The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-12-30
THE WHITE LADY'S CRIME
WASHED HER VEIL FOR THREE
HUNDRED YEARS.

man Literature ADOunuS-4t - q
story With an Obvious Moral-How
the Peasant Girl Won Pot of Gold
by Her Goodness.
From the German in Current Literature.
Once there was young peasant girl who
was the handsomest maiden in all the coun-
try round, but she was wretchedly poor in
everything except good blood. Her cheeks
were as red as two peonies, and one day
when she cut her hand with the sickle it
seemed as if the blood would never stop
flowing. Fortunately the shepherds house
was not far off, and the shepherd was at
homa He was a man who understood
more about the art of healing than ten
city doctors. He repeated charm and, as
an extra precaution, stuck plaster over
the wound. Then it stopped bleeding, and
of course it was the charm that did it, Three
DAYS after ward the beautiful girl took her
apron to the brook TO wash out the drops
Of blood which had fallen on it, The water
came down from a wooded hill, which was
crowned with an old ruined castle, and not
far from its source formed a wide. deep
basin, on whose shores grew willows and
alder bushes. The maiden knelt down by
the edge OF the water and began her work
without looking up. But after while she
CHANGED to raise her eyes, and TO her aston
ishment she saw that she was not alone.
Opposite her. on the other side of the brook,
knelt beautiful, pale woman, dressed
in pure white, who was also trying TO
wash some blood-stained linen. But as
often as she took the garment out of the
stream the drops rolled of as from the
feathers of a swan; the cloth remained dry,
and the stains as bright a crimson as before.
Tns maiden looked with amazement at the
cf4. chnp Won nm md
20 breathe. AT last the pale lady saw that
her work was useless. Sadly she looked at
the bloody garment and said half aloud:
Ny vel have washed for three hundred years.
But as bloody as ever it still appears.
Then the maiden was seized with terror;
she jumped up and ran in Wild haste away
7Eom the uncanny washerwoman and back
to the village. In the village lived an old
wise-woman who could give advice about
all sorts of things After the Angelus, the
young girl went to her and told her what
bad happened.
THAT was the enchanted lady of the
mountain castle" said the old woman, and
then she related what she knew of her his
tory. Many years ago knight lived up
there in the castle, and he had a wife who
was beautiful beyond compare, but like
wise proud and vain. And because she
priced beauty above everything else, she had
recourse to witchcraft and committed
horrible deed. When her little child was
born she stabbed it through the heart ana
bathed herself in the warm blood BY this
means she expected to win eternal youth
and imperishable beauty. AS the penalty
for her crime she finds no rest in
the grave, but has to wander about
in the ruins of the old castle. The hunts
men and wood-cutters often see her there
as she goes about wailiRg and wringing her
hands The long veil which floats down
fryDr hax. baad IN dntfa1 with rfy1 he. il
reality they are drops OF blood And when
the day on which she committed the hor-
rlble crime comes around she goes down to
the water in the forest to wash the blood
stains from her veil, but she never has sue
ceeded and never will. They say, besides,
that she guards treasure, which lies buried
In the old castle, and who knows, my child,
but that it might have fallen TO your lot, if
you had held your ground"
The young girl listened to the old woman
with awe. But in spite of her fear she
ventured the next day to go to the brook
again, where the ghcstly washerwoman had
appeared to her, but the pale lady did not
come. IndeedI the old woman spoke truly
when she said the enchanted one appeared
by the water only on the anniversary of her
evil deed. So the girl took notice OF the
exact day and hour and waited patiently a
whole year long When the year had passed
away and the day had come back again the
courageous maiden went with bundle of
washing ON her head to the place where the
spell-bound lady of the castle appeared
She took the precaution to hide little
wooden cross in her bodice as q charm
against evil spirits. But the nearer she
came to the brook the more her footsteps
faltered, and her heart beat louder and
louder, and when she really saw the en-
chanted washerwoman by the edge of the
water she came very near turning back
But the pale lady gave her look so inex-
pressively sad that the young girl over
came her fears and fingered
My veil have washed for three hundred years.
But as bloody as ever it still appears,
murmured the unhappy woman, and she
rubbed and rinsed tie bloody linen while
she groaned aud sighed. Then the young
girl took heart and said: ''In the name of
the Lord, give me the clothr The pale
lady looked up with delight and handed the
veil to the maiden, and 10, beneath the
hands of the virgin the red stains djsap-
peared, and the linen became as white and
clean as new-fallen snow. Then bright
tears rolled down the pale face of the spell
bound lady; she took the proffered veil and
beckoned to the maiden with her white
hand. Like a will-o'-tne-wisp she
giided over the ground, swerving
now ito the right now to the left
among the fir trees. From time to
time she turned her head to see whether
Inc malGen was following her. She had
grasped her little cross and walked bravely
behind her weird leader. who went toward
the ruined castle. In an underground
vault, whose roof had fallen in, the pale
lady checked her footsteps and pointed to a
stone, which was set into the floor. The
maiden raised the stone with her strong
arm, but the next moment she started back
with horror. In the hole stood a kettle.
flied with gold pieces and costly ornaments,
but on the top of it lay little dead child
with bloody wound in its breast. The
young girl was about to run away, but
when she saw how the pale lady wrunp-
her hands in deep distress she re-
manned where she was, and laid the wooden
cross she carried in her hand on the dead
child's breast. Then the lady in white
folded her hands and bent her head low.
She grew paler and paler like dream at the
growing OF the morn-heraidlng cock, and
finally the misty form fad d from sight.
When the young girl turned her eyes again
toward the hole the dead child had disap-
pearet, the cross lay on the precious kettle,
the yellow gold shone and glistened in the
sunlight which came through the broken
wall Without any further fears of appa-
ritions, she carried her treasure trove
safely home, and in the eyes Of the young
men became three times as beautiful as be-
fore.
CANE GRINDING-SUGAR BOILING