Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-08-04
CHAPTER IN.
THE q v1rrr1

kAAASSAy NAAAN
his first tankard. thinking: $50
this vintner IL in love with
u goose girl? Confound my
memory! l would give 20 crowns to
know where I have seer him. A ine
beer" he said aloud. holding up the
second tankard.
The vintner raised his. There was
m unconscious grace in the movement.
A covert glance at his hand satisfied
Carmichael in regard to one thing. He
might be q vintner, but the hand was
~ soft and well kept as a woman's.
Could q man with hands like these
mean well toward Gretchen? Gretchen
was both innocent and unworldly. To
the right man she might be easy prey;
never to q man like Colonel o Wal
lenstein. whose power and high Office
were alike sinister to any girl Of the
p~easantry. But a man in the guise
Of her own class. Of her wi world
and people. here was a snare Gretchen
might not be able to foresec.
A tankard rapping a table nearby
called Gretchen to her duties.
sGretchen Is beautiful enough to be
q queen, and yet she is merely a Hebe
In a tavern" remarked Carmichael.
~Hebe?' suspiciously.
sHebe was a cup bearer to the myth
illogical gods in olden times" Car
michael explained. He had set q trap,
but tho vintner had not fallen into it.
"a fairy story" The vintner nodded
he understood now.
Carmichael would lay another trap.
'"What happened to herr"
~Oh," said Carmichael. ''she spilled
wine on q god one day, and they ban
1shed her"
ut must have been q are vintage"
II suppose you are familiar with all
the valleys. Mosell?"
"Yes. That IL 4 fne country"
The old man In tatters sat erect in
his chair.
you have served?"
IA little. IL 1 could be an officer !
should like tho army" The vintner
reached for his pipe. which lay on the
table.
"Try this" urged Carmichael. offer.
ing his pouch.
'-This will be good tobacco, ! know"
The winner filled his pipe.
Carmichael followed this gift with
many questions about wines and vim
tASes, and hidden in these questions
we're a dozen clever traps. But the
other walked Over them unhesitant,
with a U~ertadnty of step which cha
grined the trappsr.
BY and BY the vtntner rose and babe
his table companion a good night. He
had not offered to buy anything This
lrugality was purely Of the thrifty
peasant. But the vintner expressed
many thanks. On his way to the door
he stopped and whispered into Crotch
ems a
The press in the room was thinning.
"A carter sauntered past and sat down
Nnconcernedly at the table occupied BY
the old man, whose face Carmichael
had not yet seen. A little later a
butcher approached the same table and
baker came along and repeated his
procedure, and Carmichaers curiosity
was enlivened. Undoubtedly they were
Socialists, and this was q little 0 n
clave. and the peculiar manner Of their
meeting, the silence and mystery, were
purely f1ctitional.
Had Carmichael not fallen a-dream-
ting over his pipe he would have seen
the old man pass three slips Of paper
across the table. He would have seen
the carter, the butcher and the baker
pocket these slips stolidly. he would
have seen the mountaineer wave his
hand sharply aud the trio rise and dis
perse. Carmichael left the Black
Eagle, nursing the sunken ember in
his pipe.
Intsrmediately the mountaineer paid
his score and started for the stairs
which led to the bedrooms above. But
he stopped at the bar. A very old man
was having a pail filed with hot cab
bage soup. It was the ancient clock
member across the way. The noun
taineer was startled out Of his habitual
reserve. The clock mender had the as
pect Of q weary, broken man. He
shuf1ed noiselessly out. The noun
taineer followed him cautiously. Once
in his shop the clock mender poured
the steaming soup into q bowl broke
bread In it and began his evening
meal. The other, his face pressed
against the dim pane, stared and
stared.
"Gott In himmel! It Is her he
gasped chokingly.
Krumerweg was indeed a crooked
way. 1t formed a dozen elbows and.
ragged half circles as It skunk OF from
the A~dlergasse. 1t was half after 8
when Gretchen and the vintner picked
their way over cobbles pittsd here and
there with mudholes. Thsy were arm
10 arm.
"Only a little farther saia Gretchen.
for the winner had never before pass
I'd over this way.
'Long az It Is and crooked, heaven
knows 1t IL short enough" He en-
eircled her with his arms and kissed
her. II love you! love youl" he said
Her bosom swelled, her heart throb-
bed, ana she breathed in ecstasy the
sweet chill air that rushed through the
broken street
after the vintage she said. giving
his arm a pressure. Fol this hand