Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-06-27
CHAPTER XIV.


ed by cannonading. aha" said Fer
Der to has wife, the glorification is
beginning. But ElizabeLh startled
Abruptly out of terrible dream. Inc
catastrophe which she had yesterday
.averted had taken place in her dream
,Sh saw Herr Won Waldo sinking dead
to the ground, as the volley from the
castle awakened her 1t took her
long time TO collect herself. In
single moment she had endured
nameIess agony. She thought heaven
and earth must sink away with that
til figure crushin" her beneath their
ruins. And even yet, when she had
convinced herself that the golden
nZning light was pouring into her
room and not upon the blood-stained
meadow, the stoTmily awakened feel
4ng still pulsated. Not even yesterday
when she risked her life for MS, had
she been conscious that in sunch
moment she, too, must perish.
Again and again there was thunder
in the valley. The WindCW-panes rat
tied, and Hanschen nuttered about In
terror, cllnging to his cage-b&rs. Eliz-
abeth started ana shuddered every
time, and when Frau Ferber, who
still had not regained her composure
after the episode of yesterday,
thought her daughter was before her
eyes in perfect health, came to her
beside to inquire how she had slept,
Elizabeth threw her arms around her
mothers neck and broke out into I'M
comfortable weeping.
MY daughter, my daughter cried
FRAU Ferber, are you i'll? knew
yesterdays excitement could not pass
without producing its own fleets;
and now this unmeaning firing in the
valley"
1t cost Elizabeth great effort to
persuade her mother mat she was
feeling perfectly well, and would not,
under any circumstances, stay in bed
but wished to drink coffee with the
others. To make an end of all OBJ
lection she slipped into her clothes,
freshened her tear-stained face with
cold water, and vas presently at ner
JDoJ DtAOi = buG LII u puLblLlSo LL1C III
ishing touches to the breakfast which
her mother had prepared.
The firing had suddenly come to an
end; and it was not long before an
trace of tears was gone from Eliza
beth s face. She looked cheerfully out
into tn world, for, though she saw
stretching before her a life of renun-
citation he was alive. This thought,
after her frightful dream, had quiet
ing effect upon her troubled heart.
And though he might go away and
she live years without seeing him, yet
a time must come when he would re
turn And she might think of him and
dove him, for he belonged to no other.
Later she went with the family and
Miss Mertens TO the lodge whittier
the company had ,een invited to din
ner as they were every Sunday. AS
tn forester came toward them a heavy
frOwn rested upon his brow. Elizabeth
soon saw that Bertha was giving him
much trouble.
Il cannot, and will not, be witness
of these performances any longer"
he shouted. All Il, in my old days, to
become a Watchman standing guard
day and night in my own house, to
keep a crazy, obstinate young thing
that has no claim in Gods world upon
me from her mad tricks"
Uncle, remember how unhappy she
is" cried Elizabeth alarmed.
unhappy. She is a play actress
and I'm no Cannibal. When | really
believed her to be unhappy, when she
lost both parents, I was a staff and a
prop for her, as far as it lay in my
power But there is no unhappiness
there for then, scarcely two months
after the sad event, she was trilling
away like a lark in the sky. so thar
my heart ached at sight of her heart
less trivOlty. What is she unhappy
about? But I do not want to know
the state secret; and if she has no
confidence in me, she can let it go
She can make a weeping willow face
for year as far as I am concerned,
if it pIeases her. But to pretend to be
dumb, and to run about in the woods
like a mad-woman at night, and burn
Jhe house over my head some fine
day thes are things mean to have
my own word about"
Then you have not needed nv re
cent waming?' inquired Ferber
certainly. gave her another room
immediately above my own, so that I
hear every step overhead. AT night
both the house doors are not only
bolted but locked, and the key ]
keep But the deceit of woman, That
is an old story For a short time
these measures brough- quiet. Bur
last night I could not sleep. I.fnke
kept turning up in my mind. All al
once I heard steps above. soft as :
cat on the roof. Aha. thought !
there's the wandering again; and
got up. But when I reached the room
the bird had flown. On the table b,
the open window stood & lighted
candle and Is 7 opened the door the
curtain blew into the fame. Heavens
If I had not sprung forward, W.
should have had fireworks, incIudin!
the old timbers of the lodge, sure
How had she got out? Through tn
kitchen window. Nay. I'd rather tent
an ant hill than such A tricky Great