The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-04

painted" said the weird stran6ers 'Yesterday YOU provoked me, but today 1t is all forgotten. Come, take your shadow and make trial of 1t. VIII lend 1t to you"
 were beginning to meet travellers. 70 Peter accepted the gray mans offer and saw with strange feeling tho shadow. once his own. glide to the ground and take its place alongside that of his horse Once he put spurs to his steed to escape with the shadow. but 1t left him at once and stole back to the man who had purchased 1t.
 Again and again the stranger invited Peter to sign away his soul and get back his shadow! but. having sacrificed Minna and thereby blighted his whole life. he would not now for a world of shadows sign away his soul to this being The stranger continued to journey with him for several days. At last as they halted one noon for g rest beneath the shade he said. Well, we'll. we must part. That is clear. on that acount l go. but you can re- call me whenever you wish by merely shaking your purse As to your shadow, you know on what terms you can redeem it.
 Recollections of former days came over Schlemihl and he asked if the stranger had obtained the Signature of M. Thomas John.
 Tt was by no means necessary" said the man--and he drew from his pocket the altered and pallid form of Thomas John by the hair of its head. The livid lips of what was once the pros- porous merchant moved and uttered in hollow tones the awful words: q am judged and condemned by the just judgment of God" 4s
 Horror stricken, Peter threw his jingling purse far into the abyss be- low and cried out. Wretch. begone.'
 With a dark expression of counten- ance the gray man vanished behind the huge rocks that surrounded the place &
 Peter was now without either gold or shadow; but heavy weight had been taken from him. He had left his horse at | neighboring inn, but. throw ing himsels down In exhaustion, he found when he awoke from a vision haunted sleep that ne had slumbered through whole night and the sun was shining brightly. He took that as warning not to return to the hostelry. and so continued sis journey on foot His shoes. not made for such rough usage, soon gave out: and. find Ing that some pieces of gold still re- mained in his pocket, he ventured Into town and purchased a second hand pair of boots at a booth in the market place.
 Leaving the town by the north gate. Peter was surprised after a few steps at finding himself amid huge rocks covered with moss between which were fields of snow and ice. The air was intensely cold. As he looked around and took a few steps more there was. the stiffness of death itself and the lNt~ A -A the horizon.
 Changing the direction of his walk. he found himself in a few minutes amid groves of mulberry trees and fertile rice fields; and, drawing back . couple of steps from some Chinese .laborers whom he say approaching. he found the scene again changed. He had now no doubt--he had the seven-leagued boots on his feet With joy such as he never had ex- pected to experience again. Peter now began tour of the world, seeking the most distant and least visited lands and devoting his mind to the study of the flora and fauna of the countries he visited
 From the equator to the pole. from the new world to the old. he was en- gagged constantly in repeating and comparing his experiments.
 He pitched on a lonely cave near Thebes as his homo. his study and his headquarters. and there he deposited the collection of specimens to which he constantly added. He had picked up friendless dog in his travels, and this animal guarded the cave during It's masters absence and gave him sympathy which mankind denied him.
 When Peter wished to walk as an ordinary man he wore slippers over his boots and the boots thus covered bod ,swAA n..- A- L attacked by a bear Attempting to step across to an island. he fell into the water, one of his slipper having been inadvertently left on.
 He scrambled out again. but took q severe cold from his icy bath. A fever ensued. which he sought vainly to dispel by rapidly wandering over the earth. At last he lost consciousness; when he came to himself he found that he was lying in a comfortable bed in a hospital What was his surprise to see inscribed in letters of gold on a black marbel tablet on the wall his own name-Petcr Schlemhl!
 His nurse told him that he had been found lying i'll by the wayside and brought to this place. which was called the Schlemihlium. and where daily the inmates were exhorted to pray for the soul of Peter Schlemihl. the founder and benefactor of the institution. A benevolent looking man came to his beside accompanied by a beautiful lady in black. The mar was Bendel, and the woman was Minna. They did not recognize him and by skillfully worded inquires he found that he was In Renders native town. where the faithful fellow had erected this hospital with the money his master had left him. .,9 Minna was a widow. an unhappy lawsuit having deprived Rascal of his life. and Minna of most of her proper ty Her parents were dead. and in widowed piety she devoted herself to works of mercy. and to prayers for Peter SchlemihL
 As soon as Peter was strong enough he arose one night unobserved, and. finding all his belongings in a little chest by his bedside. put on his boots. He left a note for Bendel and Minna. which read:
 Matters are better with your friend than formerly He has repented. and his repentance has led to forgiveness. Then he departed for his cave near Thebes, there to reduce to writing tha results of his investigations. that future generations might profit by them as well as by the record of his own story which he also set down. -
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