The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1909-01-28
slowly and with evident pleasure, he
handed TO CASTOR all the latter had

mine; the money is yours. 1t is my
custom to play for stakes to lend in
terest to the game, but the law of hos
pitality forbids my keeping what |
win" So CASTOR returned the money
to his wallet and bade his generous
host and hostess goodnight Kollner
led him to a large, lowstudded room
on the upper floor in which every ar
ticle of furniture was deliberately hand
carved
The masterpiece of my craft" ex-
claimed Kolner. as he pointed with
pride to a mammoth cuckoo clock.
But our proudest possession" he con
tinued, as he led his guest through a
tall French window upon a small ver-
anda, is this" pointing TO a view that
caused CASTOR to gasp for breath,
The balcony directly overhung the
mighty gorge. and from the gulf of
blackness far below rose the sound
of the tumultuous stream. Most won
derful of all" continued kollner, lis
the echo, The Ghost Of the Gorge as
it is called. You shall hear it at
dawn With that he wound up and
set the big clock, adding: When the
cuckoo calls. rise and come to this
balcony. Ny niece shall play from the
rocks below and you will hear the
spirit answer Good night
AS on many other weary nights,
sleep refused TO come to CASTOR. He
lay for hours listening TO the gurge
of the water and hearing in it echoes
OF the wild music of the guitar. To-
wards morning a fevefsh slumber
came, from which ne was aroused by
the shrill Cuckoo. Cuckoo" OF the
mechanical bird.
Clad in his pajamas he drowsily
CROPPED his way in the dusk towards
the balcony He had almost reached
1t when he overturned the chair which
had served ~ keep the window half
open during the night. In its outward
fall it carried down the balcony with
a crash and CASTOR horror-stricken
barely kept his balance by grasping
the window casing From the dark
chasm rose the weird strains of the
guitar echoing through the gorge. The
Lorelei was calling, But her notes
were drowned by the shril creaking
of the iron hinges upon which the bal
cony now swung to and fro below
CASTOR, and which. like a flash, told
him he had been led to a man-trap of
hellish ingenuity. Instantly horror
gave way to anger and the instinct of
selfdefense reused him to action For
months he had been reckless of dan
ger, almost courted death. Now he
was seized with an overpowering de.
sire to live. He turned from the win
another instant kolner appeared from
an adjoining room, his eyes glaring
fiendishly as they rested upon the
empty bed. Then, as he turned and
saw Castor, his face became a mask
of absolute fright and bewilderment
For moment only he recoiled, then
flung himself upon his guest with the
fury of beast. Each instantly real
lied that the struggle would be to the
death Frenzied by the miscarrying
OF his diabolical plot the mountaineer
struggled madly, blindly, for a grip
that would enable him to hurl his ad-
versary over the mighty precipce,
Fooled again and again by the agility
of Castor and forced to the defen.
sive, he turned towards the open door
to escape AS he did 50 Castor
rushed upon him. pinned his arms to
his sides. and pushed him inch by
inch 10 the window ,and-Caspar Kohl
ner reached the end of the Witches
Path Ten minutes later Castor
found the niece quietly preparing
breakfast She looked surprised, but
when he told her that her uncle and
not he had answered the Lorelei's call,
she asked, with naive innocence, what
he meant. 1t was only after he had
threatened to hand her over to the pO-
lice at Trieberg that she made this
confession;
She had been brought up by her
uncle, who had invented the folding
balcony, and who always engaged his
guests in a game of cards. He invari-
ably won because he had taught her
and chords on the guitar, the cards
held by his opponent He thus learned
If his guests were supplied with
money, and to gain their full conf.
dence returned all they had lost. He
was enabled to set the man-trap
from his room below. Although the
gorge held the remains of so victims
It was his boast that he had never
killed a man, that each had of his own
free will walked into eternity.
Castor had heard enough He did
not stop for breakfast He left Trie
berg the following evening and
thoughts of his business troubles NO
.onger occupied his mind. When he
returned to America he set TO work to
retrieve his lost fortune, and the fold
ing fire escape, he tells his friends
vas suggested by something he saw
| abroad
CASTOR does not claim the gift OF
| second sight, but he knows, he says
| that in the performance of the Ziller
! thalers the weird strains produced by
"The Girl with the Guitar" describe &c
her blindfolded sister the articles Dor
| ruwed of the audience.
The Wise Wife-Chooser.
" r Iurner. the LmSitania,S new