Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-04-23


on Christmas morning and Christmas
evening, and the servants flew about
twice as briskly as usual. At last
everything was settled, and Christmas
eve, that beautiful festival for old and
young, came, in a dazzling white gar
ment; it was cold, and the snow
glanced and sparkled in the sunshine
on the roofs and in the paths The
| boys, with their rough sleds, made all
| the roads as smooth as floor in the
| castle, and the warm, new fur gloves
which they had received the evening
| before, were of the greatest service
in building big snow man.
"In the great hall, Frau Won Bende-
| leben was busy with closed doors.
Hannah and 1 packed our presents
! in dainty basket, SO we could put
! them quickly on the Christmas tables;
! then we had been in the stable. and
fed our horses with sugar; and after
the coffee Frau Won Bendeleben had
said:
Now you have to carry the pres
| ents to old Werner and to old Thomas
and LANCE; suppose you will not like
| to omit that this year. Johann will
carry the baskets, and you, Gretchen,
will, of course, go in for a moment to
see old Katharine, and when you have
| been to church. come straight home
for the tree Henry and Wilhelm, you
do not need to be urged to join the
young ladies' she continued, turning
to the two young officers, who were
only too willing.
TT was already growing dark as we
walked through the great chestnut
avenue; the snow crunched under our
feet, and the stars were shining
bright in the cold winter sky.
Hannah walked past on her lovers
arm, chatting gayly. In the village,
here and there, a window was al
ready lighted, and the gay voices of
children were shouting over the
| Christmas-tree. Our warm articles of
clothing, our apples and STOLEN, we
| had soon portioned out to the old wo-
man and the two old men, and May
Gods richest blessing rest upon you'll
| followed US after we had left the
humble door.
Johann carried the basket with
Katharine's presents.
Go in, Gretchen said Hannah to
me; in a quarter of an hour the bells
will be ringing for the Christmas eve
service, and we will walk up and
down outside for that time
"The servant had at my suggestion
let the basket down on the lowest step
Of our house, and l was just going to
take it up, when Eberhardt asked in
low tone:
May l carry the basket in for
your He bent down and added in a
whisper, Please let me go into your
fathers house, Gretchen pleased
Then he opened the door, and,
hardly knowing what I was doing,
went in, followed by him.
Stay here, at least l whispered
to him in the hall. l was afraid of
Katharine
Leaving the door of the parIor open
in spite of the cold, went in. Katha,
rine was sitting by the table reading
in the prayer book; packet of snowy
linen tied up with pink ribbons lay
beside her. The little Oil-lamp shed a
bright light OIL the Wrinkled old face
and the folded hands.
" Good evening, Katharine, I have
brought you my Christmas presents, I
said
"She looked up over her spectacles
and got up quickly.
" Good evening child. Dear child, it
all the cold in
"She was going to shut the door,
when Wilhelm stepped over the
threshold of the low room. He had
left his big cloak in the hall, and had
put his cap under his arm, as if he
were making a call on a great lady.
katharine stepped back and court
esied inv0luntarily, as she saw the
tall, imposing form appear in the
doorway; then she cast questioning,
suspicious glance at me, as I stood
there in great confusion, regretting
my complaisance.
Good evening" he said, offering
his hand to the old woman, as he put
the heavy basket down on the table
I brought in the basket for the Frau
lein; it is little heavy for her
Smiling pleasantly, he looked down
at Katharine who was evidently much
disturbed by this unexpected visit AS
he stood there, the unavoidable
thought came to me that the stately
figure did not suit this humble room.
A feeling of constraint and of dread,
and Katharine's silence, made the
scene still more painful. I made an
effort, and said, in as Indifferent
tone as I could assume:
" The gentleman is the Frau Baro-
nin's nephew. And now come and look
at your things, dear Katharine
And I began hurriedly to unpack
them.
"The old woman did not speak; she
passed her hand over the warm dress
and the neat cap, but her embarrass-
ment was too great to permit her to
speak.
Thank you. thank you! All. they
are all too good for me- Then she
took up the linen. Child, spun it my
self and bleached it; it is for your
wedding outfit
4 seized her hand
You dear old Katharine and I
pressed a kiss on the old mouth
hn faT he