Evening star., 1896-09-12
PART ].

I'm a law sort Of manner through the
narrow, irregular streets Of an old German
town, which / had reached on an extern
siye bicycle tour. I meant to lose myself.
and 1 had done 50. The surroundings
were totally strange and unfamiliar to
me. and had no definite idea Of the way
1 had come or of the direction 1 must take
to return to my lodgings.
The town was Oldendorf. a place OF
twenty o. twenty-five thousand inhabi-
tarts. 1t did not belle its name either.
for a more antiquated. venerable, me-
diaeval rookery had never. in all my ex-
perience. seen. Oldendorf. as every one
knows or should know, Is the most I'M
portant town or city in the small Ger
man principally of Andel Schwartzburs
Every one knows, or should know, also,
that Oldendorf i5. and always has been,
the hereditary seat or residence OF the
rulers of Andel Schwartzburg-the princely
family Of Andel-Sachs. the living and
reigning representative of which, at the
present moment. Is his serene hfghness,
Prince Ernest Otto Won Andel.
There was also princess. her Highness
stephanie Won Andsl the niece of Ernest
/ had seen them both, few days before.
upon some state occasion. in the state
coach. but 1t was at distance. and l
had only been able to note that the prince
was stout and elderly and glum, and that
the princess was young and fresh ana
lively.
The evening was gusty, but the air was
mild, and now ard then there came
sprinkling of rain, for which / did not
care, as l had enveloped myself In worn
and picturesque cloak which bad weather
could not harm Several of the streets
through which 1 passed seemed almost
desc rted. Here there were rows of empty
warehouses. with broken windows and de-
cayed timberS; here a great house with
the roof half fallen in, standing In an
acre of ground which had run to weeds;
curious gabled fronts and upper stories
projecting over the street-houSeS that
must have been built before the thirty
years war
History says that at one time. in the If
teenth century, / think it was, Oldendorf
contained a population Of sixty thousand.
l could well believe 1t when saw 80 many
deserted shops and houses. With the de-
crease in population. however. there has
cone no change in the manners or
customs CT the people or in the gen.
erai appearance Of the streets build
ings. They are a conservative set in
Oldendorf, and / think that If GuStavus
Adolphus should come marching through
the city today. as he did in 1882, he would
recognize the place and the people at once
without any trouble.
1 had set out upon this night In Ques-
ton with the spirit of adventure rife with
in me. 1 was like a boy IN story book
who wanders out to seek his fortune.
like the knight of old who journeyed forth
in quest of daring deeds. There was
something in the romance Of the strange,
quaint old town which made Inc feel as II
1 would like something to happen which
was quite out of the ordinary. There
was something in the gusty air OF the
,1)ring night which reused my blood as II
q smote me on the cheek.
l felt as did Don Quixote, when he and
Sahcho found the oarless boat, raoored
to the shores OF the river Ebro. If had
III ,trlt r
was stro1ling through the city Of Olden-
dorf, / would, like MIN. have stepped into
1t, and. casting off the moorings. foated
down to the enchanted castle to find the
beautiful and prosecuted princess.
Presently / seemed to have come upon
a street which was on the outskirts Of the
city. Upon one side the houses were few
and far between, and what houses there
were seemed to be uninhabited. Upon the
other side there was nothing but a wall: q
wall some two or three hundred feet in
length, and twelve or fifteen feet in height.
/ crossed over to this wall and walked
along beside 1t and saw that the top was
indented throughout its entire length with
embrasures. and that, every fifty feet or So
there arose from 1T small round turret
The wall was almost covered with ivy and
was full of holes and cracks. so that /
thought ii must have existed for centuries
1t did not stand flush with the street. but
about fifteen feet back from 1t. This space
of fifteen feet was filled by sort Of ditch
gully. half choked with weeds and
stones. and was separated from the street
proper by an iron picket fence about three
feet high.
I walked along this iron fence for some
distance. until came to place where 1t
turned iE at right angles and ended at the
wall Here there was a wooden bridge
over the ditch, which led to a small but
solid looking door. beyond which the fence
was continued the same before
Having nothing better to do / passed
over the bridge and stood before the door
in the old wall. 1t was strongly built Of
oak. and hung with great, curiously
wrought iron hinges. worked into many
scroll and eaf and flower; but that which
interested me most was a motto engraved
upon the stone cap above the portal which
read as follows: Who enters here leaves
nope behind"
OF course. the inscription was not In
English, but in old German text. and I
could give II here in the original, as I
am a perfect master of the German Ian
guage. as also of several other tongues:
but think that such exhibitions Of cru
dltion are not pertinent to the story, and,
to say the least. are out of taste.
In my adventurous spirit there was
something about this door and the in
scription over it which met my Views ex-
actly. Evidently 1 needed not to seek fur
tier. There was a whole world Of possi-
bilties behind that door, 1t might well
be that, behind 1t. I should find the love
ly and suffering princess. Of whom I was
In search When one comes to think Of 1t
1t Is always through door that one goes
to his fate By entering some door a man
takes the first step by which he becomes
a drunkard or gambler. BY entering an
other he meets the oman whom he is to
love. Through one doorway he enters upon
a career OF fame: through another that of
ignominy. Should I. should 1 not, pass
through that fateful portal? 1 little
thought then that the question was to LIE
solved not by myself. but by circumstances
over which 1 had no control; that should
enter the doorway without intending to
do so, and in perfectly Involuntary man
ner
While I was engaged In these reflec-
tions / heard a cracking Of twigs and
rustling Of leaves. as though made by
footsteps. and. looking up. / saw a man
coming toward me along the wall inside
the iron fence He was approaching from
direction opposite to that whence my
self had arrived, walking upon a narrow
path between the masonry and the ditch
and 1t seemed to me that he must have
come around the further corner of the
wall. which corner was perhaps sixty feet
distant from the bridge and the doorway
He came up as far as where the fence
turned in toward the wall, and stood there
looking at me over the pickets. with a
most supercilious and insolent expression
He was a man of forty. 1 should think:
tall and broad and rather heavy about the
waist. He had bushy black brows. and
small ferret eyes. His underlids were
puffy. and great military mustache with