The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-03-25

was, however, that which had come oyer
| the fortunes Of the honest burgher, Herr
Gluck. The old inn was no longer the scene
1T jollity and feasting; the merry, careless
song Of the citizen no longer sounded
lAbxpugh tee~spacious tap-room. Instead,
gloom and silence had settled down over
. the out,ast inn. The gables rotted slowly
away without repair; the gaudy sign board
Lad faded to mere suggestion OF outline
and color. and neglect and poverty we're
evidenced in house, stables, and field.
A curse seemed to have come over the
house. and. brooding there, drove. with its
dark shadows, the honest but superstitious
burghers to careless neglect Of their old
friend. The tap was dusty and disorderly,
the bottles cobwebbed and broken. and the
landlord, pale and emaciated. sat from
morning till night in the shadow of the
large fireplace, either drowning memory in
the aqua-vitm pot or loudly lamenting the
change of fortune that had depleted his
we'll filled Golfers and made hin a reproach
to his neighbors.
The curse. II such it was, had begun
with the night of the murder. The story,
with Gottlieb Glucks share in it, seemed
| to have given an uncanny reputation to the
tavern. Man or devil, the assassin had
walked on air in escaping the soldiery,
and had left the witchcraft of ill-luck about
the place. First neglected, then avoided, the
inn of the Five Iron Rings became a rest
| ing place for such few transient customers
| rs knew not its story.
Finally an event transpired which made
those who were venturesome enough to
visit the inn in the daytime avoid /. at all
hours. Strange sights and noises to be
seen and heard ut night, SO rumor said,
drove the superstitions to wide detour of
the demon haunted place, and the new
| tragedy, which had still further aided it's
| uncanny reputation, was the theme of spec
| ulation and idle comment in Innsprucken
| for many day.
II happened just twenty years, to a day.
to an hour, aft its initial occurrences.
| Gottlieb Gluck was his own tap-bev now,
| for customers and servants had alike de /,
| serted him. Upon the evening referred to
q man habited in n long, dark cloak, mys-
| terious in manner and talk, had entered the
place aud asked for a nights lodging.
The similarity of his attire to that of the
| assassin of the Count Ulrich had preju-
diced the landlord against him, but he ST.
lently showed him to his room, the same
| apartment occupied by Lady Agatha
brother, nearly quarter of century be-
| fore.
The circumstance revived bitter and sor-
rowful memories in old Gottlieb's mind,
for from that event dated all his evil
fortunes.
Midnight had tolled from the castle tower
ere he arose. dizzy from unusual potations,
to put out the lights. AS he glanced from
the window, however, every benumbed
sense was revived, every energy brought
into action. One glance at the beam of the
iron rings, one look Of frozen horror mt the
swinging figure he surely saw there, and
Gottlieb Gluck fell, an inert mass. TO the
floor.
An excited. Mortified throng found him
thus in the morning. eager to question him
| concerning the body of a man found in the
court yard n few minutes previous. They
aided him tn reach the yard.
A groan burst from the lips of the I'M
happy man as he gazed at the crushed,
lifeless figure lying on the stone flags under
the courtyard beam.
1t was his guest of the previous night,
and in his outstretched hand, torn from the
wood in the upper beam of the framework,
was one of the five iron rings.
Gloomier and darker grew the tavern
after this event, more unsavory its reputa-
ton, more morose and respondent its
afflicted landlord. People rarely spoke to
him on the street. and all the old supersti-
tons of ancient times. revived by the SIM
pie minded burghers, operated to decree
him being in league with the demon Of
evil.
II am accursed." he groaned. one night
as he sat alone in the gloomy old inn.
1T is the fiend himself come for me-" he
muttered desperately, IA moment later, as
knock sounded mt the door.
He confronted the visitor CURLY. man
arrayed in the same long black cloak a
fha
tenance rs the victim of the ring tragedy a
month previous
"A nights lodging. mine host" he said
cheerily. But Gottlieb opposed his en-
trance.
81 am not prepared for guests he said.
"But must find lodgings. l will put up
with Inconvenience.
Gottlieb sighed as he repaired to his bed
that night. after showing the man 10 room.
He had offered him small apartment in
the haunted chamber. With light laugh the
stranger had taken the latter
He is doomed" muttered Gottleib in
vague apprehension.
He was right. with the morning light his
body was found lying exactly in the po-
sition occupied month previous by the
first victim, and in his hand was clutched
tightly in a death grasp, the second of the
five iron rings.
This second tragedy thrilled the public
with most somber terror, and drove Gott-
lieb To desperation. Popular belief accred-
tied the Counts assassin and the two VIC
Tins with being one and the same person,
and that person the evil one.
There was strong talk of burning the inn,
and driving Gottlieb from the town, but
before this we'll meant kindness ON the part
of the landlords friends could be put into
execution an event occurred which cleared
up all the dread mystery and removed the
baleful curse from the old inn of Inn
sprucken.
| II was less than n month after the death
Of the second guest that gloomy reverie
| of Gottlieb's, who began to believe that
each one of the rings would bring tragedy
| to his threshold, was broken in upon by the
| appearance of a visitor who, without an
nouncing himself, walked into the bar.
"A room for the night" he said imperi-
ously, as he spoke startling the old inn
keeper to his feet.
Gottlieb regarded his visitor with undis-
| guised dissatisfaction. He was young and
handsome, but he wore the same cloak as
the others, and at his belt swung sword at
the sight of the jeweled handle of which
the old innkecper started in superstitious
horror.