Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1907-04-15
Colo Elsie

By e. MARLITT


and seemed thoroughly Informed OF
everything which had been said and
done openly or secretly in the past
weeks in the neighbCrhood of Lind
hof She spoke in a queer, plaintive
tone, and at the close of each new
hooking recital bowed her dried-up
,wl-face upon Aer breast gently and
lumbly, as though she were the lamp
hat bore the sins of the world. Now
md men she drew from her knitting
gag a bottle of fennel-tea and moist
med her eyes, which she kept con-
;tantly turned upward.
what a contrast between her and
1eIene's madonna face, which, lean
ng upon the dark plush sofa, remind
Elizabeth more than ever of the
water lily raising it's white head from
iome dark depths. But TODAY there
vas rare brightness resting upon
her features. True, the expression
OF suffering was not wholly vanished,
but a ray Of happiness beamed from
her eyes and a joyous smile played
lifted from her lap the bouquet OF
roses which Herr Won Hollfeld had
pressed into her hand when he came
He sat at her side and joined several
times in the conversation. Whenever
! he opened his lips the ladies all be-
came silent, and listened with visible
eager interes,, though his manner Of
| speaking was by no means fluent,
| and he seemed to Elizabeth to pre-
sent total absence of thought and
originality.
He was a handsome young man OF
perhaps twenty-four years. There was
a fine repOse about his nobly-formed
features, the lines of which might
readily lead to the belief in manly
tirmness. But any one who looked
scrutinizingly into his eyes ceased to
admire his plastically beautiful face
The eyes, though large and of fault
| less shape, revealed no Depth and
| possessed none of that meteor-like
CLEAN which often betrays genius
/ though not a word is spoken.
Nor was this deficiency compensat-
ed for by that mild, permanent radi-
ance which proceeds from depth OF
| feeling and attracts and binds one
without exciting especial emotion. Of
| this quality Won Hollfelds large fine
eyes betrayed not a trace.
This observation was made, how
/ ever by few persons, for it was
| tradition, especially at the court or
| l., that Won nollfeld was a rarity
| whose usually silent lips closed over
profound depth, and least of all,
would the ladies in and around Lind
! hof have subscribed to any other
! opinion. This was shown most clearly
| by Frau Lehr's fat daughter, who
! leaned in front of the timidly shrink
| ing Elizabeth every time Won Holl-
field opened his lips, as though this
were a new revelation of some evan.
gelist which she must hear at all
| costs. But she seemed to like 10
| let her own light shine, too
are you not charmed with the
| splendid sermons which Chaplain
Mohring edited us during the holi-
days. she inquired turning to Eliza
beth.
Il am sorry to say that 1 did not
hear them,' replied Elizabeth.
Aen you did not attend service?"
"Oh, yes, | went with my parents
to the village church at Lindhof"
so" said the Baroness Lessen,
turning her head toward Elizabeth
for the first time and revealing a
mocking smile. TT was very edify
| ing at the village church in Lindhor,
was it not?"
Certainly, gracious lady," answer
ed Elizabeth, calmly, looking directly
into the contemptuous eyes of the
baroness. Il was deeply moved by
the simple and touching words of
the preacher, who spoke not in the
church, but beneath the oaks in front
of it. When the service should have
began it proved that the little churcn
could not hold the mass of people that
had come to worship, so an altar was
at once erected under Gods free
heaven, as they say has aften been
zone be.ore."
Yes, it has, alas! weil-known
fact" interrupted Chaplain Mohrlng,
who had hitherto spoken but little
and contented himself with greeting
frau Won Lehr's hecitals with an ap
| oreciative smile or a nod of assent
But now his already shining face
was dark red as he continued, turn
ing to the baroness:
Most gracious Baroness, it has
gone so far that the ancient idols des-
cend into the sacred hedge and the
Druid brings sacrifice unto them be-
meath the oaks
i did not know that anything or
that sort had taken place, and could
not, by any stretch of the Imagination
have pictured to myself at that mo-
ment that I was participating in
L