Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-03-12


little mouth, which could smile SO
sweetIy, all made it difficult for any
one to take their eyes off this charm
ing creature. I am sure, dear child,
you have seen the portrait Of the
lovely Countess Potocka, which hangs
in all the shop windows-weIl, she
looked like that; she bore wonderful
resemblance to this picture.
She possessed the pride of both
her parents in double measure, and she
was the only one in the castle who
did not like me from the beginning.
equal, in quiet way that was remark
able in a child. She had not a good
disposition; the worship of fattery
that had been paid to her beauty in
her early years, made her forward and
coquettish before her time. With men
she was charmingly amiable. First,
she practised her powers on her father
the tutor, or some cousins who spent
their vacation at Castle Bendeleben,
and she wound them all round her fin
ger.
'"Then-but of that by and by.
Hannah, the younger daughter,
who was about my age, was a shy,
lovely little blonde; we remained
close friends till her early death. And
Ruth was always in opposition to US,
and a thousand little quarrels arose,
a thousand humiliations fell to my
share, of which I dared not complain.
I shall never forget one scene.
"One day a peddler had come to the
castle, with all sorts Of things to sell
yarn, tape, needles, and bright
shawIs and ribbons. No one who has
not lived for a long time in the coun-
try can imagine what a charm an
ugly old Jew like that can exercise on
all the feminine portion of the house
hold; there is a perfect jubilee when
one comes in sight, with his box tied
round with a faded green string
Every one remembers that she wants
this thing or that, and they buy and
bargain for the sheer pleasure Of it.
Even. Frau Won Bendeleben stood in
the great hall of the castle with the
peddIer, and, of course, we were
there. too, full of eXpecta ton. The
women-servants had already given the
old man some secret signs, upon
which he earnestly assured them that
When the gracious Frau Baroness
and the gracious young ladies have
done buying, I also come to the
maids
when Frau Won Bendeleben had
made her purchases, to our great JOY
she gave US the gracious permission
for each one to choose a ribbon,
which she would make us present
of.
Ruth at once stretched out her
little hands toward a blue ribbon,
which I, too, liked very much. She
held it against her dark curls and
asked if it was becoming to her.
Hannah chose some other color, I,
alone, stood undecided After the
blue ribbon had been cut of, for Ruth,
and Hannah also had hers in her hand
the latter said:
Well, and you, Gretchen
" I would like some of the blue rib
bon, too I said; please cut it off.
Ruth, who had thrown her ribbon
round her neck to try the effect, at
these words suddenly snatChed it off;
she tossed back her little head, while
she flashed at me a look Of utter con-
tempt from under her long lasbes.
Then she turned, and throwing the
ribbon to her mothers maid, she said
to the astonished girl:
" There, Lisette, will make you
present Of it.
For the first moment did not UNI
derstand the full meaning of this, but
then the hot blood rushed to my face.
Hannah caught me in her arms, as If
she would protect me from the UNI
kindness. But the old Jew, with his
shrewd smiling eyes, looked first at
me and then at Ruth, as he laid the
unIucky blue ribbon down before me
on the table.
This scene caused me such deep
modification that I turned involuntar-
ily to Frau Won Bendeleben with a
feeling as if she must help me. But
the latter was looking over the little
things in the peddler's box with so
much interest that she seemed not to
have noticed what had taken place.
Of course it was rather presumptiOus
in me to wish to wear the same kind
of ribbon as the daughter Of the old,
noble house, as if I were her sister.
"She had shown me with whom /
was d'accord-the maid and I; that
was more suitable. And yet not four
years after, she stretched out her
hand to take what belonged to me;
she did not feel it beneath her to lay
claim to what really belonged to the
poor little cIergyman's daughter, Oh,
I hated her once with a bitter hatred,
this vain, proud creature! she des-
troyed the happiness Of my whole
Hfe!"
"You ought not to have recalled this
scene, dear F'rau1ein," I said.
Yes, my dear child, you must learn
to understand her character. You see,
scenes like this often took place, and
if it had not been for Hannah, and if
the discomfort in the little parsonage
had not been so horribly unpleasant
to me, I would have gone back there
gladly. But my father, who devoted
his whole time to his archaeological
studies Che had gained a great repu-