Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-06-10

as we sat there t0geCnof, ne upon the
seat by the stove, l on a footstool
before the old lady in her armchair.
"Once upon time there was little
girl" he began merrily, "who upon
Christmas Eve ran away from her
nurse and sat down in the snow by the
roadside and wept."
'sThat it not true!" said |, with em-
barrassment. But he. did not heed me
and continued:
cat this juncture sleigh drove up,
a man sat within it who saw her tears,
took her in the sleigh, and said: I
will take you home And he was very
pleased to have her sit beside him, for
he had been sad and lonely and the
ghosts of the past had entered his
sleigh and were asking him with pale
lips and gazed eyes: Do you remem-
Der this? Do you remember that?
He felt as if his heart would break
with anguish But when the little
maid entered the shadows fled before
the bright glance of her dark eyes,
which even tears could not dim. And
y >
laughing creatures, f1axen-haired and
barefoot, like village children, who
ran beside the sleigh, climbed upon
the back-seat, seated themselves upon
the horses between the sleigh-bells,
whispered, laughed, and asked like
wise: DO you remember this and this
Do you still remember the Christmas
tree in your fathers house, the Christ
mas cake which your mother put in
your fat little hand? Do you remem-
Der how you crept after the fox
through the fir thicket, and how you
learnt the whistling of the woodland
birds? Was it not magnificent when
the sunbeams played through the
fragrant frs? Was it not wonderful
when the strong trees bent beneath
the severity of the Storm Then the
man suddenly loved his beautiful
green home again, and forgave her
for having once rejected him. And
the tears in the maiden's eyes had
been banished and her lips smiled
again. The little companions had
exercised all heartache, all the evil,
pale shadows. But then the maiden
alighted, and the man went alone to
the churchyard, to the most sacred
grave Of all, the most sacred there
can be in the world, the grave of his
mother. There again the wicked
spirits stood beside him and shook
him with superhuman strength; they
followed him through the village
streets, stung his soul. crying Ven
geance, vengeance and thrust them
selves into the peacefulness of cozy
chamber. They would not even be
silenced in the face of the lights of the
Christmas tree, but beneath the
pressure of two old hands; not did he
heed the little maiden who sat there
with downcast eyes and pale face,
until-until she raised her eyes and
looked at the prosecuted man. Then
they sped away as a fog is dispelled.
There is a magic charm in human
eyes, in young, pure eyes,
Look at me, Anneliese," said
cousin, when he had concluded, and I
sat upon my stool with a confusion
hitherto unknown to me; shave you
anything especial in your eyes ?"
He laughed heartily and loudly, and
joined in.
s'Ah, it is supposed to be a story
And I thought you meant Anneliese.
Yes, laugh, laugh, children. You
both need to. you too, Anneliese 1t
is a Gods blessing that in the days of
youth sunshine and rain appear as
in April" She nodded, with her care
worn expression. How old are you
both? Anneliese will be nineteen,
and you? 1t was at the beginning of
the fifties that you first saw the light,
was it not, Robert? 1t was soon after
the great famine, but no one would
have known it at your christening, for
we had roast veal and trout caught in
self when we came from church, quite
blue. and each had a ,sprig of green
parsley in it's month. And you lay so
beautiful on your pillow, just like
prince, and you behaved so finely in
the church; and gave you the silver
spoon. 1t is still in the commode.'
The old lady talked softly to herself,
as if repeating second fairy-tale.
Without, the snow fell, the Christmas
snow; all grief, all trouble, all the
threatening future was miles away;
we were as upon an isolated, blissful
isle, and all evil spirits had left us.
One only had remained, invisible, and
yet felt it's proximity without know
ing it.; a michievous little winged
rouge with bow and arrow, who
causes roses to bud even in the depth
of winter-yes, yes, he was there, but
as yet we did not understand him,
certainly not.
When the old lady's chatter ceased,
when sleep overpowered her, all was
quite still in the room, for neither of
us uttered a word. Suddenly he
sprang up and seized my hand
Sleep we'll, gracious Fraulein! Shall
see you again tomorrow? At