Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-08-06
Continued.

Now you can come fFduAeIA
Gretchen he said in a low tone.
Pushing aside the curtains, l followed
him with tottering steps.
"They had laid him in the great
bare room; it had once been the salon
of the house, but the divorced wife
had taken the luxurious furniture
away with her; only the splendid red
silk curtains remained before the
windows, and a rosy glow came
through them on the pale, still face
before me in the co n, casting over 1t
a flush as Of life.
"SDeechless | stood before the
coffin, looking down on my dead hap
piness. May God forgive me for the
thoughts that ragged within me- They
were not submissive. | was rebeIlious
against the cruel, memorable fate
which had not spared me, and yet
how powerless ! was against it!
"FrtedeI stood by me, the tears still
rolling down his cheeks.
All, Fraulein,' he said at length,
4 wish l could see tears in your eyes!
You look so horribly pale, SO sad; cry
a little, let tear fall on the coffin;
he will not rest in his grave If those
who loved him dOsnOt weep for him
'Friedel, if | only could cry
said-but l could not. Wilhelm will
stay with me. What shall / do with
out you in the world?
"And then l bent down and laid my
face against his cold cheek, and kissed
his eyes. l stayed long, long time
alone with him, for FTiedel, too, had
gone away. I whispered to my Eber-
hardt and looked into his dear face,
then I cut off lock of his hair. They
had adorned the room with orange
trees, and numberless wreaths Of
white roses covered the dead; they
were all blooming yesterday in all
their splendor-only yesterday!
I have not even a wreath for you,
my only TREASURED! l whispered. What
can I give you in your cold grave?
Then it occurred to me that Kath-
arine had taken from my mothers
breast as she lay in the coffin little
medallion which contained a lock Of
hair which she had once cut off my
head. Katharine had replied, to my
curious question, that when the hair
of living person was laid in the
grave of a friend, the dead person
would soon draw the living after him
| quickly took a pair Of scissors, took
down my hair, and cut off one Of my
long brown braids, that had been his
delight.
Here, my love; this is still better
than flowers, l whispered, laying the
braid under the clothes next to his
heart. Now, farewell: bless you for
all your love, and come for me soon
Il was just bending over to kiss him
again when the door opened and sew
eral officers came in, followed by the
baron. I turned away from the coffin
and walked out of the room with bent
head, few of tn roses and the lock
of his hair in my hand. AS was clos
ing the door I heard one of the gentle
men ask who I was.
The baron replied, with some en-
barrassment:
The lady who takes care of his
child
Il bore that also; it did not give
me pain-nothing had power 20 hurt
me now. A scornfuI smile play ed
about my mouth at this denial of my
own rights on the part of a
man whom l had loved like a father,
and who had also loved ME dearly;
even in this moment he could not
overcome his pride.
Then I heard another voice:
Pardon me, Herr Baron; if that |
young lady is Margaret Siegismund, |
Eberhardt has already told us long
ago that he was engaged to her; it is
well known among the officers, and /
W. will take occasion later to offer |.
our condolences to the betroJhed of /.
our dead cOmrade.
Il heard something like q murmur /
Of assent from several voices: then I /
put on my shawl and turned to go, !
though I did not know whittier. But I |
could not have listened to words of !
sympathy at any price, well meant as
they might Do.
"FriedeI came and brought me my
picture and Eberhardt's letter case.
which he had taken from his pocket.
i asked him if he knew any place
where I could stay till the funeral
was over.
He nodded
Only wait a moment, Fraulein
Siegtsmund'
After a while he came back accom-
panied by a stout, goOd-natured wo-
man, whose small blue eyes were full
of tears. She was the IandIady OF the
house, and she kindly offered me a
room till the next evening. I accepted
1t thankfully. and sat there sunk in !
my grief.
Il spent the night on the sofa. and
the next morning l went softly up
stairs, to look once more at his dear
face. But the coffin was already |
closed: so I went back again, and I
sat alone for hours in the little room.
Then I heard. all at once, the regu-
lar tread of soldiers, the words Of |
command the voices of many men. / !!
went to the window and watched the /
procession forming. The officers Of the |
garrison stood in the street, talking |
in low tones: I leaned my forehead on |
the window pane, and gazed down at !
the brilliant throng which was paying !
him the last honors. I thought how |
alone I was: that among them all no |
one was so near to him as l, vet no |
one troubled themselves about me;
when the door of my room opened, |
ana a- turned 7 looked into the kind /