The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-04
eo7YREGMT 9o07, BY HRVIN1 KINe All R6GTS aEgERVEn

| but the wretched man persisted In refus- l ing to touch the pen. Bendel, who had | been seeking his master now made hls appearance and set upon the stranger with the idea of taking the shadow from l him by force; but the gray man. putting the desired article back in his pocket,
 made of swiftly, with Bendel in hope 1 less pursuit.
 For three days Peter wandered alone
 through the woods and over the deserted
 plains, avoiding the sight of human i beings, On the morning of the fourth ! day as he was passing across a sunny plain, he saw 10 his surprise a shadow
 dancing along before him. No human
 being was visible. but there was the
 shadow apparently unattached.
 The idea at once seized him that it was | a shadow which had lost it's master. and
 that Ii he could but catch 1t he might make it his. On and on fled the shadow l and In hot pursuit of it fled Peter. He
 had just come up with it and placed his | foot on it when he felt himself felled to the
 earth by a blow and at the same time
 grasped a small. roundish object which
 he saw was birds nest. In his hand
 As he picked himself up he saw the 1 gay man. It was the gray mans shadow.
 and that mysterious person had been car 1 rying the magic birds nest, which makes ] it's possesor invisible.
 Now" said the man. "as you sec you cannot have my shadow perhaps you
 will give me back my birds nest"
 But Peter knew that he was invisible.
 even to the stranger He fled toward the | home of the forester, where he entered l his accustomed arbor and heard Minna's
 father telling her mother that his daugh-
 ter must be married that very day to
 Rascal.
 He is man of immense wealth." said | the forester.
 He must be a great thief then" said l ha la
 become possessed of so much money" | How foollshly you talk rejoined the
 forester lilo has simply been saving.
 And he all events he has an irrepreoach-
 able shadow. which Is more than can be
 said for Count Peter, for whom Minaa persists in weeping
 Just then Peter heard q voice at his side. and turned to see the gray man. 1 who whispered "Can you endure this? 1 Have you no blood in your veins? Yes.
 positively. you have some blood" and he l prlcked Peters finger. and. dipping q pen in the blood. once more offered him l the fatal parchment to sign. Peter fled again into the forest. drop ] ping the birds nest In flight. Although l the stranger pursued him with many ln- 1 genious manners of persuasion. he still
 refused to sign the bond which forfeited
 his soul.
 When his tormenter, with imprecations
 and curses, had finally left him, he re- turned under cover of night to his man
 sion In the town. He found the windows had been broken by mob led by Rascal.
 who had that day been married to Min
 ma; but the faithful Bendel was still pre- ] siding over the wreck of the house, Ben del informed him that the authorities had banlshed Comet Peter as a suspicious | person and had given him twenty l four hours in which to cross the border. 1 "rhere must stlll be come chests Of 1 gold in the house, said Peter. "fhey are ! yours, Bendel I shall go forth alone,
 an accursed wanderer. We probably shall
 never met again, but your faithfulness l has been to me the one consolation in my wretched life"
 Peter fled on horseback, without def ! mite aim as to destlna ton, being only
 anxious 10 place far behind him the scene l of his unfortunate love. In the course 1 of the night he was joined by q travel
 CT on foot. When day broke he saw with
 dismay that 1t was none other than the
 gray man.
 "rhe devil is not so black as he is painted.' said the weird stranger Yes
 terday you provoked me- but today it Is
 all Forgotten. Come, take your shadow
 and make trail of it. l will lend 1t to | you."
 The day was advancing and they were 1 beginning to meet travellers. so Peter ac-
 cepted the gray mans offer and saw
 
 his own glide to the ground and take | its place alongside that of his horse. ! Once he put spurs to his steel to escape
 with the shadow, but It left him at once and stole back to the man who had l purchased 1t.
 Again and again tho stranger invited i Peter to sign away his soul and get back i his shadow: but having sacrificed Minna l and thereby Dllghted his whole life te l would not now for q world of shadows 1 sign away his sou to this being. The l stranger continued to journey with him i for several days. At last, as they halteI l one noon for rest beneath the shade 1 he said. "Weil well We muse part. That i is clear. You hate me but l bear you | no malice on that account. ! go, but l you can recall ne whenever you wish 1 by merely shaking your purse. As to 1 your shadow. you know on what terms | you can redeem it."
 1 Recollections of former days came over 1 Schlernihl and he asked if the stranger 1 had obtained the signature of M. Thomas 1 John.
 Tt was by no means essary," said l the man-and he drew from his pocket i the altered and pald form of Thomas 1 John by the hair of fits head. The livid ! lips of what was once the prosperous 1 merchant moved and uttered in hollow ! tones the awful words: q am Judged and condemned by the just Judgment of | God"
 i Horror-stricken. Peter threw his jng- 1 ling purse far into the abyss below and i cried out, Wretch, begonei' | With a dark expression of countenance | the gray man vanished behind the huge 1 rocks that surrounded the place. ! Peter was now without either gold or | shadow; but a heavy weight had been 1 taken from him. He had left his horse | at neghborlng Inn, but. throwing him l self down in exhaustion, he found when l he awoke from vlson-haunted sleep l that he had slumbered through whole ! night and the sun was shining brightly.
 He took that as a warning not to return | to the hostelry. and so continued his l tourney on foot. His shoes, not made for such rough usage, soon gave out and, 1 finding that some pieces of gold stlll re- ] mained in his pocket he Ventured Into 1 a town and purchased a second-hand 1 pair of boots at a booth in the market place.
 l Leaving the town by the south gate, Peter was surprised after few steps at
 finding himself amid huge rocks covered