The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-09-30
LOVE IN A CELLAR.

BY making a gigantic effort 1 had at
last succeeded in pushing up the heavy
sash of the old-fashioned guillotine win
| dow, and now, sitting in the broad win
dow-seat, 1 was enjoying the scent of
the great syringa bush, which grew so
close to the house that it pushed its
| branches inside whenever it had the OPP
portunity, SO that sitting in the window
was almost like being in an arbor. l
was in Germany, of course, for guillotine
windows, as we call them, are still the
fashion in England, hear.
Yes; / was III Germany, and it was
| the day before Whit-Sunday-a lovely
May day-and l was just 16.
] am a good deal more than Is now,
but still, often when the syringa is in
! blossom, and the delicious fragrance
comes floating round me, the whole
scene rises again before my eyes, and
see the old-fashioned garden, with its
| Iuaintly-cut yews and box hedges, and
apple trees loaded with blossoms; the
| wainscoted room, with the faded red
carpet and antiquated furniture and
| ornaments; and, looking through the
folding doors into the dining-room be-
yond, 1 see the long table decked for
| some festal occasion. two chairs wreath
ed with flowers, and before them, on the
table, two bouquets composed of sprays
Of myrtle.
Il see, too, sitting opposite me in a ca
pacious armchair, my grandmother, a
little old lady in a white lace cap, with a
prayer-book on her knees, which she was
reading here at home because she could
not get as far as the chapel beyond the
town gate.
1 had been there myself that morning,
all in a hurry, just to see how it looked
before brought Granny to the house,
and 1 had eeen that it was beautifully
decked with flowers, and that there were
wax tapers enough to dazzle one.
After that 1 had come to the wedding
house" and waited, for could not leave
Granny quite alone; and while 1 waited
puzzled myself to make out why Uncle
Dernau, as we all called him, and his
wife should have chosen to celebrate
their golden wedding in the little coun-
try chapel instead of in the large town
church, which seemed so much more APP
propriate.
Then, too, wondered what could be
the meaning of sundry mysterious allu-
sions which had heard made in the
course of the evening before. They had |
seemed to amuse the rest very much, but |
could make nothing of them.
Uncle Dernau's little wife was favor |
lite little woman, with bright eyes, brown |
hair without touch of gray in it, and |
very small hands and feet. How we had |
all admired her the night before, when, |
for "the very last time;" as she said, She |
had danced the charming minuet which |
had been arranged in her honor! 1 can
see her now in her old-fashioned, mar
veIously short-waisted dress of silk, with
three-cornered fchu crossed over thu
chest, little shoes without heels, wids
ribbon sandals and embroidered stock
ings. Uncle Dernau himself was her
partner, and at the close of tbs dance he
made her low bow, saying with q
CLEAN of fun and mischief in his eyeO:
Madame, you dance like a French
woman, and believe l made a mistake
after all in carrying you off from tho
French monsieur.
Every one laughed at this, and Aunt
Dernau bIUshed like young girl. What
did it all mean? Gould 1 ask Granny, 1
wondered? She had told me once that
Aunt Dernau was her oldest and her dear
est friend, and that some day she would
tell me her history. Could 1 remind her
of her promise now?
AS looked AT her she took off her
spectacles and closed hsr praYer-book,
~nd, slipping down from nay throne in
the w1nt]nw, l seated myself on a stool
at her feet.
Granny" said coaxingly, couldn't
you tell me your friends story now?
You know you promised, and it is just
the right day for it. They won't be back
for couple of hours yet. What with
the service first and then the wsdding,
and long sermon, and all the congratur
lations, so we have plenty of time"
Just then we caught the sound of dis
tant church bells, by which we knew
that the bridal procession must be get
ting near the chapel.
All! child, said my grandmother, IL
was n beautiful time when we two were
young, Lorchen and 1, you never saw
such little wild thing as she was, They
called her THE Bird" because she was so
quick and graceful and had such bright
eyes in her pretty little head. There
was not a prettier girl far or near, and
there was something about her so differ
snt from other girls that one could
hardly take ones eyes off her; she was so
iainty and distingue.
And Lorchen herself was well aware
Of the fact that she was perfect little :
iaspot. All the men, old and young,
lid her homage, and many a one did his
pest to catch and keep the little bird.
But this was not SO easy, for Lorchen
was obstinate, and her greatest delight
was to tease and torment her admirers }
whenever she had the opportunity. 1 }
often used to scold her for it; for, being :
her most intimate friend. acted as con-
lessor, and she always honestly told me ,
her misdeeds. Sometimes we really got 2
angry with one another after ball or a v
picnic, when her list of confessions was j
long. But where was the use? b
She knew that could not help Aforgiv
ing" her, as ahs said directly she asked d
me, little fondliRg puss that she was, and b
she knew, too, that all the young men c
she had fooled and tormented would be 2
1T her feet again directly. But you 9
mustn't thinks so badly of her for all .
that. She was q dear, sweet little thing, 0
and in spite of all her follies, she had a a
good, honest heart. AS | said, she was 0
admired, and so it seemed
strange that young DerpaQ, the mer-
chant, who was a next-door neighbor of I
hers. should be so stiff and cold, ana !
take no notice at all of her. Sometimes
[ twitted her with the fact that he had y
never once danced with her, and was
quite insensible to her charms. That j
always made her angry, and she would 2
pout her rosy lips and say; Pm sure ]
don't want him, Christel; he's bear!"
Well, you know, bad times came for h
DOR Germany. The French conquered Il
s, and the king and our beautiful Queen e
,ouisa had to fly with their Children, 9