The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-11-13

@SSSSSSSSSSsSS 1SSSSSSSSa ~
WE were standing near Richard
w Wagner's grave, Watching
the visitors come and go, asking each
other why so many people left their
visiting cards on the marble slab,
when tall peasant woman near me
said, is it not lovely that no one for
gets the master9"
Turning, l saw woman about
seventy, worn with life's battles, but
possessing that indefinable quality
which commands both respect and
sympathy.
''But why are the cards left there7'
| asked; land what becomes of
them?" She seemed surprised at
my ignorance, but responded kindly:
st is to show their respect for the
dead; and" she added, with a faint
CLEAN of humor in her eyes, then,
they know that every evening the
cards are gathered up and taken to
Frau Cosima."
Catherine 1--WE learned her name
later attracted me much more than
the visitors. Despite the wrinkles
and the parchment-like skin, her
face was comely; it was the happy
restfulness. She seemed a woman
with historY-one who had toiled,
battled, suffered, and conquered; one
in whom Millet would have found a
perfect model. He would have made
Catherine famous. Just then our
kind hostess joined us, and the
hearty greetings she and Catherine
exchanged showed they were old
friends. Fraulein asked few ques
tions: Had Catherine found the herbs
plenty in the fields, and how much
had she earned that day? Yes,
Catherine answered; God had given
her strength to work all day, and
she had earned twenty pfennigs
(iour cents), and she was very CRATE
fui to him. Fraulein then told us
that Catherine was one of her friends,
and she told Catherine we were
American ladies who had crossed the
ocean to hear "Parsifal." After this
explanation we chatted together in
German awhile, and then, as the
twilight was coming on, we babe
each other good night with the usual
friendly phrase" MAY you arrive
home safely" and Fraulein joined us
for the walk home.
DO tell us all about Catherine" l
exclaimed. "You know l love the
peasants, and am sure she has an
interesting history" Fraulein was
only too glad to give me pleasure,
and told me, in substance, what fol-
lows:
Born peasant, married to one,
and then the mother of one-a SON
GATHERINGS life seemed destined to
be a simple one, full of hard work
and care, but not without happiness.
The women in those countries work
with the men in the field, on the
roads, and often in the forests.
When GATHERINGS son, Franz, was ten
years old, his father, who was telling
trees on the estate of Count F.,
near Baireuth, was killed by falling
tree. Catherine, who loved her hus-
band devotedly, was for time quite
dazed by the shock, but she soon put
aside her grief and devoted every
spare moment to her son and to all
who needed help. If neighbor fell
i'll, Catherine was the first to respond
to the call for aid. When children
were dangerously i'll, Catherine knew
better than anyone else what to do
for them. That she had worked from
daylight to darkness in the helds
never deferred her from giving her
nights to those in need of her. The
neighbors began to see that Catherine
wa as they expressed it, almost
saint. They said she must love God;
she never complains. Franz grew
apace, and was a dear boy, loving his
mother with rare devotion, and, like
her, sunny and industrious, proved
great comfort to her.