Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-09-05

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| especially her hats. She accepted
without a pang the scraggy OSTRICH
! feather that was the pride of Tony:
| heart, and fastened it into her broad
| brimmed Rembrandt hat after hel
mother curled it little "bit" In any
case, according to Hilda's views
Tony had passed the age when cnt
| cares to dress-she was thirty 1.-TWO
The last day before her departure, the
excited, impatient girl was quite upset
She could not bear any of her sisters
| good advice, still less their teasing
| But her father, with sad face, laic
down a twenty-mark piece on hi.
workable and said: 81 would glad.
/ give you more, dear child, but l have
no more now"
Hilda was almost touched, and she
| did not wish to feel like that; soft
| hearted people seldom accomplish any
| thing. And she couldn't bear it at al
| when her mother said: "Ah, Hilda.. i
you were only to have a bit of goot
luck!" What should she do with 2
bit of good luck? She wanted a great
| deal, all she could get. What was the
use of hanging back?
She made short work of it finally,
she took her departure day earlier
She made her preparations quite
secretly for leaving the house at five
O'Clock in the morning. 1t was easy
enough for her to get away, for she
slept alone in an attic room
Fritz, little neighbor, carried her
bag to the station she had given it TO
him the night before over the hedge.
The trunk could be sent after her.
She wrote few lines Of farewell on a
piece of paper, laid it on the kitchen
table, and stole away She fingered
moment in front of her parents
door; then she hurried downstairs all
the faster. 1t almost seemed as if
she could hear her mother saying:
"Hilda, isn't it a little bit hard for you
to leave us?" No, it was not hard for
her, for before her was the world,
the whole wide world.
1t was the first journey HiIda Won
Zweldorf had ever undertaken. It
would have made another girl anxious
and bewildered, but Hilda was as cool
and collected as if she had been an
American who had done nothing but
travel from her childhood up. There
was singing and ringing in her ears,
even the very rolling of the wheels
made a melody for her, for she was
travelling toward her happiness.
How fortunate it was that she had
not waited another day! She sat up
in bed and pressed her hands against
her throbbing temples. Was she
really to find everything at the very
first step she had taken out into the
world?
He had looked at her so strangely,
with such unfeigned admiration. She
recalled his appearance; he was a
handsome man and very aristocratic
looking. Hilda only knew such men
from hearsay, but he came up to the
was an artist besides, his name was
already known. And he had such
good taste! What a seductive figure
that witch of the Broken" was
which Hilda had seen!
With her excitable fancy, with her
young heart thirsting for happiness,
with the determined character which
knew no halfway measures, she had
fully determined by the time morning
had dawned that she had found
beloved by him, and that in the next
few days some wonderful fairy
miracle would bring her the fulfilment
Of all her wishes. She pictured it all
to the minutest details; she fancied
herself walking through the streets
of her native town on his arm-they
were on their way to Italy-and she
heard the people say: THAT is Hilda
Won Zweidorf. who married the cele-
brated Jussnitz.''
With burning cheeks and sparkling
eyes she went into the sitting-room
to drink her coffee with Aunt Polly
She replied absently to a great num-
Der of curious questions, gazed
vacantly at the very humble furniture
of good Frau Berger, who in a bright
calico night-cap, with a jacket to
match, was doing the honors. and
then went and sat down by the
window.
To be continued.