The herald., 1896-10-25

(her fAc6 tuning crimson urdef Dis ad
mirtng g:AnccsS ssid IN . ecnewl.at e.s
plrased tone: VIII you kindly iaforu M
OF the nature Of this CALI"
The ysuns man apoiogizcd for his seem
ing rudenens aad handed hsr the pocket
book, which she at cnce recognized es be
longing to her friend Amalie. Exp'al-ini
all, the two were scon cngrcssed IN al
animated conversation, though she did no
at first reem disposed to overlook kie ia
discretion Of reading the contents Of Ia
letter TO her friend. But the young mai
pleaded so earnest and looked s.
crestfallen that rhe smilingiy held out he
and carried to his lips, perhaps, tritie to-
imruls:vely, for she quickly withdrew 1t.
To tell the truth. Miss Clara seemed t
like the young foreigner, and before he lef
she had en- passant mentioned the fact tha
she and her friend Amalie would meet tina
evening at the Court Theater, which woult
give her chance to return the pocketbool
to its owner. More than that, Charles. b.
few adroitly put questions. knew th'
exact location Of tbe seats to be occupied
by the party.
OF course, he WAS there--a good deal tot
early, too. The doors had hardly beer
opened, and he was for quite while alone
in the vast auditorium, whiting away tn,
slowly creeping time by a study Of thu
curtain. the chandelier. the carvings OF
boxes and galleries, and by inspecting
everything within the reach Of his eyes
When tho two young women arrived, afte
having sorely tried Charles patience
they or at least Clara found to her sur
prise n the young fellow seated in thu
stall next to hers and introduced him t,
her companion AZ "Mr. Berner. OF Sar
Francisco, who had found tho pocketbook.'
The phlesm which usually characterized
every movement Of the worthy landlord o
the Blue Lion at M had all at once dis
appeared Since the receipt OF the lette
from America he knew no rest. The bes
room was put In readiness for the expected
guest; no inspected the touse from top Il
bottom, he scolded the servants inces
sanity, and never before had his good wifi
known MIN to be such tyra1t and 81
hard to please. More than that. he woult
60 to the parson and school teacher. ant
make them point out to him the map o.
America, and tell him all about California
and in the evening he would iInpart tbi!
knowledge to his guests In the tap room
showing. for the hundredth time. the let
ter, and talking about the rich yauog rela
tive from the far West.
His daughter Marie took things much
more quietly. She was raised, as all Ger.
man girls ore, especially in the quaint, old
fashioned places Of the interior. She was .
home body, thoroughly domestic by habit
and inclination. and besides the usual ele.
mentary training. her parents had sent hel
TO boarding school for girls, neighbor-
ing academy. In short. her pious and busy
mother had spared no pains to form hel
character. and to make her God-fearing
obedient child. She possessed that depth
Of feeling. coupled with a love Of nature
and serene, unrufied temper, which is the
traditional attribute of a true Teutonit
maiden. and, therefore. the brilliant future
in store for her had but little attractions
for her tnmercenary disposition. She die
not bother her head much about Charles
coming. Time enough to consider the mat
ter after his arrival. II she liked him
she would be hls wife; II not she was firmly
resolved not to marry him, riches or nc
riches. In due time. she said to herself
she would md one who loved her. and whom
she loved IN return.
One day in the latter part OF August a
carriage and pair were seen to approach the
sleepy little town Of M. It's sole occu-
pant was Henry Decker, who alighted some
distance from the place. near the mines,
which to inspect hs had come all the way
from Hamburg.
Tired and out Of sorts he wended his way
along the dusty highway and entered the
town. Reaching the market place he was
who leaned against the threshold In any
thing but good humor, on account Of the
protracted delay in the arrival Of his long
expected nephew.
He looked hard at the stranger. Nobody
he knew in this neighborhood was 90 fash.
ionAbIy dressed. A thought shot through
his brain The approaching man was tie
young relative. Charles Berner, from Amer
lea, and no other! No one but an American
yon1rA7 Ia fhiu OvYya1 usfv INN incy vrtfo
and daughter. and running down the steps
as fast as his portliness would admit, he en-
braced and kissed the stranger repeatedly,
exclaiming:
"At last! Al last! We have been ex-
pecting you for the longest time. How is
your fatherf Well, hope! But come in
side and rext. Look. here are my wife and
daughter The older Of the two is my wife
your-well, Of course, your aunt. And now
kiss all around, ae near relatives should.
Decker tried hard to unwind himself from
the old mans tight embrace. which almost
deprived him Of his breath, but in vain. Nc
chance to explain that there was a mistake
At last all he could utter WAS: ''If you think
II you believe, sir. that r.
"What the dlckensr' the old man inter-
rupted. "Of course believe, nay, even in.
sist that you an k.es and become better
acquainted. Such is our fashion among rel.
atives, and. no doubt. among Americans
also. And. my dear boy. what do you mean
by Stirring me. ! am your uncle, that set
ties itl'
Again the dear boy" tried to open his
lips, but this time they were sealed by his
aunt's lips, who impressed a sounding
smack on his. Not content with this per-
formance. the old lady showed him toward
her daughter, whose cheeks were af1ame ur
to her ears In the expectation of kiss
hop n nd f,,t, y,,,c
band.
The young fellow looked upon the pic.
ture Of so much innocence and loveliness
before him. He reflected a moment and
then-blame who maybe took Marie in
his srms and hugged and kissed her re.
peatedly.
Henry Decker was not slow to notice
that this was case Of mistaken identity
He was impressed with a sense of the
ridiculous situation, and the dear little
girl was so unspeakably pretty and limo.
cent that he concluded since he was 'in
It," 20 let things take their own course
and to await Developments. He talked
about America. he told the most improba-
BILE tales about California, and profltine
from the condolences reposed in him by
Charles Berner on board the steamship,
he told a tolerably straight story respect
ing his alleged family affairs in San Fran
cisco.
He saw the impression he had made on
tho heart Of the unsuspecting Marie, who
never took her eyes of his face while he
spoke, and his conscience smote him. He
was filled with remorse for his Deceit but,
alas, It was now too late. He resolved to
disclose the whole thing on the following
morning.
A kind fate favored the discharge Of this
onerous task. Toward evening the old
''uncle' made the proposition that the