Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-02-04

letter to arrive. and before my time l
could not stir.
At last ! discovered diversion. It
came in the shape Of acompatriot, resi-
dent compatriot. Not that in appear
ance or garb he was much of an English
man. Twenty years residence in Dunn
melsheim had made him more German
than the Germans, and had quite obliter-
ated the handiwork of the good old land
that gave him birth. He had all but for
gotten his mother speech, and when he
endeavored to use it his sentences were
patched together by the Teutonic words
and phrases which came most readily to
his tongue. He was as regardless of his
personal appearance as the most inborn
of the Dummelsheimers and as devoted
TO the consumption of tobacco as the best
of them. 1t was supposed that he was
bachelor. At any rate. Of 'womankind"
he had none, and lived alone with merely
the intermittent aid of a supernaturally
hideous frau at those times when scour-
ing and cleansing became bitter neces-
sity.
1t was in a cafe that first met with
him. | thought when l first saw him,
"What dreadful shaggy old German
that is; no one could mistake his nation
atty, at any rate" He seemed to be a
part and parcel Of the green, moldy
place, sort Of human ichen, an ami
mated fungus, on two short and sturdy
legs. And his smoking and splitting were
an honor to his adopted country, and
would have been creditable even in a
citizen in San Francisco, or dweller in
poverty Flat" However, a compatriot
is compatriot, and if one has to scrape
the dirt from his countenance in order
to recognize him, the operation must be
gone through for the sake of the dear
land Of our fathers.
My German Englishmdn 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
Dummelsheimers had once, in a fit Of
playfulness, applied a hatchet to the
back hair of his betrothed, and also the
Jail in front of which he was afterward
hanged as a punishment for his little
escapade. Many other spots of interest,
where incidents of a less tragic though
) still striking character had occurred,
were also designated by his kindly walk
: ing stick as we strolled along. After u
day or so my newly found friend began
to resume his native speech, so long dis
used, and by that time also had learned
to translate into ordinary English his
quaint and puzzling Anglo-German ex-
pressions.
So we managed to get on very well
together, and found him an interesting
if a slightly dirty old man. The town,
when explained by such cicerone, was
invested with quite new charm of in
terest. It was quaint enough without
any extraneous help, and the houses, be-
ing for the most part ancient timbered
edifces, and the gables leaning forward
with age and hanging over the streets,
one obtained every now and again a
street vista of delicious picturesqueness,
in which the ancient houses, nodding to-
ward each oth,r, seemed to be whisper
ing forgotten and piquant scandal of the
good old German days.
There were at every turn and corner
abundant "bits," which an artist for an
illustrated paper would have found very
handy, and sketches of which he could
have rapidly converted into current coin
of the realm.
am no artist, but to my great sur
prise / discovered that my dear and
dirty new found acquaintance and coun-
tryman was. One day, having accom-
panied him to the queer and humble
lodging which he inhabited, found on
the walls certain indubitable proofs of
his artistic bent. There were many ad-
mirable sketches in chalk and sepia of
striking points in the valley, and of cer-
tain buildings and objects in the town
! itself.
: The fountain in the market place was
there with its great St. Christopher as
its center figure. There were the porch
of st. Christopher's church, the quaint
l turret at the angle of the town hall, and
the crumbling ruins of an ancient for
tress on the Ganzberg. Among other
things noticed sketch of certain
picturesque old house which l had in
iced seen, but the locality Of which l
did not remember at the time.
: mentioned this fact.
each nein, have not shown you him.
is in the Lederstrasie," he replied.
"We will see him together auf morgen. :"
On the morrow, accordingly, we walk
ed together to the Lederstrasse.
As we entered the dirty old street my
: companion remarked, 81 have never been
in this street for twenty years or more,
and / never wish to enter it again.
My curiosity was reused.
! "Why?" inquired.
Tgot so great fright here once, and
was so much laughed at, he answered.
"Why, what is there about this street
to frighten you? 1t is old enough, GER
tainly, and quaint enough, and smells
rather-pahT" I exclaimed, as full
favored German stencil saluted my nos
trils; "but nothing terrible, after ALL"
swell, mein Herr, it is not the street;
it is that house, and-the ghost in it,"
the Anglo German replied, with sort
of shudder, so to speak, in his voice.
"Oh, oh! then you have not lived long
enough yet, and you are not quite boy,
: to get rid of your superstitions, eh? You
are still afraid of ghosts, are your"
81 was afraid of what I saw" he re-
piled, with a certain amount of dignity,
as if hurt by my light manner and my
tones of mockery.
My curiosity was of course aroused,
and I doubt not yours, reader, would
have been by this speech, and l was
ahA11t To cxa1nsfinaa him