Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-03-19

t1tIG CuLCICu q SCI fcAAI Al jill bLAS
castle:
" 'FrauIein Gretchen will please
come; they are going in TO supper.
81 went toward Katharine to shake
hands, but she banged the oaken door
of the kitchen behind her so hard
that, greatly vexed, I turned and left
the house.
81 hummed a song, as, lifting up my
habit, I walked down the damp path,
striking the air with my little whip
out of sheer opposition. Then l looked
round once and / thought saw the fig
ure of the young pastor at the Win
dow"
When, later, l sat at the elegant
table at the castle, 1 heard the whole
story of the engagement. The young
count had fallen desperately in love
with the beautiful Fraulein Won Ben
deleben, and had now come 70 get her
parents consent. He was enthusiastic
about his lovely bride, and had al
ready got permission to celebrate the
wedding in six weeks.
Ruth did not come back to be mar
ried from her fathers house. The
counts mother was an invalid, and
could not take so long a journey; SO
the wedding was to take place in the
bridegroom's palace and then the
young couple would go to Hungary,
where the ancestral estates Of the
SateWskis were situated.
Our change, that is, my fathers
retirement, was also discussed. The
baron applauded the resolution.
" He can now devote himself still
more to his archaeological studies,' he
said, and he will have more time for
writing. His works are very interest
ing. It is the Herr Pastor in our par
ish,' he added, turning to the count;
I advise you to read them
while the gentlemen continued to
discuss this theme, 1 told Fraulein
Won BendeIeben that I had seen the
young clergyman, and that he was
quite a handsome man.
'GreteI! Gretel! cried the baron,
looking through his champagne-glass
Look out for your heart What would
you think of being Frau Pastorin?'
HE was interrupted by hearty
laugh from the count.
1.-The beautiful, bold rider a pas,
tors wife! By st. F1orin, that would
be a pity he cried, in his southern &C,
cent. If she is in the church, she
can't ride horseback; it is not the
fashion; no, that would be a pity
Marry an officer, FTaulein Gretel;
that will suit you better
Every one laughed, and the baron
declared it was a pitt the church was
so near, or else, as the Frau Pastorin,
I could ride there every Sunday with
my prayer book under my arm.
strangely enough, |, who never
minded teasing was made very IN
comfortable by this. l felt myself
blushing and was silent.
" Well, GreteI,' said Frau Won Ben
deIeben, you are not usually so SEN
sitive; are you Offended?'
II tried to smile, but the young
clergyman's wondering eyes and
Katharine's scolding seemed to have
a strange connection with this harm
less teasing; it seemed to me, sudden
ly, as if l were not in my proper
place, and that vexed me still more.
Hannah turned the conversation
by a question about Ruth, and the
bIissful lover, with ali the franmess
of a southerner told how long the
lovely Fraulein Won Bendeleben had
let him languish.
" You see, l almost ruined two
horses riding them past her window,
and was we'll on the way to breaking
my own neck; and she didn't look as
if she saw ME even. Then one day l
put my pistol to my heart, and said to
her it was at a ball at the italian
ambassadors, and a whole swan of
her suitors were standing round, like
clouds round the moon
q" Gracious lady, 1 love you; viii
you be my wife? Say yes or no. If
you say yes, 1 shall be the happiest
man in the world; if you say no, be-
fore half an hour has passed | will
put a bullet through my head"
g" At first she looked at me Taught
lily, and then laughed, and said:
8" Come to my aunt tomorrow and
get her consent; but without weapons,
Herr Count"
And then she looked at me again,
till l was nearly frantic, and went
home with her aunt; and the next
day l became the happy bridegroom
that YOU see before you
He laughed loud and gayly at this
story, showing, as he did so, two rows
of splendid white teeth under his
black mustache.
THE baron laughed, too, and even
Frau Won Bendeleben smiled.
" AT all events, your manner OF
wooing is new and original she re
marked, and 1 think you must have
impressed my eccentric little daugh-
ter with it, Count. She likes to have
every thing as unlike other people as
possible. If you had fallen langulshing
at her feet, or if you had said 20 her
calmly and deliberately that you loved
her, or had written her a well-turned
letter, who knows whether you would
have been a happy bridegroom the
next day?' The baron agreed, and the
count seemed delighted that he mad so
cleverly hit the mark.
"As soon as could, withdrew, on
the pretext of having headache; and
I think I was right, for there was SO