Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1882-08-31

hardly restrained by the solemnity Of
the ritual from concentrating itseli
upon the stranger.
! "At the close of the service the priest
and I walked slowly homeward through
the churchyard, but we halted few
minutes in front of the rose-hidden
marble cross, where the priest knelt a
in prayer. Later, when sitting in
the porch OF the parsonsge-the moon
light throwing silver radiance on the
trees, the air fragrant with the scent of
a thousand flowers, the nightingale
singing its love.serenade to the evening
wind-I was told Roeslein's sad story.
She was the pride of the whole vii.
lage,' was the faltering exclamation of
the clergyman, as he stifed the emotion
caused by remembrance. 'She was so
beautiful, It seemed as if sunbeam had
mated with rose and che their off
srring. We all loved her, for she be-
longed to us all. One Christmas eve,
twenty-five years ago, ] was standing at
the foot of the altar giving the message
of mercy to my flock:
Come unto me all who labor, with sorrow and
care overburdened,
And rest will give you and pardon, for sake
OF my Son intercedingj
when the blacksmith entered, bearing
something in his arms. He had been
for walk of some distance to the postal
town, and I thought when I missed
him in his accustomed seat he had
probably been impeded by the snow,
which was falling heavily. He walked
to where his wife was kneeling and
placed the bundle in her arms. 1t gave
forth child's cry. and the woman be-
gan to soothe what was evidently an in
FAINT. At the close of the service
questioned the blacksmith. He told
me that he had found the child lying in
the snow by the roadside within a mile
of the village, warmly wrapped in
blanket. Half an hour before finding
the infant closed carraiage had passed
him, driving very quickly. The baby
proved to be little girl Of few weeks
old. She was dressed in costly gar
ments, and 500 forms in notes were
found in the folds of her dress. My
housekeeper took charge of the tiny
flower, and meanwhile I made every
kind Of inquiry my limited means
would allow, but could discover moth
ing about her parentage, and to this day
it still remains a mystery. However,
we willingly. adopted her among us, and
all the village became her foster parents
and she their queen.
"'She grew upsweet and beautifulas as
an angel. At every wedding she was
bridemaid and dressed the bride.
When child was born Roeslein gave it
its first kiss-a fairy GIFT. II any one
died Reslein placed the white flowers
over the dead. AS for the young men
OF the village, why, they adored her.
She did not show any preference. how
ever; they were all her brothers, moth
ing more. I used to think that God
intended her for Himself, and sooner or
later hoped she would take the VOWS
of an order.
"On Rmslein's eighteenth birthday
we had village festival, and 8 young
Englishman took part in the games.
He was an artist, and had been staying
few days at the Golden Lion, the inn
yonder. He had called upon me and
told me he intended to make sketches
Of the ruins and the church. Nobody
interfered with him or took any partic-
ular notice of him. We were accus-
toned to foreign artists wandering our
way, and this one seemed quiet,
gentlemanly young fellow. At the fes-
tival he danced two or three times with
Reslein, bat we thought nothing of
that. On the morning following the
artist got mp early and departed before
Hans Eberle, who was host in those
days, was out OF bed. The amount of
his bill was found on the dressing
table, so no remark was made until
some hours later, when Reslein was
suddenly found to be missing. Search
was instituted everywhere, and then it
began to be whispered that Roslein
had often sat in the churchyard with
the artist watching him paint. Finally
our fears we're confirmed. The miller
arrived in the evening from the postal
town eight miles distant. He had seen
Rnslein and the artist together, and
the latter had engaged q carriage.
which had driven OFF toward the Uni
versity city. hastened to Heidelberg
in distracted frame of mind. I made
every inquiry to find out if any priest
had married them but from no one
could obtain any information. Ire