Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-08-12

of her. NOR ey; she was SO glad she
had it, and now they would work to-
gether industriougly, for oe liked his
conscientiousness and discretion.
All, / do net now remember all she
said; she was just eighteen years old.
And lust as he had treated me, did
he treat her; he tw1ned his arms
about her, pressed her to him, and
called her his dearest possession
The old lady ceased; silence
reigned in the room. involuntarily
clinched my fist. That man, that
dreadful man!
"And," continued the old lady, Il
wanted to say, Anneliese, Hannchen
felt as did, when she discovered
what he was-she maintained silence.
One does not accuse man beside
who one has sat thus, whom one has
loved, one cannot, Anneliese. One
learns to scorn, to hate him, and that
is terrible, but one has not the heart
to expose him; one feels as it re-
strained by a thousand hands.
could not betray anything to Ham
chen, I had not word of reproach for
/ Wollmeyer, and when afterwards he
brought misfortune to his wife, his
brother-in-law, his sister-inlaw, and |,
forgetting all, wished to disclose the
crime, Hannchen prevented me.
Have mercy she besought, were he
to be imprisoned, I would take my
life"
/ She suddenly paused and turned her
r.s1o
time. The old lady appeared to me in
quite a new light How she must
have suffered, first by the loss of her
beloved, then in scorning him-and,
notwithstanding all, to be constantly
in his vicinity, looking on at every
thing, his early married life, his fall,
his moral degradation, his deceit
Was is possible to bear this without
becoming sick in body and mind?
What power of resistance, what
grandeur Of soul dwelt within this
simple woman! Never had I seen her
otherwise than in the quiet and in
dustrious performing of her duties;
she was always there for others.
I drew nearer her and stroked her
faded cheeks. She wiped her eyes
and, composing herself with an effort,
she said; Eyes, yes, Anneliese, you
may perhaps laugh at old, awkward
cousin. But no, you will not! Now
must go into the kitchen and prepare
you the finest lettuce salad you have
ever eaten"
flung my arms around her neck.
Cousin, you are the dearest, best old
, sol in the world, and if up to this
day had loved Wollmeyer ardently-
now, after what you have told me,
should hate him as thoroughly. But
now that you have told me so much
cousin, you must tell me one thing
more-does the proof still exist which
Hannchen found?"
Eyes, and paper written by Ham
chen, in which she acknowledges
what became of Robert Nordmann's
fortune But it was her request that
it be only made use of in case of need
of the most extreme need, only if he
should refuse to indemnity Robert.
Now do not question me any further,
4 Anneliese'
Does he know this?' I asked, not
withstanding.
Gle surely suspects it"
cousin, you are darling, an angel,
but in one thing have you failed;
when you saw that he was Wooing
mamma you should have interfered."
She smiled sadly "As truly as
love madame and Robert and you, An
neliese, did not believe him capable
of such boldness. Only towards the
last did notice it; then I went to
him and tried to dissuade him, but it
!, was too late, and I returned to my
room. Believe me, it was not the
easiest thing in the world for me to
look on al"
She nodded gravely at me, then she
} left the room, and heard her jingling
her bunch of keys outside.
CHAPTER XIV.
; The days which followed were to
me the saddest Of my life. had but
one though: When will retribution
come to his man, beside whom Fate
has placed me, who inspires me with
horror when I simply think Of him.
(" Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord" comforted cousin, eve cannot
be Wollmeyer's accusers, Anneliese."
All, there is terrible torture in the
world! Those meals with Wolf
: meyer! AS if an innocent word were
a crime upon which rested the death
penalty, we maintainedr silence; moth
ing was heard but the clatter of the
knives and forks and the inelegant
noise made by my stepfather when
eating.
His appetite had not decreased, he
indeed looked much better, and his
good-humor returned. He growled
at Friedrich if the wine was not
properly cooled, he sent back dishes
he did not like, with his compliments
to cousin, and he ordered me to take
walks. It was forced to stand with
him at mammals grave and admire the
abominable weeping marble angel,