New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-07-18

you more reckless Lilh informed me when I
last saw her, two days ago, that she had
been asked in marriage by the Baron Vol
rath.
land her answer to him?'
She had not given him an answer yet"
Then she shall not" he cried II will
force her to see what my love is worth to
her.
He made for the door.
Stop! his mother said, ringingly
She took off her bonnet and reseated her
self. Her son looked at her.
you have something else to do before
that, she said with an effort 81 was about
to try to assist you in its performance; now I
remain here on have yet to rectify the
mistake you have made in your shop. Neg
lect for a minute what devolyes upon YOU to
do in this matter and see if the Fraulein Lilli
will listen to the suit of the most effectually
ruined man in Munich"
She picked up her book.
AT that moment her son realized to the
fullest his own weakness and her strength
She had always governed him with her love
until she had destroyed him in the will to op-
pose her.
And now the strongest feeling of his life
swayed him-his love for Lilli He knew the
actress other than his mother knew her deli
cate sensitiyeness which contact with the
world had not blunted. Itwas this delicate
constituencies which gained for her the chival-
TIC respect OF gentlemen, which often made
her representations on the stage too refined
for the general taste.
bis mothers last blow was the hardest
Lili would blame him for an instant's delay
in the adjustment of the terrible mistake he
had made; she would blame herself for it,!
No, he must not go to her until he had done
what he could to find the woman he waited
on in the shop.
he FASTENED to the station Here he noti-
fed the police as to what had occurred
There came to him an awakening from the
low morbid condition into which he had been
plunged these last few days. horror of the
outcome OF it,. All thatnight there were vain
attempts to discover the elderly woman in a,
black cloak and vail who had asked for a
small quantity of bismuth. Every minute
Clark became more anxious The finding of
the woman seemed to be the pivot upon which
hung his future happiness or unhappiness-it
seemed almost as though Lilli said: Find
her, and am yours; find her not, and take
my blame" Criers were sent out who ran
about the streets, proclaiming the incident.
All night long Clark did what he could to
rectify his mistake. At day break haggard
and worn, he left the station and went home
His mother met him. She had heard of all
that he had done. With a shock she realized
THAT his task was undertaken for love of the
actress-ithad not been mere infatuation with
him. She knew that she herself was placed
aside forever, that henceforth he was removed
from her control And she had loved him as
the only thing left her to love; she had come
from her native land for his sake. If she had
only thought that more than infatuation for
the actress had been the source of
his admiration! But no, she could
not bring herself to say that her sons wife
should be as Lilli was-and Lilli had spoken
coldly to her, had smilG with an ennuied air
and tho Ra13,n bor
poor boy!
When ne came in she dared not sympathize
with him, she dared not say a word to him.
She could only question him with stricken
eyes.
81 am doing what CAM he said to her,
and passed on to his own chamber where he
locked himself in and where she feared to 20
to him.
That day red placards were placed on the
bill boards; 'sExtras" were thrown about the
city with sensational headings Life En-
dangered, I" ga case of poisoning" sWanted
all women who bought bismuth last evening, y
and the like, until the whole city was excited
and everybody was hunting for the elderly
woman in black cloak who had purchased
a small quantity of bismuth. The station
was crowded with people who wished to have
their medicines examined; women became
hysterical and declared themselves poisoned,
and were dissatisfied when it was proven that
they were mistaken. It would have taken q
barrel OF bismuth to have given even the
smallest quantity to each of those who
claimed that he or she might be the unfor-
tunate victim. The day went on to noon,
evening came and the elderly woman in the
black cloak remained undiscovered
The Fraulein Lilli naturally heard of the
commotion. Her maid spoke much of it
when she carried the chocolate to her bed
side IN the morning.
Greta thought that her mistress looked
poorly these two or three days, and that
her acting last night showed a perceptible
falling off. So with the chocolate she carried
fresh news OF the strange excitement in the
city and hoped that it might provoke a
smile. Instead, the fraulein asked her to be
silent and read the items in the morni ng pa
per.
Greta set the tray and the chocolate iiup on
the stand iu reach of her mistress and picked
up the paper. She had little more than IN
folded the sheet when she uttered an exclam-
alton.
=, "fraulein," cryiad she, what do you think?
Inc ! mls 8: place in the shop of your
American friend, Herr Clark"
Il Lii gazed blankly at her. Greta went on
SSSsl read che papers account of the affair in
all it's minutia.
The Fraulein Lilli arose and slipped on
peignor of rosy silk. She crossed the room
to a box on the table at the further end;
she raised the lid of the box, only to let it
fall
"Where is the letter wrote to the Baron
Volrath?' she asked.
II posted it while you were at the theatre
last night-when Icame home after taking
you there, y answered Greta ssDid you not
tell me, fraulein, always to post the letter
found in that box?"
The actress turned her back to the maid.
Her acceptance of the baron, then, had gone
to him and she had meant to recall it.
Why?
The story which convulsed the town told
her more than it told the town, and she owned
to herself that she loved but one man, and
that was not the one whom she aad accepted
as her husband, but he who had
made deadly mistake through
thought of her. If that letter she had placed
in the box was posted there was another to
be posted at once, she fumbled at the pocket
of her peignor.
..Greta,S she said, s'the letter that was
here?"
II found it when I hung up the dress last
evening" = answered Greta. 1T was stamped,
SO / posted it along with the other Lilli
laughed. The second letter went to Clark; in
it she told him she had accepted the Baron
Volrath. Well it was right that it should go
after the other letter; and yet she would have
given the world to have had them both in her
hand at this moment.
~, .1,o = AZ.