The Portland daily press., 1895-07-05

mine host, who was in an unusually
good humor from beer and prosperous
day.
The townspeople had always spoken
of the sinking house with bated breath
and with wise shakes of the head that
told me nothing. This uncommunicative
Teutonic nature! Iswore at it-openly
eff had been in the gardens of Cadiz,
I should have had the whole tale in a
twinkling.'' In vain 1 had endeavored
to fish it all out of their ponderous
Dutch depths. cit isn't wise to talk of
these things" was the answer had re-
ceived. And the good people had gone
their way, one to his farm and another
to his merchandise and refined soap.
And 1 had learned nothing.
But mine host was talkative that
night, and I called for unlimited mugs
of foaming beer. At last he turned on
the tap of the pallid, awful story.
''He wrote it all down with his own
hand, y mine host said, "before, and I
have seen the writing, but we will be-
gin the recital.
Some IS years before the good host
of the Leeuwenhart (Lion Hearth had
squared his baby fists at the first light
of day his excellence the mayor sat in
the cleaning in the hall of the house
on the canal. During two years before
this date my lord mayor had admins
tered Justice from the authoritative
depths of a gloomy pile of buildings on
| the dusty street of the Dutch town of
H. but his excellence had satisfied
his ambition inherited from one Adam,
the gardener, and had built himself a
country place away from the olamor of
tongues and the footsteps of the needy.
The country place was the house on the
canal
1t had been built, in interior, to salts
| fly the tastes and minister to the health
of his excellence's lovely young daugh-
| ter, the sole child of the beautiful wom-
| an whom he had married during some
years. residence in Venice in an official
capacity. With the warm blood of the
land of the south in her veins, of song
and of great globed glowing starlight, of
dance and sheen and festival, of girl
hoods life amid all the abundance of
beauty and the strange, luxurious mel
| ancholy of the dim, moon haunted pal
! aces of the bride of the Adriatic, the
girl had pinned amid the stolid snuff and
oilcakes, the beer and bacon of the
north. She loved her great Dutch step
father with hearty and quite filial
| love. But she grew white and listless
among the SHOWS and the ice distances.
His excellence often found her in tears,
| humming an old refrain of the Venetian
Lido to her guitar.
His excellence swore portly Dutch
oath, drained his huge mug Of beer,
| strobe out of town and purchased the
lands on the salt meadow. '"The canals
will remind her of Venice, and the sea
breezes bring up those roses to her
cheeks again"
And this was the house that held me
with such spell-built with carved
ceilings, as in the days of old renais-
sance renown; furnished with gilt shot
tapestries which his excellence ordered
from Venice; adorned with mirrors and
music, with simmer of glass and pol
ish of floor, with pictures of the moon
swept Grand canal warm in the goldens
of the south; built with winding, rich
| ly carved staircase.
''That was the place. said mine
host, suddenly breaking off in his recit-
al and lowering his voice cautiously.
glancing back quickly over his ponder
Gus shoulder as if filmy hand were
stretching and frightening and closing
out there across the cloud of smoke from
our two pipes. ''That was the place.
You'll hear in minute He took two
or three good puffs, glanced around
again and went on:
1t was on one evening when my lord
the mayor had come out to the house
on the canal from the distant town. He
was weary that night, as they said, and
babe the young beauty of a daughter
bring her guitar and play to him some
wild melody Of the days of Thor the
Thunderer, who rocked the round earth
with his tread. But it was the melodies
of the gentle goddess Freya, Thor's
wife, the goddess of flowers, that the
gentle girl loved best. Gradually the
clang of the strings yielded to the mel
low measures of the Venice shore, to
the maiden's song, to the curve of the
Rialto and the light in lovers eyes,
"You will allow it, DEAR she said,
bending to kiss the hand of her great
stepfather.
The door of the hall was thrown open,
and servant stood at the threshold:
tMay it please your excellence, a
COMPANY of players are waiting at the
doorstep and will not 60 off it until
their master speaks unto your excel
lence.
'fLet him come in,'' roared the
mayor, "and We'll soon dispatch him. !"
At the entrance door of the hall stood
man wrapped in heavy mantle.
She could not have told you why,
but as she looked at the figure standing
very quiet an unaccountable shiver
passed over the girl. The chill stirred
the white lace on her bosom and the
dark clustering curls around her throat.
She trembled as one trembles in the
| 49,. ! -. .,-,4 &c.,, . 1oprr 1nOnonoJ xo,,I+