappeared.
Hans Christian andersen.