Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1895-05-16

until the evening before | met You at
the railway station From that day
to this | have neither seen him nor
heard from him.
Rudolf was the son of poor Ger,
man gentleman, ana was receiving his
/ education on very low terms through
the kindness Of the head.masfer. AL
! though Rudolf returned my liking and
I NaS willing enough to pair of with me
as my special friend, soon discovered
! in his character an impenetrahle mys-
| terry. Boy AS he was, he had mar
: vellouS power of reticence. | have
since believed this to have been in
| duced in him by some abnormal cir
/ cumstance connected with the family
| history. After time ] became sutti-
GENTLY intimate with his family to be
invited TO spend a day or two with
1 them. Their house was a mere cottage,
and the manege wa carried on with
a rigid economy Nevertheless,
, looked forward to, these visits. If the
I food was plain, the conversation had a
! certain color whcih fired my imagina-
ton. BY degrees | began 10 think
there was something in life much more
inSpiriting than mere duty. Won Halle
was, in short, a 'tete eXaltee, Rudolf
partook of the same quality, and | my
! self became infected by a certain infla-
ton of mind that was morbid, and pc
culia1y foreign, and which was GER
tain IN time to thrust me upon some
unusual action.
But of the Won Halle family the
person who inspired me with a real
enthusiasm of affection was Mime. Won
Halle. Her gentle, unseltish and noble
character awakened in me all that boy
ish adora ton which | might have
spent upon my own mother, had pos
sessed one; and | still ratlin in my
heart the memory OF the deep regard
with which | always thought of her.
Rudolf snd were ambitious stu
dents, and at the end of cur school
career the head-master sent us up to
! oNbridge to compete for scholarships
there. We were both successful.
won the first scholarship Mt ST.
Thomas's; he won the second. But
then arose n difficulty. While Mr.. Won
Halle was glad enough to have OBJ
tanned the chance Of university edu
4 cation for his son, my Uncle Albert
saw the matter in a very different
light. He destined me for a partner
ship with himself The had no soil. but
only two daughteYsl, and was ayerse
to my spending further time in educa-
ton or throwing myself away upon
Il literary career Ii ended In Il quar-
( rel between us left home and, three
or four months before my university
I career could begin. found myself In the
world alone and with scarcely 4 pound
that | could call my own. Just al this
point Mr.. Won Halle heard Of pro
spectlve engagement at NJ. the
town that. 1t, where | had the~pleas-
ure If | may so describe It. of meet
ing with you, Miss Keith, and hearing
of my position, he very kindly sug-
I gested my accompanying them there,
sharing their house, and seeking some
sort Of employment for the Short time
I that remained before we went to OK
bridge Rudolf was TO do the same.
This off or accepted. We all moved
to NJ together, and after tramp
ing the town for a few days / eyentu-
ally found work as accountant III one
! Of the departments of the stores. This
I only obtained because the reah-ac.
eountant was III at the time. My
wages Were to be sixteen shillings a
week Rudolf got situation at ten
shillings. 1t was very meagre, hut we
l saw ourselves in fair way to exist
| until the university terms began. But
lust then an unlooked-for calamity oc-
| Cured Mr.. Won Halle missed getting
| the work which he had calculated
upon and found himself In a strange
town. without a friend, and without
4 the prospect of an income. With my
/ wages and Rudolph's, our weekly in
come now only amounted to one pound
and six shillngs. Won Halle had q
4 little, very little, money in hand.
! Somehow we could manage to keep
4 the wolf from the door. All might yet
have been well all might have come
/ right In time, had 1t not been for that
] indefnable something.
zone day, shortly after our arrival
at NJ, a stranger called at the house;
4 stranger, that is. to me- lie was
shown at once into the small back
room; but char ced 10 come along the
I passage at the moment Of his arrival.
and noticed that he started and pnt
his hand to his face, rs though not
wishing to be seen Yet / received a
/ clear impression Of what he was like.
/ He was a short, slight. but muscular
looking man, very dark, and of Tint
I exceedingly foreign east of feature
/ which we associate with the Tartafic
( or Monaghan tribes
4 Il proceeded into the front room and
sat down with q book. Throughout
the evening ! heard the sound o.
voices in earnest conversation IN the
next room. Now and then Nine. Won
Halle came IN, but otherwise | was
left to myself. She, | noticed,
looked toubled had before
gathered that the mystery, what
ever it was, was distasteful to her,
I nag, even serious distress. When