Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1908-07-09

stopped crying, and, recognizing him,
sprang forward towards him; then
he took it On his arm, and without
looking at me. he added: I would
not have you feel resentment toward
your nephew
Very well,' said Frau Won Ben
deleben at length, letting her dark
eyes sweep carelessly over the at
tractive group of father and child
The court will settle to whom the
child shall belong. So far as l am con.
cerned, 1t can remain here for the
present; it is only a question of few
days
Pardon me, dear aunt inter
rupted Eberhardt; the court has no
thing more to do with the matter
Ruth and I have already settled it
She was so amiable today as to leave
the child to me, at my wish; that is
she solemnly gave up all claim to ii
in the presence of her counsel and
mine, and SO that ends that dispute
IF thunderbolt had fallen at the
feet of the pale woman before me
she could not have looked more
shocked and more dismayed than she
did now. Her great eyes rested on
Eberhardt with an expression CT hor'
ror, and from the pale lips sounded
at last in hoarse tones:
" 1T is impossible!'
" Eyes, it is true; and I can assure
you that she yielded to my wish very
rapidly, without hesitation
'Wilhelm!' cried Frau Won Ben
deleben, deeply shocked as she came
step nearer. "A mother give a child
up without hesitation? Wilhelm, say
no; say it is not SOL Her eyes
rested on his with an imploring ex
preston.
81 felt sorry for her; the poor, hui
inflated mother, to whom a single
word had unveiled the deep shadows
in the character of her beautiful and
deeply loved daughter.
Even though in former times she
had sighed over her eccentric char.
acter, had reproved her, and had dis
approved many of her actions, yet
they had always seemed to her the
consequences of a capricious nature
The sudden close of her short mar
ried life which she had managed in
so mastery a manner, by holding W
her husband as fatthIess to her
through the robbery Of my early let
tiers, had entirely gained the mothers
heart on behalf of her poor, betrayed
child.
"Of course, she believed it all, and
excused the caprices of the young
wife by the bitter experiences she
had undergone by the side of hus
band who had betrayed his wife; ii
was quite natural that a tortured
heart should become embittered. And
then the insult of her husbands Civ
ing his child into the hands of a wo
man who had been the cause of the
whole sad story. She had come here
today to put an end TO the scandal
to take back the child to its poor, in
jured mother; and now she was told
that this deeply-injured wife had
given up the child quite calmly and
readily-her child-to her detested
husband! The distress of the proud
woman; now, so deeply Inundated,
was piteous to see.
'Eberhardt, too, perceived this, for
one moment something like triumph
shone in his dark eyes, then his kind,
noble heart quickly gained the mas
J terry. He drew nearer to her, and said
! kindly:
" Are you so much surprised at
! that, dear aunt? I should think, after
! the first act you have witnessed, the
conclusion ought not to astonish you.
I think the child has never had much
interest for Ruth, and the best proof
! of it is the sudden journey with you
! to. You were in Switzerland, were
! you not? She did not even press a
parting kiss on the little mouth; she
| thought-pardon me, dear aunt, you,
! too, thought-that during the
mothers absence in Vienna the child
was well cared for by the father and
| the nurse, and why shouldn't it be
now? Unfortunately, this time things
/ were different; the report of our
strained relations spread abroad, and
j in the same day the nurse, the cook,
and the. chambermaid all left me. To
whom could | turn To my uncle,
from whom [ had parted in anger?
! That could not be. I did not even
j know whether he would have any.
! thing to do with my child, whose own
mother seemed to have forgotten
him. Should | ask comrades wife
| to take charge of him? That would
only have increased the scandal. In a
word, l knew of no one in the wide
world except the young girl whom 1
| had injured and insulted deeply for
Ruth's sake, and she joyfully took
charge of the child. If you will only
| reflect, dear aunt, you will no longer
be astonished at Ruth's conduct. The
little fellow would only be a heavy
burden to her; all the more as she
as she told me herself this morn
ing-expects to start for Vienna in
a few days. She wishes to be I'M
trammeled and she knows very well
how to break her chains; she has
proved that
HE sighed deeply as he spoke the
last words in low tone.
Frau Won Bendeleben had sunk
down in a chair, and held her hand
kerchief before her eyes; there was
pause, only broken by the painful
sobs which sounded from beneath the
handkerchief held in her trembling
hands.
I cannot believe it, | will not be-
Heve it, she gasped at length. I
Oh