The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1878-01-03


NhageeT he exclaimed, seizing his
s4sstols. The little old man started back,
as in terror. He seemed to be in an
agony of prayer. A change seemed
coming over him. He appeared con-
scious of it, and, going toward the door,
disappeared.
Berthold gazed after him and then re-
membered the Golfers admonition in re-
gard to the danger of evil thoughts. He
wished that he had acted differently, for
he wished to bring no evil on the family.
There was a sound at the latch the
door opened, and an evil-looking giant,
wearing a red mantle appeared. He
laughed wildly, and said, 81 begin to
be free again. You have made me
Qro1U %
Berthold saw that the giant was none
other than the little old man.
The merchant leaped from his bed and
discharged his pistol. The giant van
ished, growing taller and more fearful
as he disappeared.
In the moment the collier hurried up
the stairs.
"In name of God,'' said he, rush
ing into the room, "what have you been
doing to our house-spirit ?"
House-spirit l'' said Berthold, like
one in dream. "What do you mean?"
He has just gone out of the house, !"
said the collier, "perfectly monstrous
in his size, and infamed with fury !"
But the collier saw that the merchant
did not understand him, and he entreat-
ed him to go down into the common
apartment where all of the family,
aroused by the report of the pistol, had
now met. The children shrunk away
from him as he entered the room, and
the Golfers wife was il tears.
"Apd now" said the good woman,
''we must live all those years over
again.
"This may all seem strange to
you," said the collier to the merchant;
but. when my wife and [ first came to
the cottage te live, we found 1T
haunted by terrible specter, such as
have just seen disappear. But [ said to
myself. I will not fear him, for if I am
a truly Christian man no power of evil
can harm me. will overcome him with
good life, and he shall not overcome
me. So, in the name of God, Remained.
Red Mantle-for such is his name-ap-
peared to us continually, but we ceased
to fear him. I brought up my little
ones to believe that nothing could harm
!
that any specter would grow less and
less who dwelt in family who had low
ing hearts and lived pure lives. So Red
Mantle at last became my little ones
playmate We restrained our DISPOSE
tions, we guarded our thoughts, we
loved each other. We prayed together
much, and the specter began to grow
more gentle and to shrink in size, year
by year, until he became the dwarf you
saw whe1 he came in the evening
to prayers. All evil disappeared
from his face, and we all loved
him as a meek and harmless house
spirit, and expected that he would soon
be released from this troubled state and
vanish forever"
The next morning the merchant left
the cottage. Years passed away; he
travelled from city to city, and into coun-
tries remote from Germany, but he
never forgot the experiences of that
night.
One afternoon, near sunset, he found
himself on the borders of the same for
est as before, and he resolved again to
strike down the defi1e and see what had
become of the good collier family.
1t was somewhat late when the cot
tage appeared before him. He dis
mounted and entered. They were sing
ing, "Now all the woods are sleeping"
It was the hour OF prayer
The merchant knelt down beside the
white-haired old man, expecting every
moment the house-spirit would reap
pear. But the little old man did not
come. Only soft light was shed abroad
amid the shadows of the room, and a
sweet, low melody arose, like the touch
of the most delicate fingers on finely at
tuned musical glasses.
It was all that remained of the house
spirit, fer the collier and his family
had all these years lived pure and holy
| lives.
"That was once our house spirit, -
said the collier, "but it can only now
make its presence known to us as a gen.
| tie light and a strain of music, sweet and
low. We have subdued him by inno-
cence and prayer"
! Dye who read this untrue, true story
by the light of the winter firesiuel does
| the new year open with some specter in
your hearts and homes2 Unriddle the
tale of the collier family.-St. Nicho-
las.