The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-08-16
good nstured. pompous old spendthrift,

and when he was not boasting of his
ancestry he was lameRting the defunct
glory of Poland. or else he would bore
the loyelorn young officer with verse
In his native tongue.
Pardon me. sir" the other would
plead, but have not the honor Of an
acquaintance with the Polish lam
| guage."
"Ah, but the music Of the words,
sir" the old man would return. "Mu-
sic To the language Of the angels, as one
Of our writer's says. and the angels
ought to be able to make themselves
understood to a good man like yourself.
Tell me, sir. have you ever heard any
thing sweeter than And the old pa
triot would go on reciting his ode with
more ecstasy than ever.
Once he broke into sobs over the fate
! Of the country which had produced this
melOdious language. Herr Schmidt"
was at once touched and amused. and
the 'upshot OF 1t was that the Pole Dor
rowed few hundred thalers of him.
Here my Second avenue friend has
tened to explain that the old fellow
was anything but a schemer or an ad-
venturer. "He. was simply a weak man
too weak to hold money or his
tongue" he said. "If he had not been
SO simple hearted and honest, he would
not have disclosed the real nature of
his title to me. 1t appeared that he was
one Of the 50 called Roman or papal
counts. you know. his father having
received the distinction from the Vati-
can for service in the holy army or
something Of that kind. He insisted,
however, that in the early history Of
Poland his ancestors were members Of
the highest aristocracy. and he traced
his pedigree to a sister or q cousin of
somebody who was entitled to the
throne. he said. The worst Of 1t was
thar the title Of the countess dead hus-
band was Of q similar character, and Of
course the old fool told me all about 1t.
How the old mans ancestors came to
lose their old position was never made
clear to me.
"At last made my declaration. She
gave me q long look. the longest and
steadiest had ever received from her,
| thought. and made q clean breast Of II
all. l insisted that she was a genuine
countess and that would have mar
ried her IL she were peasant girl. and
all that sort Of thing. She wept and
called me an angel. and we became en-
gagged.
when my mother heard of it, she
came to that town. Although she
thought me prophet and went into
ecstasies over every piece OF, rot said.
yet she was very sensible woman.
She was opposed to the marriage be-
cause my flanceerwas a widow as well
as on account Of the questionable quail
tty Of their title, but held her own coun-
sell She had no trouble in sizing up the
old man. and before I knew 1t he had
borrowed OF her q snug. amount and
tearfully yielded to her plea not to de-
prive her Of her boy. She was perfectly
frank with him, II appeared. She told
him all she thought of the marriage
and begged him to take pity on her.
"As III luck would have 1t. the Polish
count had sister in America. the Wild
or Of wealthy physician. who had
promised to take care of him and his
daughter provided the two went to
join her. Well. partly because of my
mothers plea, partly because Of the
loan she offered him. the old man all
but melted away and declared In the
name of his great ancestors that he
was not the man to let his daughter
throw herself on anybody; that IL his
title was not good enough he would not
allow her to marry me for millions, and
SO forth and so on. How he reconciled
all this with the tears he shed over my
mothers broken heart do not know,
but do know that this middle headed,
hysterical nincompoop could twist his
daughter around his finger She loved
me-yes. she loved me-yet when he
told her they were going to America
and that he would rather see her dead
than married to a German snob whose
mother called his nobility In question
she obeyed him.
'"This is the way I came to leave my
native country and my connections.
had no difficulty in finding the count
and his daughter. His sister had more
sense than he, and. thanks to her,
married the woman loved. We were
happy. but our happiness was not to
last long. She died Of her first child
birth. and my mother, who was expect
ing Us to return to Germany, departed
this world during the same week. My
sister was drowned few months later.
Yes, 1t was q year Of deaths and an
guish. I don't think my heart ever
completely recovered from 1t.
II have had my ups and downs In
America I have tried to return to my
old home, but 1t Is no use. My home is
here. am neither a German nor an
American. but the past is gone to re-
turn never more. am used to this part
Of New York. and like the respect and
the attention which the people show
me around here. Ny heart Is filed with
sadness most Of the time, but then
rather like to feel that way. I have al
ways been fond Of sad music."-New
York Commercial Advertiser.