The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-10-12
BARON AND LADY.

ated at Paris; the treaty of Hubertus- Berg had been signed. Tired Of wran- siing, the Austrian empress has ceded Silesia to the Prussan king. Europe drew breath of relief. Its nations Were poverty-s stricken, the flower of It's manhood has been slaughtered. Bat tle-worn, hacked, footsore and ragged, officers and men dragged themselves homeward.
 The baron disbanded the sorry rem 1lant of his one time splendid regiment. There were tragi-comic scenes of un- couth sentimentality; there was a su- perabundance of burly handshaking, of half-choked adieus, of heartfelt parting wishes: God guard thee, true com rade!" Mounted on their steeds, of heavy Mecklenburg breed, the baron and his servant, aide-de-camp and un- iversal factotum, Corporal Fritz, turned their faces homeward. Those were the days of slow travel. After weeks of toilsome journeying they ar rived at the barons estates in Thurin- gla. =....
 The yeomen and peasants were re-
  brave, blunt of speech he was; yet of wo1lanly tenderness; & God fearing lord, shrewd of sense and righteous in his dealings. The poor peasant folk were filled with new hope at his return. The war had dealt cruelty with them. There had been plunder, incendiary fire. destruction of crops The baron sighed as he rode over his ancestral fields and took note of the universal de- Yastation.
 From the window of the nelghboring castle some one regarded the baron with interest. The Lady Thusnelda had been the baron's neighbor and friend from childhood. Stories, indeed had been whispered, both at court and among the humble folk, about tender relations existing between the two. Friendship there had been, beyond a doubt; a queer kind of friendship. Prolonged seasons of congenial com panionship invariably would end in quarrel and protracted feuds. Which was to blame, the man or woman, no one could tell. Reconciliation eventu- ally would take place, renewed friend ly intercourse, at least resembling nourtship, winding up in due time with another seismic upheaval. It was at such a time that the war broke out, and 1t was understood that the baron had sought his commission, moved partly by gallantry and patriotism, partly by g bitter-sweet hope that he was spiting my lady.
 ''Will he ever do the part of a gentle man, and call on me, after that long absence?" The lady turned to her maid. who, in lieu of some one more ac- ceptable, occupied a position of doubt ful friendship. Poor Elizabeth! Lia- ble to have to listen, at any time, to a woefuI tale of toothache, or a confiden- tial gTIsh of sentimentality, and to have her ears boxed vigorously half an hour after. Those were rude demonstrative days; people in power were apt to be inconveniently unhampered in the ex- pression of their feelings. Quite true, the poor lady's life had been a trying one. Moreover, let 1t be remembered that she lived some two hundred years ago. In those days women still re- tained the habit of growing old. They rebelled against this chiefest flaw in life; it made them, ofttimes, sour and grabbed. Few there were, a coterie of great souls, conscious of the power of their blessed sex, women who grew more beautiful, lovelier and nighter in power, day by day, though the hair Whitened and the crows feet marked the face. But to the average woman, beauty was an important stock in trade. and it simply meant the buxon come1iness of youth.
 He's fine looking gentleman said Elizabeth, standing behind her mis- fress, at the window, tentatively. Looks as if he could cleave a Turk from head to foot.'
 'He is clumsy looking, I should say,'' quoth the lady. Grown so big the chestnut can hardly bear up under him. Oh, what boots. How many cows had to be slaughtered, I wonder, to manufacture one of them!''
 At which witticism Elizabeth snick- cred, as in duty bound.
 Fritz" said the baron, casting his keen eyes up to the castle windows, "methinks I see the Lady Thusnelda over wonder. Brave old girl. God bless her. We'll have to don parade uni form and pay her our respects"
 Thus the trouble started.
 Not far from the baron stood Jurgen's S wife, peasant woman. She was planting cabbages. Her face was very dull, and silly creature she was. Not withetanding, she was possessed of low cunning and had the tongue of vixen.
 Carolina" she informed her neigh Dor that night, "the baron thinks mighty sfnall of her ladyship. Quoth he: There she is, the scraggy bean pole, gazing out of the window! Oh, the ugly old grill"
 Caroline f1urriedly packed some eggs into a basket and hastened to my lady's castle. There she called on her cousin, the gatekeeper's wife,
 Sorry the baron harbors feelings of contempt toward her 1adyship, He made fun of her to-day while she was standing at the window; said 1t made him feel sad to gaze on the wreck of an old female"
 The keepers wife treated her to cakes and ale and summoned her ladyship's g maid. After some prefacing and as- surances of regret and indignation she informed Elizabeth:
 'And,' quoth the baron, there she stands, gazing down on me, How pity her, poor decrepit ancient fe-