The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-09-19

Kind to her, and instead of toiling in tho
folds Gretchen sat IN her handsome house,
10 DC waited ON by her madcns, and woro
SILK in place of coarse stuff, and. golden
rings upon tho fingers whence sho had
Slipped poor Carl's gift tho lttlc silver
circlct which was all that he could afford
TO give her.
And in IL year little baby lay within
her arms and looked into her eyes and
taught her to love its father, who had been
so teHdcr nnd so kind to her, and she was
tho baroness Clausscn, and u wife and
mother, and not tho peasant girl grioving
for her lover any moro.
Just ut this time Carl, with his two
years pay in his wallet and some hard
won possessions besides, stepped from the
ships deck upon dry land and hurried as
best he might toward Hcssc Darmstadt to
find Gretchen. That she might be dead
WAS fear that crossed his mind, but that
she might DO married never occurred to
him. Io had sent her information of his
intentions. He had toilcd, drcnchcd by
rain, beaten by wind, pcltcd by hail, in
danger OF shipwrcck and assaulted by tho
fever laden brcczcs of southern lands, to
win the little pittancc which seemed so
great sum to him. Ho had done il for
tho sake of her love. He boatcd it and
footed it homcwartl in an ecstasy of ycarn-
ing, and tho mermaid, who had followed
tho vessel over the ocean, waited for it Mt
foreign ports and followed it back again,
madc her WAY along the Rhine.
The haron's castle hung over the Rhine,
and the nursery wherein the baroness
watched over her baby looked ont upon
the wafer. 1t was undo this window
that the mermaid STOPPED, her fiu,sy hair
all tangled, her cyclds heavy, her Lutte un-
strung. And Carl hurried down to the
cottage, whcrc Grctchcn's grandmother
dwclt, and rushed in and cried, for he
was So brown and so long bearded that
they did not know him:
- am Carl Stcycr como back to marry
Gretchen. Tell me where to find her"
But the old granddamc answered:
You can't be Carl, for he is drowned
and has had masses said for him. But oven
If you were YOU have no business to call
tho baroness Won Clausscn your Crotch
en-"
"Thc baroncssl' faltcrcd Carl. GLOW
tho baroncsS:'
Aye" said the old granddamo "Sho
married the Baron Won Clnusscn and has
as fine young baron as any ono over set
eyes on
Where is sho:' gaspod Carl. "Tn
believe no ono but her"
She is where she ought to be, ut the
castle, said the old woman. 'But you'd
be mad to go there"
Perhaps Carl was mad, for he went He
put aside porter and maid and page and
madc his way TO the room where Gretchen
SIT singing to her babe and she, seeing
him, forgot everything else and rushed to
meet him, and he took her iii his arms
and they wcpt. But soon he put her off
and asked her.
Il thought YOU dead, she said.
Then great horror camc upon her
why did you Gomez she cried. Il
am ~ wife had learned to love my hus-
band. Now there will be only you again "
And amid these words they heard chatter
of horses hoofs and Il voice below bidding
the servant say if it We're true that Carl
Stcycr really were closctcd with their mis-
trcss-thc baron'a voice
'Scc!" cried Gretchen. "Sce! He is
jealous! He will hate me. must not
love you, for l am II wife / cannot love
him, for he keeps mo from you Oh, cruel
To come back and seek me and bring me
such shame and sorrow!n
"Cruel" cried Carl. "Ah, she calls me
cruel! But sec, Gretchen. 1 am kinder
than you have been to me- The baron
shall not find me here. Tell him Carl
Stcycrs ghost came to you. You will
you utter the words. Forget me, since
that will make you happy. Farcwclll"
And as no spoke he pushed the lattice
open and jumped into tho foaming waters
of tho Rhine
Tho jealous baron rushed in the moment
after but found his wife alono beside her
baby cradlc-alonc, miIttcring and mUan-
ing of the sea and of Carl Stcycr, as she
muttercd and moancd through all her
weary life.
But MS for Carl Stcyor, he did not drown.
Tho mermaid caught him in her arms rs
he sank beneath the waters and bore him
away TO her caves of coral ana pearl,
where, with her songs and her embraces,
she taught him to forget inconstant
Gretchen, the tolls of tho sea, the pleasures
of the land, his own soul and everything
but her.
So now, though the castle of the Baron
Won Clausscn l. IL ruin, and all tho bnrons
of that name dead long ago, the peasants
often sea- fair, weeping phantom at its
site and see in the stream below another
fair as IL maiden of the sea can be- who
ucars i'll her white arms the most bcauti-
full of mankind lullcd into u mystic sleep
by tho magic Of her song And they say
that it IS the mermaid who followed Carl
Stcycr across tho ocean and now comes TO
taunt and triumph over the phantom of
Gretchen Baroness Won Claussen.-lIx-
change.
4 Wonderful Task.
mi I'm ~