The Washington critic., 1886-03-18
GWENDOLEN FLUTTERBY.


down. cast and modest, but which man
aged, nevertheless, to see more than
many bolder orbs. She was an heir
ess, sole heiress to the large fortune of
her aunt, Miss Grunter, quite elderly
lady with an aggressive manner, n
hoarse voice and squint. They were
staying at an asylum for timid travel
ers on the fashionable promenade ut
Heidelberg, an establishment which
boasted of bacon for breakfast, while
its rivals gave only coffee and rolls,
with limited butter. This bacon, to-
gether with the view obtained from the
asylum windows of the castle--a rare,
rosy old beauty in trailing robes of
grecn--won Miss Gruntcr's golden pa
tronagc.
Fridolin Holzkopf was q Heidelberg
student with seam over his nose, a
pudginess of contour, an eyeglass and
dog, and was q shining specimen of
the jeunesse dore of that place. He was
a corps studcnt-one of the noble band
who wear colored caps like pill-box
covers. fight sword duels padded and
gogglcd against severe injury, cultiva-
ted assiduously capacity for holding
twenty tall glasses of beer per day, and
who, towed along the promenade and
the castle grounds by their big Danish
hounds, delight the eyes Of susceptible
young foreign maidens like Gwendolen.
When Fridolin first spied Miss
Grunter's bewitching niece in the
window of the asylum he walked thirty
seven times up and down q small space
of the promenade beneath her delight.
ed gaze-an act of devotion which
obliged him to have his boots resoled,
and to dispense with his raw ham at
supper for the remainder of the week.
When the band played at the castle,
Gwendolen, in cream colored muslin,
would walk up and down at Miss
Grunter's side, blissful in the con.
seriousness that presently, between
beers, her admirer would come up and
walk past her four or five times with
all his soul In his eyes. They were
rather small eyes and would not hold
much, but then there was not very
much to hold.
| He loved her passionately, madly;
more than his life and honor, almost as
much as his beer Herr Holzkopf, be-
| ing young man of noble directness of
purpose, asked the proprietor of the
asylum If Fraulein Flutterby had any
money. Learning of her expectations
he sent q rectangular arrangement of
flowers surrounded with an embroid-
cred paper tlounce called bouquet.
Heretofore his offerings of affection
had been of the inexpensive original
| pr1ne lint hn pn,r11 ufrnr1
to be reckless. To render himself still
little blue caps cheek, tied balloons to
his dogs tail, and when he met his
inamorita in the street saluted her with
contortion of spine and legs that
crowded three ladies and poodle into
the gutter
Gwendolen was blissfully happy,
feeling herself to be the incentive to
all this chivalry-it was heaven to love
and be loved by a creature so worthy.
The one drop of bitterness in her cup
was her aunt's blindness to the charms
of Fridolin; she heartlessly spoke of
him as THAT pig-eyed fellow with the
fat cheeks" and ridiculed mercilessly
his most delicate gallantries.
Young Holzkopf and his brave com
panions emerged from their drinking
room one night at the witching hour Of
12; it was festival, and they had i'm
bibed more beer than usual, conse
quently they and their fifteen dogs
made noise-quite noisy noise
They passed beneath Gwendolen's win.
dow, what had been her bower until
that day, but Mrs. Grunter hearing
rats in her wardrobe, had changed
bowers with her niece, Fridolin, the
ardent, proposed serenade, where
upon dozen bcery voices began shout
ing lively refrain which dwelt much
upon Herzen.
They arrived at Schmerzen, when
the shutters flew open with bang, and
an apparition alarming as unexpected
glared upon the groggy kneed trouba
dours-Miss Grunter In yellow flame
dressing-gown, night-cap, and curl
papers, with jug of water in hel
hand, instead of the lovely Gwendolen
with blush and rosebud, the latter
to be dropped into the eager fingers
and pressed fervcntly to the lips OF hel
"chevalier sans peur ct sans reproche.
"Take that" cried the enraged lady
"for set of good for-nothing, lazy
beer-bibbing brutes!"
And the water came down splasl
upon their canary-colored caps.
"Gwen," said Miss Grunter the next
, morning, with her most awful look
"you don't get penny Of my money
unless you send that hulking jacka
napes in the yellow cap of about hi
business. If you speak to him agair
or allow any more of his idiotic oglin.
/ disown you"
Too much adulatiou had upset the
gentle Gwendolen, and she began tc
kick over the traces.
~ don't need your money, aunt, will
, Fridolin to care for mc-he loves mi
, for myself alone, not for the paltr,
fortune you might leave me-"
Tell him you are not to get a groat
t and see how he will take it," said thi
knowing, worldly old lady, with
chucklc.
The indignant maiden sought an,
) found an early opportunity for pouring
her grievances into her lovers cars.
, I'VE shall love each other all tn
more, being poor-shall we not, Frido
lin, darling ?"
Fridolin turned pale green and in
0 stinctively felt for his hat.
. Ellis regret for what | am to sacri
, fee for his sake" thought Gwendolen
with a gentle pressure of his Teutoni
I fist.
That evening she received hurrie
note from her idol His grandmothe
in remote corner of Siberia was dan
: gerously i'll, and he was obliged to stai
q suddenly upon this long journey, with
4 out time to bid his heart darling adier
But they would meet again.
= They did not, however
z Long weeks afterward some kin
Q friend told Gwendolen that Herr Hol.