The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-11-05
THE SIX DUMB-BELLS Of CASTLE
SCHRECKENSTROH|M
BY DAVID sKAATs FOSTER.
Author of "A Crisis in Oldcndorf."
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BY DAVID sKAATs FOSTER.

with trees and shrubbery, very dense
in some places. ard at one point
through the leaves and branches /
caught sight of a flower garden. and
what seemed TO be the white sprny of n
fountain.
! lenped down from the wall and
threaded my way through labyrinth
of foliage. that might satisfy myself
about the matter, and suddenly coming
into an open space. a most secluded
sylvan spot. there burst upon my gaze
a aight which would have surprised me
and set me wondering. il such a thing
were possible; the sight, namely, OF
six young damsels, all of them hand
some. and two or three OF them passing
anything had seen. both in face and
figure. in that quality which is called
beauty. They were sitting upon rustic
seats, or reclining upon the turf Two
of them were reading. The others, in
various dolce far niente attitudes, were
day dreaming, or gazing at the sky, or
otherwise killing time. They were of
different ages, the oldest not over
twenty and the youngest not less than
fifteen. Though each had some trait OF
feature color or expression, which dis
tinguished her from the others, there
was that in their general appearance
which led me to believe that they were
sisters. They were alike and yet un-
alike. And that which pleased me in
flnitely more than all the rest was the
fact that they were not saying any
thing.
They had not noticed my approach,
but presently one of them looked up and
saw me. She Immediately. sprang to
her feet. This drew the attention OF
the others to me. A second one fol-
lowed the example of the first. and
these two, hurrie.ily picking up some
thing from the ground, darted away
into the shrubbery. AS they fled, per
ceived the twinkling of bare white feet
and one of them let fall tiny sho
upon the grass. Their forms were 81
sinuous, so perfectly nodded, and theh
motions so quicl: and graceful, thai
they seemed more like wood nymph
than like human beings.
The remaining four raised themselves
from their recumbent positions ant
gazed ut me curiously and without /,
particle of alarm. / advanced towar
them, hat in hand, and thus accostet
them:
"You will please pardon me, youni
ladies, for iptruding upon you; bu
you are the first, persons have seel
upon the island. / arrived here las.
night, and I wish to pay my respects
TO the master of the house. Will yov
I, kindly tell me where can find him p
The four girls simply looked Mt each
other and smiled. Then they gazed n,
me again, without uttering sy liable il
reply.
I thought their conduct somewhat pc
culiar, but made as though / did no,
notice il, and said:
"You are the daughters Of the pro
prietor, are you not?"
All four nodded emphatically, then
looked at each other and smiled again
'The other two who fed as 1 mp.
preached, are they your sisters?"
Once more they nodded simultnne.
ously.
II have heard that the Castle OF
Schreckenstrohm stands hereabouts
Can you tell me II this be it?"
They gave the same affirmative sign
Then the one to whom particularly
addressed my q ,estions, she seeming
to be the oldest, turned to her sisters
and raised her eyebrows in a sarcastic
| manner.
"The Herr Graf Won Schreckenstrohm
is then your happy father. viii you
condescend to tell me whether he is NJ
| home?"
This time they all shook their heads
and they were SO decided about 1t tha,
thought they would never get through
shaking them. Here was very odd
kind of n reception. j had never had
such an experience before. The ex
| preston upon tho faces Of these young
women was more than ordinarily intel
ligent and lively, and they could answer
my questions with nothing but rods
and shakings of the head. Perhaps they
were trying to have some amusement
out of me. I would be facetious in my
turn.
"Are all the people on the island
dumb?" i asked.
For answer, they nodded slowly
They no longer smiled, and their coun
tenanccs took on tinge of sadness
@ .ssA.