The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-12-06
The Proud Lady Of the Cas,ls,

Last of tho mighty race of Windeck,
famed for brave men and lovely women,
was Adclhcid, hciress of the castle and
broad lands that had been owned by her
ancestors, and, SO far rs beauty went, she
was worthy of her lineage, but Of proud
and naughty temper. So proud was she
that among all the mobiles OF Brisgau she
could find none whom she thought worthy
to call her lord; and year after year passed
on, finding her stlll unweddcd, and every
year some unfortunate lover or other was
turned from he castle with looks of scorn
and words of ridiculc
Among those whom she had, after her
fashion, first attached to her by every art,
and afterward repclled with bitter dcrislon,
was q young man of noble family, bdt
slender fortune, who had long been in her
service AZ page or squire, as the fashion of
those days demanded q t.es. s..
After years OF patient waiting and hope,
the youth venturcd to declare himself, and
was received by tho lady with a storm OF
sarcasm that literally overwhelmed him.
Stung to the heart by her hard speeches,
and by tho sense of his own folly and pre-
sumption, which suddenly poured in upon
him like food, he left his mistress pres
encc only to write word of farewell to
his mother, whose only son he was, and
whom he tenderly loved, then threw him.
self into the Rhine. -| II"
A few days afterward q woman, mad
dened with rage and sorrow, widow
whose only son mad died suicides death,
sought the Lady Adelheid in her castle on
tho hill, accused her of being the murdcress
Of her boy, and heapcd upon her head tho
bitterest curses that her outraged mother
heart could devise or her woman's tongue
utter. st ..H, Gu.a., <.
"Unloved you shall live," she cried,
and unregretted die. Even in the grave
you shall find no peace; even there my
curse shall follow you, and send you forth
to wander, restless, miserable ghost-rest-
less foreveri"
''Ahl" cried the Lady Adclhcid, with
white face and scared eyes, oil her haugh-
tlness flown, ''do not utter such terrible
words Have you no mercy?''
The wretched mother smiled grimly.
Yes, l will have mercy" she said. t'Thus
shall your spirit wander through these very
halls until You find lover as true, as hon
est, as pure hearted as my poor lost son,
willing to WOO the phantom for his bride.
Then only you shall rest In peace. ?" ~ ST
d. Under this curse, says tho legend, the
AAuJ VI W A9CCh lISCu OICu. CllU was
tho last OF her race, and not many years
after her death, the castle, uninhabited and
deserted, fell into ruins. Its new owners
had indeed, made many attempts to inhabit
1t, but had been absolutely driven out Of
the place by the unearthly sounds which
disturbed the stillnes Of the night, and
which'scarcely allowed living soul In the
building so much as to close an eye from
midnight to cock-crow. Doors would open
and shut mystorously, footsteps rcsound
through tho silent corridors, llghta, H.
lumincd by no visible hand, suddenly burn
In the windows, while over every mirror in
the house the shadowy form of woman,
clothed in white, with long black hair
hanging below her shoulders, would be
seem would ass-disappearing in ono
place only to appear the next moment in
another.
!. 1t happened, however, that ono day O
young hunter of noble family, stranger
guestin one Of the neighboring castles, was
led, In tho excitement of the Chase, up to
the very gate Of the deserted mansion.
The deer which ho was pursuing rushed by
him into tho very ruins, as though It were
taking sanctuary. Tho young man, by
name, Kurt Won Stein, bad heard some cur
ious legends as connected with a ruined
castle on the height, and possibly, half
from curiosity and half because ho was
hot and tired with q day of specially poor
sport, he dismounted and led his horse,
& tired like himself, through the 3bramblea
5 and bushes that had overgrown the ruined
gateway, into the grass. grown court yard.
5sa IA curious place to be sure" said tho
young man; Seating himself for q moments
rest on fallen mass OF brick work over.
laid with moss, and letting his horse mean
time Craze at his will from the rank growth
& Of the court yard, "a very curious place.
Z Looks as II no one had been here for q
:, hundred Years.i e ], wonder II this can be
the haunted castle my. upclelwas speaking
about only the other night2 If so,n
! wlsh to goodness the spirlt-lady would have
the Hospitality 70 Welcome me 70 her do.
mains aaa stRes r,e q driak Of sonlsthina