Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-11-09

"iieeause," she said, "you are rich,
Ny father is In need OF money, and II u
Tor his sake that l have promised TO be
your wife, lie wishes II, should have
told yon this long ago, but ] could not
bring myself to do II, Despise mo u
you will. hut II ia tho truth"
The bitterness 10 me of hearing lhia
confession no words can describe, but
my iniatuation was too great to DO 70,
bhiied, ! woald not give her up,
would teach her 10 love me, She had
not asked for release, and could not
offer II TO her,
The preparations for the wedding went
on, but my mind was filled with perplel'
ity and doubts, became melancholy
and dsspondent, fell into the habit Of
taking long walks alone, and Gretel and
Hartman were left more than ever to-
gether,
My wedding eva arrived, Tho day
had been clear and glorious, and the
sunset that night waa one which ] shall
never forget. for II came near being tho
last that ! was deatined TO look upon,
] had seen little OF 0retel all day, Hart
man, too, had been absent on one Of his
sketoling expeditions, Tho wedding
was fixed for nine o'clock the guests
would not arrive before hali'past eight,
and Gretel would probably DO invisible
until thon, Allowing myself an hour to
dress, l would have time for q final stroll
up TO the Wandersloben Gleichen DO.
fore dark,
When | reached the summit oI tho
hill, the sun was throwing his level bars
Of gold across tho beautiful landscape
below. Tho outlying hills were clothed
In royal purple, and the intervening vine
yards and fields were gloriiled in tho even
Ing glow, looked pat tho ruin, stand.
Ing In picturesque stateliness against
the crimson sky, and saw, growing high
up In the intersticea OF tho corlice, q
little blue.Aowered plant recognized
II ut once on one OF those which the
Roman guides assure us are only TO be
found amid the stones OF the Coliseum.
Yet here In this northern land II appear
cd, nourished, and as beautiful M there.
An immediate desire TO possess this
specimen seized me. Why could ] not
obtain IL And why should not Gretel
wear II in her bosom at tho altar2
I examined the steep wall carefully for
some means Of reaching tho cornice, but
the stones were 30 closely fitted together
a. 10 afford no foothold. | made the
circuit OF the castle, in hope that at some
point / might be able TO climb to the
coping of the tower, whence | could
make my way to the coveted prize, but
my search was in vain. The high walls
rose sheer from the moat, with no ledge
or projection that would give me any
assistance.
Thus baiiled, became more determin.
cd than ever to effect my purpose. l
crossed the rickety drawbridge, Rnd en-
tered the tower. The floors had long
since been removed or had fallen from
decay, and tho interior Of the tower
presented the appearance Of huge cis-
tern with a cover. But high up upon
one side there was dark opening like
the mouth OF cave, which might he
reached by careful climbing, That open
ing / Immediately OWNED to be an
ancient fireplace, and il l was correct in
that supposition, there was doubtless a
chimney leading from it inside the WALL
direct to the cornice.
Throwing of my coat, I began the
ascent, finding between the crumbling
stones such places for my feet as ! could,
and at last, after considerable exertion,
succeeded in reaching the opening. As
| expected, found it to be fireplace,
blackened with the smoke of Cld,time
fires, and from it there led narrow pas
sage, so dark and crooked that / could
not see where it went, except that its
course was upward However, a chin.
ney, argued, must have its top in open
air, and without hesitation ] entered it
and began to work my way through it.
found it rather more difficult mat.
ter than l expected, and more than once
was on the point of abandoning the
undertaking and descending. But my
face and hands were covered with dirt,
and my clothes, if not torn, were at least
ruined. To present myself ut my hosts
in such plight, with nothing to show
for it, would never do, so | renewed my
exertions and struggled on.
Though the chimney was wide at the
bottom and not difficult to climb, it
soon became extremely narrow, and
after squeezing myself forward for few
yards 1 became tightly wedged in q
most uncomfortable position, and I'M
able to proceed farther. There was
nothing to be done, apparently, but to
descend, and this / endeavored to do,
but to my horror found it impossible.
I had become fast! I kicked and
squirmed, and tried to reduce myself to
the smallest possible proportions, but
in vain. The more l struggled, the
more tightly / became wedged, until at
last, exhausted, I abandoned my strug-
giles and gave myself up to despair.
The terror with which now realized
my situation no worts can describe. l
was far out OF sound and hearing of any
human inhabitation. If I were missed
at the generals and sought for, who
would think OF searching for Inc here
The probability was that would not be
sought for in that neighborhood at all.
1t was my wedding eve, and l had mys.
teriously disappeared. Such cases were
not infrequent. Gretel knew with what
feelings / had received her confession,
and recollecting my moody and abstract
ed manner since then, would she not at
once conclude that 1 had abandoned
her?
Great heavens! The thought drove
me to frenzy. Again I struggled and
shrieked for help, until my strength
failed me. All in vain. No response
reached my ears, and only the tones Of
my own voice came back to me, smother
ed and choked in that horrible chin
ney.
Even should my coat be found below,
what would be the conclusion? Either
that had been robbed and murdered,
or that I had purposely left it there to
battle detection. And should chance
visitors happen to enter the tower, and
there might be none for weeks, 1T was
extremely doubtful if my shouts would
be heard. confined as was high MP be-
tween the walls, where no one would