Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-06-25
ghe PASTORS Daughter
%. xeimburs
ID. 1eimburs


infrm servant mail was the only
friend I possessed il the whole wide
world.
"T can still see the fower-decked
coffin borne along the church-yard.
The whole village paid the last hon
ors TO their aged and revered pastor
The people cried AMI sobbed, and l,
still fearless, stood at the window OF
NV room and looked after him-noW
I was an orphan indeed! Then came
the baron who wanted to take NE
hack 20 the castle, but refused hast
ilv. and pointed to Katharine. WHAT
could she do without me? There was
one person who still needed me, ana
this care I would not have taken from
me. Who could say how long | could
still enjoy the feeling Of being neces-
sary to someone?
u" You must not stay here alone;
you will injure yourself said the ba-
ron. I honor your devotion, but you
must come to US at least twice
week on certain days. Your health
will break down if you stay here
alone in your grief; you look more
dead than alive now
" oh, let me stay here I imploTed
him I thank you a thousand times
but not now, perhaps by and by-now
I cannot For a while they did really
leave me in peace, but then the baron
came again.
&" We'll you will go with me today,
in any case he said. 7 cannot answer
it to nv conscience to leave you so
much to yourself. I am your guardian
now, and I command you to come
q let him do with me as he would
In the evening l sat patiently with
Frau Won BendeIeben, and let her talk
TO me about Hannah, and l heard that
Ruth had a splendid boy At present
there was q dispute about his name.
Ruth wanted him called Stanislaus,
and Eberhardt said be would write
down the name ard give it TO the pas.
tor himself
The baron settled on what days !
should make my appearance at the
castle. I shall inquire, Gretchen ne
added, If you have a good and suft-
ctent reason to give if you do not
come. You must not give yourself up
to your grief so; you are much too
young for that, and Your who'e life
lies before you
MY whole life! I shrank from the
thought. And was I to live on like
this? Horrible thought. Oh, if I were
only lying there beside my parents!
Ny whole Iife-and how long q hui
man life is, Our life lasts for seventy
years, and Y"s Just twenty. But Goo
is mercifuI, thought; It cannot last
so long as that.
q was obedjent; I Went punctual1y
to the castle; played chess with the
baron, and read the papers aloud; and
in the daytime stayed in the village
with Katharine, and ruled my little
house. did it all, but without any
pleasure in it, with a heart that seem
ed cold and dead
One evening I was at the castle, as
usual, listening patiently to long &C
count Of the potato harvest, when
Frau Won BendeIeben started UP and
began to listen.
" There are visitors coming she
said, standing ~ and putting down
her work.
There was a sound Of voices out
side, the door opened, and Ruth came
in, followed by her husband.
Il had no time to escape, and
stood rooted to the floor, gazing at
him He, too, turned rather pale when
he saw me; but his beautiful wife did
not take the slightest notice of me,
and hastily throwing off her velvet
mantle and embracing her mother, she
cried, petulantIy: Mamma, you must
decide dispute. Only fancy, the ola
Countess Satewski. in Vienna, is dead.
They have written to me that I had
better be present at the opening Of the
will. must and will go to Vienna, and
my dear husband, here she turned to
Eberhardt, who was biting his lips
declares it unnecessary, and wants
me to give up the journey, instead of
! offering me his escort
Well, sit down, first interrupted
| the baron, and then we can consider
! the matter. What reasons have you
/ against it, Wilhelm? he asked his SON.
/ in-law, who had pushed his chair as
far as possible out of the light of the
lamp.
A thousand reasons he said;
but the principal one is that the boy,
is i'll; he is getting his teeth, I sup
pose, and cries the whole day. Be
sides, I cannot see tina. Ruth's pres
ence there can be so very necessary,
and I think she is needed at home far
more than at the opening Of the will
The result, in case there should be
! anything for her, could be reported to
her here just as we'll His voice was
calm and dispassionate, but it pierced
me to the heart. I got up and was
about to so.
No, no. cried the baron; You
want to escape, DO you? You are going
to stay here!' and he drew me down
again into my chair. No ore but Eber-
hardt could have dreamed Of the tor
lures l endured as I sat there.
" must confess, Ruth the baron
continued, your husband seems to
me in the right, Very likely you would
meet with some disagreeable expert
ences in Vienna; you never got on
with your first husbands relatives. I
should rather stay here. not to men,
ton the child's illness, which certain
" is a very weighty reason for not go
ing