Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-04-02
9ke PASTORS Daughter
10. TstnbEPg
Continued.
10. FetnbEPs

'Why?' l cried, hastily. Why do
you speak of it?'
I am going to travel, my child;
want to visit the great museums in the
cities, as 1 have seen so little; shall
be away for some time, and I should
Ike to know that you were in good
hands
You can 90 with an easy mind,
dear father I assured him, of course
should stay at Bendeleben. l don't
know why you should think Of my
going away from there.
You are right, child, It Is an alb
suTd idea, but such ideas come sudden
j. sometimes. When man sets out On
such long journey, he wishes 10 pro-
vide for all emergencies. 1t might hap
pen that Hannah should stay in Wen
ma with her aunt, or the whole family
might 20 travelling for a long time;
In that case, you will receive a kind
welcome over there
I will never go there, l would
rather stay here quite alone with
Katharine, / cried, while the tears
came into my eyes. che Young pastor
over there cant endure me, and his
mother fngs her hands up over her
head because I ride. Is it sin to
mount a horse? Katharine scolds and
says I shall not come here on horse
lack; she is ashamed of me. Good
heavens, have I done anything so
wickedY
And I burst into tears.
my father wanted to comfort me,
but he was so ignorant in such mat
ters that he did not know what TO say.
Evidently much grieved, he put his
pipe in the corner and came to me.
Don't cry, child. Katharine is
very absurd; there is certainly no
harm In it. She only means that you
are not a great lady, and so it is not
suitable for you. You must not be
angry with her, for she only means
well by you. Come, don't embitter our
parting | want to leave you as cheer
Ful as possible.
AS he spoke, he stroked my cheek
so caressingly that, touched by this
AA05u&Al ISL1NCLhCooS Iii CIV AAAJ XII LID
round his neck, and sobbing, l asked:
Are you going away so soon? Why
didn't you tell me before?
" Because l never like TO talk of
things long beforehand. am going
the day after tomorrow, my child. You
can come again tomorrow, there will
be a good deal to arrange. When an
one can never know whether he will
come back. Now, don't cry so, my
child: [ will bring you back something
nice
MY father had never before spoken
10 me like this, and It Comforted me
hsypressibly. Was it the parting that
made him so gentle? He still held me
tight az l entreated, oh, don't go
away, stay here. I will come to you
and make everything as comfortable
for you as possible. All. stay here
now
" No, my child, when I come back
You shall stay with me, but now |
must go on account of my book. For
The present, go on living with the
Bendelebens, and be gay and happy,
suits your age. I will write to you too;
not too often, of course; and ) on will
answer wont you? And came here to-
morrow afternoon, / have a great deal
Of writing to do now viii you
d" He put his arms round me and
kissed me again. and then l went
away. When l reached the head of the
stairs he followed me.
Did you ride here, Gretchen?
Then | must see you on horseback for
once; l will come down with you
You dear, good father!' l cried,
and triumphing over Katharine, I
mounted my horse, radiant with joy.
while my father stood in the door.
Then I heard Katharine's voice:
Well, if the Herr Pastor himself
stands there admiring her, there is
nothing for the like Of me to say. But
no good will ever come OF it, that |
always will say
Her words had no effect on me; !
rode away from the little house to the
castle in a state of bliss / had never
known before, for l had experienced
for the first time the happiness of
knowing myself beloved by my sather.
There | found a letter from Hannah.
She would be back with her Gretchen
in a weeks time, she said, and she
would then tell her about the wonder
ful city of Vienna, and how splendid
the bride had looked.
Il spent a happy evening. I pictured
to myself how pretty would make the
little house when my father came back
and how good I would be to Kathar-
Inc.
OF course I should take my horse
with me. for I could not conceive of
existence without it. The curtains Of
the windows should be whittier even
than the young pastors. and IN the
morning I would go about the house
with my key-basket; at noon I would
let the table daintiIy: in the afternoon
take a ride, and in the evening sit up
stairs in the study, in spite of the
blue clouds of tobacCO-smoke. Oh, if
the time had only come,
That night I could hardly sleep, l
Gad so many plans in my absurd little
head. All, how differently it all turned
out!
My father started on his journey,
and l took leave Of him with bitter
tears.
s.--Lo no-s,Iobo.-- ,,r,, y,c1- or5