The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-09
VsYlfE HAVE BECOME EP1cUREs

VoH[fAE HAVE EPlCURES
A1HY2 in the supernatural. The respect
OXeXc able and conventional ghost and
the haunted chamber OF the oldmanor-house
no longer serve our turn. A spectre, to COM
mand our respect, must be, nowadays, Of
original habits. and go stand somewhat
apart from the other members Of his extern
sive clan.
/ was, therefore, not a little pleased when,
a few years ago, / succeeded in lighting up
on a spectre of somewhat unconventional
type.
Mp treasure trove was acquired as fol-
lows:
happened to be detained for a short
time in a small and exceedingly tumble
Town old town in the middle of the Black
Forest.
The place of which | speak is little better
h a large village, though in Difference to
the feelings of its worthy inhabitants, who
consider it, no doubt, as the hub of the
universe I have dignifed it with the ap-
pellation Of town, and lies quite out of the
ordinary run of tourists, high and dry
above the restless ebb and flow of the great
e1cursional ocean.
Let us call the old place by the name of
"Dummelsheim;" it will do as we'll rs my
other name, and will convey q delicate and
not unmerited compliment to its respected
inhabitants.
/ Dummelsheim, then, lies in one OF the
l~oveliest Of the many lovely Green valleys
which run like tongues of verdure between
the pine-clad heights and crags of the BLACK
Forest. It is got down on a small patch of
tablsland, above which rise some wonderful
shapes of orag and pine forest, and below
which a little mountain stream PUSHES fran
tically night and day, raging and tearing its
little life out among the great boulders and
between the fern-clad banks, yearning to
obliterate itself in the nearest river that Of
fers a refuge.
l happened to be detained in this place
on special business for a whole fortnight.
A fortnight in Dummelsheim, with moth
ing to do, represents about five years of or
binary existence in length md tedium.
l explored the lovely valley. not without
duly feeling the charm of its peace and iso-
lation; l drank, as in duty bound, very
many tumblers of the peculiarly nauseous
spa water, of which the Dummelsheimers
are SO UNNECESSARILY proud; and then time
began indeed to hang heavily ON my hands.
There was no gaming table, no theater, no
concert hall; a few noisy Gasthauser in
which German Lieder made night and
morning hideous, and wi ere the lagerbier
WAS the worst that money could lu.chase,
afforded the only amusement of which the
stupid little place was capable.
To be sure, there was billiards" Every
one plays billiards in Dummelsheim, other
wise its folks could not exist. Even bill
iards, however. with cork pool and the fear
full delight of overLurning your opponents
cork with it's pile of silbergroschen begins
tn nall nnOp ona in TINA nnI ara n four
teen days %sojourn drew to u close l became
not only weary of poor little DummeIsheim,
but began absolutely to loathe the place. l
could not leave it, however. A certain
event had to happen, a letter to arrive, and
before my time l could not stir.
At last 1 discovered a diversion. 1t came
in the shape of n compatriot, a resident
compatriot. Not that in appearance or
garb he was much of an Englishman.
Twenty years residence in Dummelsheim
had made him more German thar the Ger
mans, and had quite obliterated the handi-
work of the good old land that gave him
birth. Eie had all but forgotten his mother
speech, and when he endeavoted to use it
his sentences were patched together by the
Teutonio words and phrases, which came
more readily to his tongue. He WAS as re-
gardiess oil his personal appearance as the
most Unborn of the Dummelsheimers, and
as devoted to the consumption of tobacco
as the best of them. 1t was supposed that
he was a bachelor. At any rate, of woman
kind he had none, and lived alone with
merely with the m aid of Il super
naturally hideous frau at those times when
securing and cleansing became a hitter ne
~cessity.
1t was in q cafe that l first met with him.
! thought when l first saw him, what Il
dreadfully shaggy old German that is; no
one could mistake his nationality, at any
rate" He seemed to be a part and parcel
of the green, mouldy place, y sort of hu-
man llchen, An animated fungus, on two
short and sturdy legs. And his smoking
and splitting were an honor to his adopted
country, and would have been crsditable
even in a citizen of San Francisco, or a
dweller in Poverty Flat" However, a
compatriot is n compatriot, and If one has
to scrape the dirt from his c%ountenance in
order to recognize him the operation must
be Rone through for the sake of the dear
Ian of our fathers.
My German-Englishman proved, as a
companion, decidedly better than none at
all, and In his morning rambles with me
pointed out with great care What he knew
OF the antiquities of the little town; showed
me a wood where one of the Dummelshei
mers had once, in Il fit of playfulness, APP
piled a hatchet to the back hair Of his
betrothet, and also the Jail in front of
which he was afterward hanged as n punish
ment for his little %escapade. Many other
spots OF interest, where incidents of q less
tInRAG, suouku hOill Striking, ClardCLer laO
occurred, were also designated by his kindly
walking-stick as we strolled along. After
a day or 30 my newly found friend began to
resume his native speech, SO long disused,
and by that time l also had learned to
translate into ordinary English his quaint
and puzzlinR Anglo-German expressions.
SO We managed to get on very we'll to-
Gether, md l found him an interesting if q
slightly dirty old man. The town, when
explained by such a cicerone. Was invested
with quite a new charm Of interest. 1t was
quaint enough without any e%xtraneous help
and the houses, being for the most part an
cient timbered editices and the gables lean
ing forward and hanging over the streets.
one obtained every now and again = street
vista of delicious picturesqueness, in which
tho ancient houses. nodding toward each
other, seemed to be whispering forgotten
and piquant scandal of the good old Ger
man days.
There were at every turn and corner abun-
dant bits" which an artist for an illus.
trated paper would have found very handy,
and sketches of which he could have rapidly
converted into current coin of the realm.
l am no artist, but to my great surprise ]
discovered that my dear and dirty new
found acquaintance and countryman was.
One day, having accompanied HIM TO the
queer and humble lodging which he inhabi-
ted, l found OF the walls certain indubita-
BILE proofs Of his artistic bent. There were
many admirable sketches in chalk and
sepia of striking points in the valley, and
of certain buildings and objects in the
town itself.