Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-11-22
HERMIT OF THE PLAINS.
TRAVELLERS IN TEXAS ENTERTAINED
BY A MYSTERIOUS HOST.

lie Is Recognized by One OF His Guests,
Who Is Forbidden to Speak the Hermit's
Name on Peril of His Life-Subsequont
Disappearance of the Strange Man.
A certain gentleman, whom shall call
Herr IT,. was sent to Texas from Ber-
lin bv a syndicate of German noblemen
who were desirous of investing in land
for the purpose of establishing an exten-
sive ranch Herr L. stopped in Fort
Worth for a few days, and, hearing
favorable accounts of the country lying
northwest of this city. became impressed
with the idea that he would find there a
suitable location for the proposed ranch
I He wished to visit the sections hethourht
of purchasing, and your correspondent,
as agent for the Houston and Texas Cen
trail wlith owned the lands, was ap-
pointed to accompany him We left the
railroad ut Vernon, and went by private
/ conveyance to the tract in question,
which lay some eighteen miles out from
that town
/ As we left the hotel at Vernon we
asked the landlord if there was any
house on the road where we could pu
up for the night should it happen that
we would not be able to make the return
trip that day
"No house at all. sir" said mine host,
"excont that of the hermit"
"The hermitl' we both exclaimed.
yes, the hermit of the plains He's a
singular foreign character, who lives
some fifteen miles from here, all alone,
in little shanty about half a mile off
the ro-d He's so mighty unsociable he's
got himself the name of the hermit of
the plains. He might take you in. MIR.
-, but it's one of his peculiarities that
he can't bear German with n glance
at my comNanionb "and he wouldn't
accommodate me to save his life
"a rahid Frenchman, in all probabil-
ity,' said Herr L., as we. drove off
We had capital pair of brisk little
Texas ponies. all fire and nerve, and, the
roads being good, reached cur object
point in good time, but several hours
were consumed in driving over the coun-
try, and, unconscious of the flight of the
short day, we were surprised to find our
selves near its close. Another reason
for haste was also apparent in the
purplish masses of cloud lying near the
horizon that threatened n storm. In an
incredibly short time darkness was on
us and the entire heavens black with the
coming tempest. The ponies became
unmana"eable at the first peal of thunder
and forsoOk the road, which | vainly en-
deavorcd to find again; but the vivid
flashes of lightning, instead of serving
me, only added TO my confusion. An
hours plun%ing here and there in the
bald prairie threw me completely out of
my reckoning, and when at last the
storm had spent itself and the rain began
to pour down in torrents, couldn't have
told my RIGHT hand from my left. Herr
L. called my attention to dim but
steady spark of light burning close to
the horizon at no great distance from us
Taling it to he at some house we drove
the now s,lbdued ponies straight to it,
and found ourselves before low shautv,
THROUGH whose unshuttered window that
welcome light was shining. We knock
ed, and a voice in English, though with
a slight foreign accent, called out to
know who we were. We replied that
we were two belated, lost travellers. who
sought the shelter of roof for the
night. After some delay the door was
opened, and we stepped in. A man of
average hci@ht. b@t of commanding,
elegant bearing, stood holding in his
hand a candle, whose light falling OH his
face revealed it uGst distinctly. Herr
l. locked at Linn and at once ex-
claimed in amazenent:
"God in heaven. it is the Count Won
-
But the name was unuttered, for the
man droHpcd the candle instantly, and
sr"aN% i',t u Will beast at l. throat,
rry.a.. lN t.pr.-%H
"Sat.~ ti,at ua':ra'.d Ill you 'ik"
a Gosr'
L. &s-p.d cat t.!at Er would not,
and his ;isilaut t0oE his hands from
his throat ana rei.gitcd taa candle. The
room w&H furnished ruGc!y, but WAS
scrUpu!ously clean, and the plank table
covered with books that proved on cx-
animation to be the untransia.ed Latin
poets, with . few well chosen volumes
of English essays The hermit provided
us with Il supper of boiled ham and
crackers, and then, turning to l.,
said that if he would pledge himself not
to reveal to any one his name and
whereabouts we would be welcome TO
such shelter as he could offer. l.
promised and we remained all night.
There was only one room, and we all
slept in blankets on the floor. Our mys-
terious host had little or nothing to say,
and when l. volunteered some infor-
nation in regard to recent German poll
tics, replied that he wished never to
even hear the name of that country
mentioned again.
81 don't ask you who that man is, af-
ter your having given your word to him,
Herr L." said, "but what is he, or
rather what has he been?"
81 will tell you only this" answered
my companion. THAT lone hermit is
the head of one of the most powerful
families in Germany. He is supposed to
have died. however. some vears apO. At