Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-02-01

became severe and caused me the great
est fright. l had no reason TO be sat
lstied with myself, for dark clouds OBJ
scured my soul. 1t was my fault, my
great fault, but I must tell the story
from the beginning. During the af-
ternoon of this day, Ludwig aud 1 we're
Watching our goats on the pliteau of
the Altenberg; We plated the cords of
our whips, We whistled, we thought of
nothing. The goats climbed to the
point OF the rocks, stretching their
necks to reach the short grass. Our
old dog, Bochel, quite toothless, slept
With his wolf-like head between his
paws. We were lying under the shade
OF fir tree, when suddenly Lndwig
extended his whip towar Is the ravine
and said, "Look yonder on the edge of
the great rock, upon that bsech tree
Is nest of black birds" / looked and
saw the old black bird flying from
branch to branch, for he knew already
that We were watching him. A thou
sand times Uncle Bernard had forbid
den me to rob the birds nests; then
too, the nest was above the precIpice,
between the forks of dead branch. I
looked dreamily; Ludwig, said, 'there
are some young ones, l heard them
crying for food this morning as | went
to gather mulberries; tomorrow they
will fly away for they must be feath-
| cred out" L made no answer. / arose,
went to the tree and tried to clasp nv
arms about it, it was too large; unfor-
tuDately near it grew a small beech
tree quite green. l climbed it, ard as
it bent with my weight 1 caught the
| lowest branches of the large tree. 1
| climbed up, the black birds meanwhile
uttering plaiutiye cries. | did not heed
| them. / reached the nest and saw
three little birds and one egg in it: the
little ones stretched out their great
yellow beaks, open to the throat, as l
! cautiously put forth my hand. Sud
| denly the branch snapped like glass. /
had time only to cry Oh, my Father
| Then l turned twice and fell upon a
| great branch below, where 1 chung
with all my strength. The whole tree
| shook even to Its roots; the branch fell
! striking the rocks with a sound which
made me guiver. 1 looked in spite OF
myself, even TO the bottom of the
, ravine; the branch whirled round and
/ round in the foam and at length was
driven into the vortex and lost to sight
! Slowly and painfully L descended the
tree and almost fainting reached the
| heather. The old black birds flew
around me uttering poIrnful cries.
Lud wig ran with fright from the ter
| rible place, but as he ran down the
Altenberg by chance he turned hi
| head and saw me safe. Returning, be
cried out of breath, "You did not fall
on the rocks?" mo God saved me, ,"
! replied, "but let us go. i am afraid
of this place"
1t was seven o'clock; the srn had set
(! behind the frs and our dog led the
flock of goats down the dusty path to
z Hirschl,nd. Neither Ludwig nor ]
blew joyously on our horns, as on
other evenings, to hea, the echo OF
Roche Creuse reply to us; We were
yet trembling with fear. At length
the village was reached: the goats sep
| arated going to the right and left, each
one stopping before the stable of his
owner. l said to Ludwig, "Do not
tell any one." Never" he replied.
went into the house. Uncle Ber-
nard had gone high up on the mount
aims to see the old charcoal burner
who was very i'll, and as usual he ex-
pected that we, Gredel and 1, would
have our supper at home together If
h
Supper was ready and L ate in silence,
after which Gredel took the plates TO
| the kitchen and [ went to the library.
Taking the shell in my hands, not
without lnquietude, l placed it to nv
ear. God in Heaven, how it mur-
INJURED! L heard the torrent roar and
mingled with it the plaintive cries of
the black birds, the cracking of the
hra Lysn ,,h Ah4, - 4,
in striking the rocks, on its way to the
! bottom of the rsvine; worst of all
| thought to hear the crushing of the
poor little birds. 1t was terrible. L
went to my little room and went to
bed, but l could not sleep. L was
afraid.
About ten o'clock the silence of the
: night was broken. l heard Uncle's
horse as he trotted by to the stable,
heard Uncle enter the house and get
his luncheon as was his habit when
coming home Lite. If he knew what 1
had done, 1 said to myself. Finally
heard him go TO his room. In vain /
turned and turned again, my excite
ment was too great for sleep. 1 felt
that my soul was black as ink, yet /
could not weep. Towards midnight
my despair became so great that con-
fession was the only alternative. 1
went down stairs to Uncle's room,
where night lamp was burning on his
table, and knelt before his bed. Uncle
Bernard awoke with start, and looked
at me with astonishInent. is it you
Fritzel?" said he "What is the matter
my child?" "Uncle Bernard, cried 1
sobbing, "forgive me, / have slnned
against heaven and against you"
"What have you aone2" he asked ten
derly. ITO rob a bIackbird's nest L
climbed beech tree on the AItenperg
and the branch is broken" "Brokenl
Oh, my Godp' "Yes, and the Lord
saved me by permitting me to cling to
another branch Now the old birds
demand of me their young ones, they
fly around me and prevent my sleep
ing" Uncle was silent. 1 wept bit
terly. "Uncie," I continued, ''I lis
tened to the she'll tEis evening. All is
broken; I Can never make it right
again. Then he took me in his arms
and said in solemn voice, "Be
quiet Fritzel forgive you but let this
be lesson to you, think Of my grief
had you been brought home dead
The poor father and mother OF the
little blackbirds are as desolate as
should have been; they ask again and
again for their children. You did not
think of that but since you repent
forgive you" He ceased and handed
me glass of sugared water saying,
go to sleep, the poor old birds will
no longer trouble you, God will par
don you, but you will no longer watch
the goats; you must go to school," l
went to my room quietly and slept
sUeatIy