The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-01-29
THE CROSS OF TIE KRIMMLER
TAUERN.

rol. A large yard surrounds the house.
In one corner of the yard is half ruined
summer house covered with rattling
grape vines, whose brown, dead leaves,
rustling in the wind, seem to hold no
promise of future fruitage. A rough
stone wall and huge iron gateway inclose
the yard, The front walk leading up to
the house is bOrdered on both sides by
poppy and rose beds, which in summer
fill the air with beauty and perfume.
At the back of the house are the barn
and outhouses, where the Gast-haus
keeper and his men are busy at work
pitching hay, remaking warm, sweet
beds for the handsome comfortable look
ing cattle that stand around the yard
chewing their cud. Two cows are inter
lacing their horns, their way of express
ing sisterly affection. Behind the barn
begin the gentle slopes of the mountain
side, rising to steep declivities, sweeps
of pasture land, beights of rock, forests
of oak, pine and chestnut-upward, up
ward until they seem to join the low,
heavy clouds piling up in vast cumuli,
black with the foreboding of an Alpine
snow storm.
The autumn had been an unusually
lOpen one in the Zillerthal region-stOrms !
of course and plenty of snow, but the
snow had come IN gentle falls and not in
tn multuOus surprises, blizzards and
fierce blast that obliterate roads, fell
great trees and rend rocks in the chasms.
Winter had stolen iuto the Tyrol gently,
and the pass over the Klimmler Tauern
was still open to the hardy mountaineer
and the guides, whose courage and hard |
ihOOd are alike undaunted
1t was the day before Christmas, the
great day of all the year in the HOfer
family, for on this day Uncle Josef came
over the mountains from Bruneck bring
ing on his back Christmas pack for the
children. To the little ones he was still
Santa Claus; to the older ones who had
OutgrOwn the legend and mystery he was
the dearest, best uncle in all the world.
And, o, that wOndrous pack! How sur
prising, how ever new and charming its
treasures. In it were always dolls and
carved wood animals for Lucia and Mar
tin, ribbons and picture books for
Gretchen and Franz, silver chains,
brooches and prayer books for Katrina,
Alicia and the good mother, fur caps
and gloves for Hans and Karl. Then
how glad were the little folk TO see dear
old Leo, the great shaggy st. Bernard
dog, who alwas jumped around in such
pleaaure to be among the children, and,
spring time, Uncle Josef went away to
his home over the mountains.
Ever and anon the men and boys at
work in the barnyard would pause to
look up at the dark lowering sky, for big,
white flakes were beginning to tlutter
softly down and keen wind came in fits
and starts through the valley. The
mOuntaineer seems to have an instructive
premonitiou of an unusual storm. His
keen sense of danger seems alive to it as
the war horse scents the battle from afar.
Karl, the eldest son, drew his jacket
tighter around him and said, "Father, do
you think Uncle Josef will reach here?
The clouds are so black over the
Tauern that l fear big snow storm
there"
Malchus Hofer looked with anxious
gaze toward the distant peaks, partly
enveloped in blue-back snow clouds, and
shook his head obviously, saying: "God
grant he may reach us safely, and may
hap he will, if he started early enough
this morning to be now on this side the
Tauern, but if the snow piles up much
higher in the pass to-day, | have my
doubts about Josef reaching us. Haste
with the work, my men; the COWS and
horses must have warm Christmas beds,
for it is going to be a bitter cold night,
and we will have plenty of snow by the
morning. All, here come the boys with
the Christmas tree Run, Karl, and help
them"
Karl willingly left his work and ran up
, the rocky pathway, over which his broth
ers were dragging Il green, shapely fir
i tree. The merry, red-cheeked, lusty,
+, young mountain lads soon brought it to
! the front door of the house, which was
opened by a lovely girl of about lS-
Katrina, the mother daughter. From
behind her peeped several girls and boys,
handsome, fair-haired and brown-haired.
| They all joined in the sport, and the tree
t was soon hauled in and arranged in the
large living room, which was also the
a dining room.
As the afternoon had wore away the
e storm had set IN furiOusly. The snow
S was driving in clouds SO thick that the
children, as they anxiOusly watched at
| the window for Uncle Josef, could
= scarcely see the iron gate at the foot of
b the walk The men had finished their
work, had closed the outbuilding, shut
S ting up the cattle in their warm, steam
a; ing managers, and were now seated
; around the deal table in the large hall,
/ drinking beer and smoking their long
t Weixel pipes. The green tiled stove in
the dinning room sent out a genial
= warmth from its glazed surface. On the
), long table were rows of handsome pew
ter and blue china beer mugs filled with
Il foaming draughts, wooden platters of
bread sprinkled with poppy and CARO-
S way seeds. From the kitchen came the
e savory odor of Leber-knoedel soup,
Wienerschhnitzel, baked potatoes and
4 onion pie, ready for the evening meal,
S mingled with the spicy odor of Christ
mas Kuchen and roasted meats in prep
e aration for the dinner on Christmas day.
c As the supper was placed upon the table
and one by one the members of the fam
+ ily ate the meal, a silence seemed to fall
i over ALL Each one said little, but seemed
to be listening as if expecting each
S moment to hear the beating of boots
1 against the stone steps, the hearty voice
c of Uncle Josef wishing them Christmas
/ cheer and the joyous bark of Leo, the
S good old st. Bernard dog But no such
g welcome sounds fell upon their ears, only
t the wind bowling around the house, the
: beating of the snow against the windows
# and the cracking and rattling of the
wooden shutters. The men talked in
a subdued tones or smoked their pipes and
h drank their beer in silence. The children
, cut white tissue paper into snow and
d hung it with gilded nuts on the tree.
: The eyelids of little Lucia and Martin
finally dropped over the big blue eyes
II with the sleep that would come, and
G Katrina carried them OFF to bed, sobbing
/, because they could not wake up until
IS Santa Claus should come with the won
derful pack.
# As night advanced and black darkness
d fell over the village and the landscape
l. heavy within them. Father HofeI
r brought out his snow boots and great
l. coat and bundled up to 90 out and take
a look over the valley road. Karl and
n one of the men joined him. Good mother
l. Anna tried to comfort her little family,
d for all, by this time, were persuaded that
r. something dreadful had happened to
Is Uncle Josef, that he either had fallen a
l. victim to the fatal snOW-sleep or had lost
e his footing and penshed in some hidden
n chasm of the glacier. The hours passed
on. The men returned. With difficulty
Ie they had made their way to the foot Of
7. the Saumweg, the rocky step path up
5. the mountain and back again TO the
4 house, for the darkness was almost i'm
|. penetrable. No news of the wanderer
,e Such night had not been seen for years
% and woe be TO Uncle Josef if he should
st be struggling through it. Gretchen and
t, Franz in the corner behind the green
q stove sat with their arms around each
other half frightened at the quiet in the
W room and the howling of the storm out
is side, which they thought must be the
le voices of the weird witches of the
n Brocken. "rhe little ones must 90 tC
IS bed, said Father Hofer, "they are tired
n and sleepy and there is no use in keeping
them up any long good mother. God
,s orrant t6at iosef NAV he safe in the Hos.