Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-20
LEGEND OF ANDERrAcH.

of the prettiest legends of the Rhine at.
taches to this place. 1t is given by Long.
| fellow thus:
There was once poor old woman in
Andernach, whose name was Frau Martha,
and she lived all alone in house by her.
self, and loved all the saint, and the blessed
Virgin, and was good as an angel, and sold
tarts down the Rheinkrahn. But her house
was very old, and the roof tiles were
broken, and she was too poor to get new
ones, and the rain kept coming in, and no
| Christian soul in Andernacb would help
! her. But the Frau Martha was good wo-
man, and never did any body any harm, but
went to mass every morning, and sold tarts
| by the Rheinkrahn. Now, one dark, windy
night, when all good Christians in Ander-
mach were asleep in the feathers, Frau
Martha, who lay under the roof, heard
great noise overhead and in her chamber.
Drip drip drip! as if the rain were
dripping down through the broken tiles.
Dear soul /! and sure enough it was.
And then there was a pounding and
hammering overhead, as if somebody were
at work on the roof. and she thought it was
Pelz-Nickel tearing the tiles off because
! she had not been to confession often
enough. So she began to pray, and the
faster she said her Paternoster and Ave
Maria the faster Pelz Nickel pounded and
pulled, and drip drip drip it went all
round in the dark chamber, till the poor
woman was frightened out of her wits and
ran to the window to call for help. Then
In moment all was still, death still. But
she saw light streaming through the mist
and air, and great shadow on the house
opposite. And then somebody came down
from the top OF her house by ladder, and
had lantern in his hand, and he took the
ladder on his shoulder and passed down the
street. But she could not see clearly, be.
cause the window was streaked with rain.
And IN the morning the old broken tiles
were found scattered about the street, and
there were new ones on the roof, and the
old house has never leaked to this blessed
day.
CAS- soon as mass was over Frau Martha
told the priest what had happened, and
said it was not Pelz-Nickel, but without
| doubt st. Castor or ST. Florian. Then she
went to market, and told Frau Bridget all
about it, and Frau Bridget said that two
nights before Hans Claus, the cooper, had
heard great pounding in his shop, and in
the morning found new hoops on all his
hogsheads, and that man with lantern
and ladder had been seen riding out of
town at midnight on donkey and that
the same night the old windmill at Klos.
ter st. Thomas had been mended, and the
old gate in the cburchyard at Feldkirche
made as good as new, though nobody
knew how the man got across the river.
Then Frau Martins went down to the
Rheinkrahn and told all these stories over
again, and the old Ferrymau of Fair said
he could tell something about it, for the
very night the churchyard gate was mended
he was lying awake in his bed because he
could not sleep, and he heard a loud
knocking at the door, and somebody call.
| ing him to get up and set him over the
| river. And when he got up he saw a man
| down by the river with lantern and q
ladder but as he was going down to him
the man blew out the light, and it was
SO dark he could not see who he
was; and his boat was old and ieaky; and
he was afraid to set him over in the dark,
but the man said he must be in Andernach
that night, and SO he set him over And
after they had crossed the river he watched
the man till he came to an image of the
| Holy Virgin, and he saw him put his lad
der against the wall and light his lamp.
and then walk along the street. And in
the morning he found his old long boat all
caulked and painted red, and he could not
tell for his blessed life who did it, unless
1t was the man with the lantern. Dear
soul How strange it was And 80 il
went on for some time, and whenever the
man with the lantern had been seen walk
| ing through the street at night, SO sure as
the morning came some work had been
done for the sake of some good soul and
| everybody knew he did it, and vet nobody
could ind out who he was, nor where he
lived ; for whenever anybody came near
| him he blew out his light and turned down
another street, and suddenly disappeared,
nobody could tell how. And some said it
was Rubenzahl, and some Pelz Nickel. and
some st. Anthony on the Hearth. Now,
one stormy night, poor sinfnl creature
was wandering about the street with her
babe In her arms, and she was hungry
and cold, and no soul in Andernach
would take her iu. And when she
came to the church where the great crucifx
stood she saw no light in the little chapel
at the corner, but she sat down on stone
at the foot of the cross and began to pray,
and prayed till she fell asleep with her poor
! little babe on her bosom. But she did not
sleep long. for bright light shone full in
her face, and when she opened her eyes
she saw pale man with a lantern standing
night before her. He was almost naked,
and there was blood upon his hands and
body, and great tears in his beautiful eyes,
and his face was like the face of the Savioar
on the cross. Not single word did he say
to the poor woman, but looked at her com.
passionately, and gave her loaf of bread,
and took the little babe in his arms and
kissed it. Then the mother looked up to
the great crucifx, but there was no image
there and she shrieked and fell down as
if she were dead. And there she was
found with her child and few days after
they both died and were buried together In
one grave. And nobody would have be.
/ lieved her story if woman who lived at
the corner had not gone to the window
when she heard the scream, and seen the
figure hang the lantern up in its place. and
then set the ladder against the wall, and
go up and nail Itself TO the cross. 1t has
never moved since that night. 'Ach
Herr Je ="