New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-09-03

II
to throw herself at the head of any
one, and was neither rich nor hand.
some, nor illustrious. only poor
captain who lived on his pay, and al
ready at the turn Of age. Indeed,
my preoccupation was so great that
| Numbered in the exercises. j. the,
Oldest captain of the regiment, till
my comrades decided that the sun.
| had turned my. brain
Neither was more at case when
evening came, and I found myself in
full uniform, with vanished boots
and KEPT in hand, entering such q
boudoir as you have never seen. The
lightfell from a porcelain globe which
gave to everything an. opalescent
tint, deepened the shadows, and
softened the colors like a yelling mist.
with here and there a reflection clear
and brilliant from a gilded frame up.
on the wall. A thick Persian carpet
covered the floor, heavy draperies
the windows, and, as [ entered this
apartment, aWomaD-Sarah-ca
to meet me.
Il had need of your assistance
she said to me; thanks for coming!'
And then, sitting beside cher, L listened,
paying more attention to the music
of her voice, sonorous as a golden
bell, than to what she was saying,
while she told me what Villaret had
told me before. The deception she
had practiced upon her father in con
cert with Goblin, the happiness of the
first days, the disillusion, WEAKNESS,
and the homesickness for the family
which nothing had been able to cure.
1t was for this she had sent for me-
me, her fathers friend. She wished
me to see him and bring about
reconciliation, for which her heart
was sore.
Well, intoxicated with her beauty
and those subtle odors which prevail
ed the boudoir, and reckless of the
fate which befalls those who NEEDLE
in such affairs, I promised every
thing that she wished, demanding in
return but a kiss upon her hand, my
heart notwithstanding ''the charge"
in my breast. And all night long
[ tossed in my bed, still under the
sway of her strange fascination, the
domination of a fixed and obstinate
idea which reduced me to the ridic-
ulous state of a pupet in the hands
OF this singular woman. I was
ashamed of my weakness, but, never
the less, when morning came, like a
soldier of his word, I started for the
shop in Troisieme- Bataillion-d 'Afri-
que.
The devils own task it was to de-
eide the father to see the daughter.
'No!" he cried; mol will see herno
more, this Deborah! The middleton
of the Eternal weight upon her head!
May her beauty fade as the rose Of
August! May the earth open and
engulf her as Core, Dathan, and
Abiram! May my eyes close to the
light of day if ever she comes before,
them! May my hand wither away if
ever she touches it with her own!''
i would rather have managed a
regiment of Bedouins! But persist
ed, painting for him the despair OF
Sarah, the tears she had shed in nv
presence, and I found the way to elo-
quence, Iwho had never been able to
say two words without stammering.
The mother was there, too, listening,
without a word, stony, and, at first,
equally pitiless.
I was red as my KEPT and sweating
like q sponge with my exertions,
when, at last, after talking together
in long Hebrew phrases, [ received
the consent for the interview I had
SO ardently demanded. Too happy
for the moment to notice anything,
remembred afterward, in recalling
the scene how strange had been the
expression of both Of them in giving
their assent, something devilish,
triumphant, but nothing paternal
at the return of a repentant soul.
The interview was fixed for the
same evening, at the fail of night.
Sarah was to come alone, and they
would then decide if she was to re-
main in the house. All. had I but
known when I dispatched the mis-
sive to her announcing my success!
The day passed TRANQUILITY as usual;
several times [ was on the point of
returning to Sarah's house, but still
had strength to refrain, and night
had come and the hour for the in
terview struck before I yielded to the
irresistible desire to know what was
passing at the Jews house the de-
sire of seeing for myself the reconcile
alton and the JOY which / had
brought about.
At the top Of the Troisieme- Batail-
lion l stopped moment to regain
my breath. Not a sound troubled
/ the silence. A ray of moonlight fell
in a straight white line upon the
pavement, the shadows thickened
about the corners OF the angular
roofs, and |, planted like picket,
listened with all my ears and heard
but the paintings of my lungs, the
precipitate throbs Of my heart. A
sudden thrill of uneasiness had seized
upon me; there was so little Of the
air of festival at the return of child
about this closed dwelling! Not a
/ murmur, not a light-nothi
4 y =.