Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1885-01-03
ECKELBURG CASTLE.
Tclarence NJ. Boutelle In The CURRENT

doubtless q grand place zUU years ago.
II stood far up on q steep crag overlook
ing a wild and rapid stream, which
dashed into the lordly Rhine not many
miles below. Hans Eckelburg, who was
the ruler there then, was q stern man,
an unloyely man, dangerous man. Be-
cause he boarded up what men had
thought and written regarding the mys-
terious in the world and out of it, he
had name which was not an enviable
one. In his laboratory, for he dabbled
in the "bla k art, he found out many
things which would have given him
fame and fortune in these modern times.
They brought only hatred and distrust
then.
Hans had one kind and human side to
his rugged soul; he loved his daughter
Bertha with a fierce intensity which
boded i'll to any one who should wake
the slumbering demon of temper in his
breast by wrong to her.
" ell, one man braved this wrath.
wilhelm Artstein fell in love with the
beautiful Bertha, and was so unfortun-
ate as to ia in his suit. So he gath
cred band of friends and hirelings,
and tried to pull down the castle about
the ears of stern Hans, TO the end that
he might steal his daughter.
Wilhelm Arstein failed.
The forces of the Eckelburgs won the
battle. and old Hans Eckelburg made
his followers bind his conquered foe,
after which he threw him over the preci-
pice into the dark stream below.
And all the frenzy of battle, the glory
of victory, the despair of defeat; the
knotted muscles; the throbbing brain
the passion-swept hearts death ended
all things earthly for them far dowE
the distant past.
For all this was 300 years ago.
ECKELBURG CASTLE, May 81. 1884,
'MY DEAR FRIEND WILLIAM: If ycu
visit Germany | shall insist on your
being with me for month.
The fact that our respective families had
murderous encounter in the misty
past or in the equally misty legends)
will, know, make no difference in our
relations to each other Common sense
and hard work have crushed about all
the foolishness out of this century.
Come and see us. You know the vel
come will give you. Be sure the good
wife viii be equally glad with me. And
our baby-the latest Daughter of the
Eckelburgs' smile the welcome she
isn't old enough to speak yet. Come.
''Your old friend and chum,
JOHN ECKELBURG."
The last rays of the setting sun
fingered on the towers of Eckelburg, as
the carriage in which | had ridden all
day long climbed the last steep ascent
and turned into the level drive that led
to the castle.
My old-time college friend stood in
the great stone doorway. There were
dark stains on threshold and wall which
were not due to the silent hands of time
and the clements; indeed they were still
there in spite of time and change,
and were the deafness witnesses
of how fierce battle had
Numbered arc ind the castle
in days of yore, and of the
warm red blood wnlch had been shed
where We now stood Down below us,
in the black rapids, was the spot where
Wilhelm Artstein had met the fate which
was the only due of the vanquished in
those old days. Beyond the rapid stream
was the spot where tradition said the
nan from whom my own life ID come,
through the long generations of two
centuries, had STOOD and cursed the
murderer of his bro b r, and invoked
the vengeance of heaven on the Eckel-
burgs forever. Before me stood the
man in whose veins the blood of Bertha
Eckelburg ran.
Cur hands met; our eyes beamed; our
lips smiled. An Artstein stepped Ger
the threshold of the Lckelburgs at last,
and war and hate and vengeance were
buried under the mists of years by the
hands of friendship, to rise again no
more while time shall last.
can hardly tell the story of
the long weeks of my vacation
time at Eckelburg. 1t was not SO
very long ago, as time runs, for a year
is not long, but it seems sometimes as
though it were all part of the war
troubled and ghost-haunted past. can
not recall it all calmly now, and l pre-
sumo | never shall; nor can recall all
clearly. But some of the events of that
wonderful year shall tell to you.
My first evening at Eckelburg castle
was quiet and uneventful. My friend
and his noble wife were genuinely glad
to have me with them, and the baby girl
did indeed smile the welcome she could
not speak, looking at me with her grave
and serious blue eyes for long periods of
time, as / spoke with her father or
mother, and letting a smile wander
through them when gave my attention
to her.
My host showed me to my sleeping
room at late hour. Midnight mad
come and gone lsng before we thought
OF rest. The rotsm was large and high.
1t looked toward the west. Under the
window flowed the stream which have
already mentioned, its hurry and dash
softened into m,tsic by its distance, for
1t was not less than 100 feet below us.
The furniture was old-fashioned. The
candle failed to show much more than
that. But one thing it did show fully
and clearly. That was large picture of
a most beautiful woman. 1t hung upon
the wall directly opposite the table upon
which my frieI.d has placed the light.
There was wondrous wealth eff
golden hair, strangely familiar pair of
blue eyes, halls laughing, half serious
There was high, white forehead;
cheeks with the beauty of perfect
health; lips which gave a glimpse of
false teeth behind Their own perfection.
her face held my attention fixed. The
artist had painted more than the NOR
tai; the soul of the woman stood out in
every line and shade. My breath came
quick and hard. | glanced with half
suspicion toward tho open window that
was letting in the glory of the mooniit
night. Ny friend stood there
looking at me, and there was that in his
face that | could not understand. Ny
heart was feating more rapidly than it
had ever done before, and felt hot
Hush stealing up into my cheeks.
"Wellf' he laid q ietly.
Well, y | answered, with an effort.
What do you think of herr" he asked.
That she is perfection: that she is
woman r4an might willingly die f.,
/ said.
He turned his face out toward the
night again The moonlight fell all