Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-11-08

end of the house. purposely delayed
opening the gate till the arrival of a
second flash gave me an opportunity
to note their action more precisely.
But when the next sudden illumina-
ton came, the men were no longer
visible.
We drove up to the door, and after
for some little time, an inner
bar was withdrawn, and woman,
with lantern in her hand, presented
herself. mo, we could not come in, "
she said. in answer to our queries.
"She was ill-she had just sustained a
terrible bereavement-shew wanted no
strangers peeking about her premises.
Not that there was any thing to hide
-" And she was going on. maun-
dering In an imbecile sort of way,
when she was suddenly thrust aside
by a short, sharp-looking young fell
low, who took upon himself the Office
of spokesman.
"Come in? OF course the gentlemen
should come in. It was not night to
keep a dog out in. The horse could
be put under the shed, and would do
there very we'll till morning. And if
the gentlemen wanted any supper, they
could have eggs and ham, and some
hot whisky-and-water to keep off the
chill. Don't be fool, mother; stand
aside, say, and let the folks in, out
of the wet"
We found ourselves, on entering, In
a spacious, low-ceilinged kitchen, which
somehow looked desolate, instead OF
CHEEKY and comfortable. The woman
who had first accosted AS retreated to
seat beside the blackened hearth,
whereon no fire had apparently been
lighted for some time, and there seat
ed herself, swaying herself to and fro,
with her hands clasped over her knees
and her eyes fixed on vacancy. She
was past middle age, and was red.
haired and freckled, but with the re-
mains of considerable beauty still ap-
parent in her regular features, white
skin and shapely form The man who
had insisted upon our entrance, in spite
of his hospitable action, was any thing
but a genial or prepossessing-looking
parsonage. He was thin and sickly-
looking, with shifting, uneasy eyes,
and sallow. unshaven face. He
seemed uneasily and ostentatiously
anxious to welcome US, brought us
chairs and set about lighting the fire
and getting supper, while the woman
sat rocking herself to and fro and no.
ticed nothing. Her son introduced
himself as Ludwig Schultz, and also
vouchsafed the information that his
mothe. had married twice, her second
husband being old Jacob Gruber. He
died of apoplexy this morning, gentle
men," ae continued, 'tand that's why
she's S. upset Mind the frying-pan,
can't ou, mother? But just don't no.
tice hsr. but eat your suppers, and I'll
show you to a bedroom whenever
you'va a notion to go to it. And you'll
not mind things being bit dull, as the
old NTH died so suddenly only few
hours ago?"
We assured him that we would not;
the idea of the presence of corpse
beneash the roof that sheltered us be-
ing any thing but agreeable or enliven-
ing, whilst the presence of that silent
woman, see-sawing herself to and
fro with monotonous action, and
her eyes fixed on vacancy,
was enough in itself to de-
press our spirits. The meal when
served was more appetizing than might
have been expected, and we both did
it full justice. Before we had quite
finished door at the end of the room
was pushed open, and a half-drunken,
heavy-looking young fellow staggered
into the room. He was thick-set,
misunderstanding man of about twenty
five, with a broad Teutonic countenance
which seemed as though it were meant
by Nature to be CHEEKY and kindly
looking, but had been changed by the
inner force of character into roughness
and brutality. He glared at us with q
sort of stupid ferocity mixed with
amazement.
Now, what the deuce" he was
beginning. roughly, when his brother
seized his arm, and, saying something
to him in German in an undertone,
half dragged, half pushed him out Of
the room. There was the noise of a
sharp alteration outside for few
minutes, and then the man called Lud-
wig came back and offered to show us
to our room. We accepted his offer, and
he led the way to an upper story,
around which ran a wide porch, sup.
ported on rough-hewn pillars. On this
porch the windows and door of each
room opened. There was no corridor,
and the only access to this upper floor
was by flight of stairs, leading from
the kitchen we had just left. Oul
guide unlocked the door of one of the
rooms, and set down the candle on the
little table.
"Do either of you gentlemen speak
German?" he asked.
Mot one word of it," answered DR.
Melfort, much to my surprise, for his
mother had been a German lady, anG
he spoke the language like native.
s.All right" said Schultz, with 6
perceptible air of relief. "Only, you
see, the old woman speaks German
better than she does English-and
thought-so, if you want any thing
Well, I'll say goodnight and a good
sleep to YOU
He took his departure, and as soon
as his numbering footsteps had dice
away in the distance, the doctor un
fastened the door and stepped out OF
the porch. liam going to reconnoitel
a little" he said. in a whisper. ''Come