The daily gazette., 1880-04-19
child ofbsfansss.
A ST. LOUIS LADY ON WHOM The SUN
l1 NEVER sHoHE.

Tie following particulars Of the case
Of the young lady of nineteen summers
who has never seen the light Of day
has never been beyond the threshold Of
her fathers house, and for the past four
Years has not been psrmitted to leave
the room in which she sleeps, are fur
nished by the Post-Dispdtch of st.
Louis, In which city the parties reside.
Henry Richter and his wife were
married In the old country about thirty
years ago, and In succession they lost
four children, each of whom came to the
age Of two or three years and then died
OF something which seemed like inani-
tion. They faded away, and the best
medical talent in the grand duchy-
they are Badenese-could assign no
cause for the deaths. Richter and his
wife came to America and settled In st.
Louis, where they lost two more chill
dreD in the same way. Shortly before
the birth Of the present glrl Richter met
the Baron Won Michaeloffsky, who was
stopping In st. Louis at the time, and
to him he told the story of the blight
which had fallen upon his family. The
baron was member Of a number of
mys ical societies and touched by the
tale that the father had told him, lie
cast the horoscope OF the child at the
moment of Its birth, carefully noting the
aspects of the planets, and making
chart Of the future of the baby, which,
at the moment, was crying A.. Its NURSES
arms. The result was that the parents
resolved never to let the sun to shine on
lhair child f>r fn 4. !. shof n ~ xvnr,Id foi
low the others to the grave and they
have kept their resolution. A repOrter
Investigated the case. The father and
mother were induced upon plausible
pretexts 10 be elsewhere at the chosen
time and the servants were duly bribed.
The reporter was TO pers0nate doc
tor who had been sent for and was in-
formed that the name OF his patient was
Margaretha. The reporter was admit
ted to the gasilmminated room In which
the young lady whose name Is Marga-
retha was immured. There were no
windows In the room and the furniture
was Of the most costly character but
II may easily be imagined that the scribe
had eyes for nothing and nobody but
the pale girl at the fireside. She looked
iully her age, 10, but her face was blan-
ched and white; not tipge of red could
be made out In the cheeks, although It
was evident enough in the rather fall
lips Her eyes We're blue. almost. 10.
blackness, and her hair, which rolled of
the cushioned back of the chair and fell
In masses on the floor, was black as
night, There was not feature or a
tint to suggest German origin In her
face, or 1.-THE form, and she looked rather
sweet and amiable and pretty, a.
though her features were regular enough.
She was attired in laced and frilled
white wrap, gathered around the. waist
by the strings Of an d-fashioned Sonn-
tag Of white wool, the only color in her
dress being blue silk kerchief wrapped
negligently about her throat. On the
whole she fesembled nothing but cray
Do picture brought to life. She seemed
all black and white. -t,v
~ did not know you were coming to-
lay DOCTOR" she said, smiling languidly.
Papa is so thoughtless, the Cathie (the
servant) here never opened her mouth
about anything. Won't you sit down ?"
and she indicated sofa which almost
,ouched the chair upon which she was
sitting.
Thanks" sententiously remarked
,he supposititious physician, and, TAX
ng the white wrist in his hand, the
'eporter marked the fiuttering pulse of
,he imprisoned lady. She was either
'everish or she was excited, probably
/ little of both, and after a few sec
)nds he put down the wrist and seated
himself beside her. 'Let me see your
,ongue, please" continued he, going |
through all that he could remember of |
he leach's mummery, and the tongue |
vas obediently exhibited and closely |
"Ah," sagely observed he at
ast Il see."
cam going to be sick P''
"Oh, no, my dear. | think not we |
will have you all right in day or two.
I'll have prescription made up at
The drug store and sent around. But |
'ou ought to exercise. You never
cave this roomfv X0fb afHiI
LONGING FOR RELEASE.
"Never, and will not till after am
1. Then l can go out in the sunlight
Ike everybody else. Oh, dear some
ines i think never will be 81. l'''
"But why then and not now p, "a
81 don't know. 1t is in the paper
hat papa reads all the time that after
am 81 there will be no more danger
Or me. I don't exactly understand it,
ut papa and mamma both tell me
hat if once stand in the beam of the
i will die surely within year.
don't care, though; / would just as
oon die, and tried to get out. 1t is
our year ago now, and since then they
ave kept me locked up in my room, |
0 that l can't" .l5s' |
"Have you never had any compan-
)nss'
"Nothing but books, and I'm tired of
ooks-I'm tired of myself wish
onld quit living; indeed, indeed I'D
ather."
"How do you pass the timer"
"Ohl / sleep and read and eat, and
len for hours and hours walk around
lis room and wonder what is beyond.
re there many whom the sunlight
urts never heard Of any, except In
he old stories, who are cooped UP asI
n."
"You poor child" 81 4;
"Tell me what is beyond these hard
'alls, just near, you know, where l
Duld 60 if they only would let me-"
he reporter told the girl as nearly as
o could just what was outside of her |
wn house, and in her eager question
lg it was easy to see how the bold re-
il al made her spirit futter for free dom. 1
Aud there are trees IN that park" she !