Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-09-07
AN OLD MANS RUSE.
The Story of % Baron and His Nephe,


y notable German Baron was Adolphe
Won Helmsted-a kind-hcarted merry
little man, who laughed from morning
till night, and whose mirth was so con.
tagious that all within the sound and in
huence OF 1t laughed also. The baron
mad q tar castle, with deep, thick woods
surrounding it, and he could stand on a
high hill near, and all the land which his
eyes beheld was the Baron Won Helm
sted own. Scores of horses stamped in
ms stables, PACKS CT hounds roamed
througn his grounds, and the baron's
purse was as deep, full and untathonable
rs Rosalind declareth is the Bay of Bis
cay. There was no wife to sound her
shrlll pipes in his ear; there were no
children to tear and rend lis heart. No!
happy, care-free bachelor was he, and
such would he have lived and died ,smok-
ing his pipe on the cushion Of content
ment, and at last slept peacefully and
quietly IN his grave, as all his fathers did.
had 1t not been for q certain Ernest Won
Helmsted, who had the honor to be-the
baron's nephew.
Now this nephew Ernest was certainly
not the KIND Of character that appears on
the stage and in novels and romances in
a martial, staggering attitude, breaking
fathers, guardians, and loving kinsmans
hearts. Dame Margery, the crossest of
women, who held the housekeeping KEYS
at the castle, lifted up her hands and
eyes at the mention of his name. and de-
clared, "a kind, sweet-spoken, and civil
gentleman is Master Ernest Won Helm
sted.' Many gentle, pretty maiden had
rested her bright eyes approvingly upon
mm, sighed, and murmured, "A light
handsome, noble, gallant-looking youth
is Master Won Helmsted." The ruling
authorities at divers universities all had
written, brave, strong hearted, wise and
learned, an honor to his blood and his
race, is Master Ernest Won Helmsted. y
And the baron, as he was suffered to win
game after game of backgammon in the
long winter evenings: and the baron. as
ne listed to merry conceits and quaint
old stories; and the baron, as he held the
strong arm which ght after night made
the ascent up the old staircase easy. &C.
knowledged, with tears in his ewes and q
swelling at his heart, "a kind. gentle
loving nephew is this nephew of mine
this Ernest Won Helmsted.''
Yet was this same Ernest the thorn in
the merry Old gentleman's flesh which
checked the sound of his laughter for full
halt an hour at time, and composed
his countenance to a most sad and mel
ancholy aspect, while the clouds of blue
smoke hoated in fantastic, dreamy
wreaths around his head. All this be.
cause the WORSHIP ful Master Ernest TO-
tally refused to enter the holy estate of
matrimony-would as soon have beheld
his satanic majesty as anything in the
shape OF petticoat, and crossed himself
1nvoluntarily whenever he Glanced to en-.
counter pair OF large dark eyes. The
reasons tor which remarkable ooliouity
IN Master Ernest being, first, that he was
dlstresslngly modest and diffident. Sec.
ondly and lastly, he was somewhat 1ndo
lent, somewhat melancholy, and loved
nothing better than roaming through thu
woods, peopling every tree with harma
dryads and fauns, and dreaming of fairies
and mysterious Influences, with perhapS
pale, slender, w1llowy heroines, hall
vapor, with not a sensation in common
with the manipulating world. The Baro,
Won Helmsted talked, and the. Baron
Won Helmsteo swore, and exerted all the
eloqucnce with which nature had gifted
him, which, sooth to say, was not a
superintendent quantity. and all to nc
purpose. % .
His nephew listened at first with
amazement, then with WEAKNESS, and al
length, after two or three years had pass
90, and the lectures were not dlscon tin.
ued, grew horribly indignant thereat, and
would rush forward into the woods to es-
cape, where with his nymphs and dryads,
ne soon got calm again. At last the baron
hit upon desperate expedient. He
applied to female relative, and she, with
some three or four damsels, to give Mas
ter Ernest fair field for choice. came
and took up her abode at the castle.
Heavens! what siege the Door baron
had. Dame Margery went almost fran.
tic with rage at this unheard of innova-
ton on her territories, and her detestabIe
voice sounded in his ears from morn,ng
till night. The ladies, too, with their
maids and their toilets, their nicities and
their frivolities, their airs and their min
auderies, turned the whole house topsy-
turvey, and confusion reigned from one
end to the other thereof. AS for Master
Ernest, who was the prime cause and
mover, although the most innocent and
unwilling one of all this hubbub-Master
Ernest entirely evacuated the premises,
and He'd to the woods, where he took up
his abode entirely with his fauns and
nymPhs, satyrs and hobgoblins. At
length the female relative and her retinnc
perceiving how useless was the taslx,.
grew weary of the dreary old castle, and