Year: 1870

TIE mILLER's DAUGHTER.


On a high hill which rises above Z
little Silesian village. there stands ,
very large old castle. Nobody know,
how long it has been there, and how
many times it has changed its owners
At the time OF which l am speaking
however, it was occupied by baror
and his wife and their only daughter
together with enough servants TO take
care of such an immense house. Dowr
in the village. close by the stream
which passed through it, there stood 8
time-uorn mill. The miller. who was an
old man, had several children, among
whom was little Liese. She went 10
school every day, and as frequently as
she looked up at the besutiful castle
standing above the village, wondered
if the people who lived in it were not o
great deal happier than those who lived
down in the village, and, especially,
happier than her own little self.


One day the baron living in the cas-
tie sent down word to the miller to
grind him some -four that very day,
but as the miller could not do it, hav-
ing SO much already engaged ahead,
he sent a note TO the castle by little
Liese, asking to be excused from
grinding -four that day, promising to
do it the next day without fail The
baron's wife received the note from
Liese's hand, but she was so pleased
with the little girl, who had plucked
her some lilies of the valley on her
way up, that she invited her in to see
her little daughter Lii.


Now, Lii was very sweet spirited
girl, and she was not old enough to
have any of the notions of pride that
many do have She did not feel that
she was any better than the miller's
daughter, and, after a little while, the
two girls were engaged very pleasantly
in play. BY and by, when the time
came for little Liese to go down home
again, Lii kissed her, and invited her
to come again and see her.


A few weeks after that, Liese had
another errand for her father, up to
the baron's castle, and she received
permission before she left home TO
spend two or three hours with Lii, pro-
vided her company seemed as accepta-
BILE as it was before. Lii gave her a
cordial welcome and the two girls
spent the time delightfully."- together
In the course Of few months quite
an intimacy had sprung up between
the two little girls, and nobody who
saw them could doubt that they were
very fond of each other. They were
intimate friends, yes, very intimate, for
number of years. until Lii was old
enough to leave home and go to a
boarding school in Dresden.


During the time Lii was gone, she
wrote letters repeatedly to Liese, and
Liese wrote to her. Now, it so hap
pened that Liese, too, had to leave
home-not to 60 TO boarding school,
however, but TO learn a trade in Chem
nitz-to become a weaver-girl. Lii
did not write to her so frequently after
awhile, as she used TO do, but still
wrote occasionally, SO as not to break
off the acquaintance altogether, for,
by this time, she had learned very well
that she was baron's daughter, and
knew the difference between being that
and miller's daughter. She became
very aristocratic in her notions, lost
her attachment for Liese, and would
only associate with wealthy girls like
herself.


Now Liese saw this, and felt it deeply,
for she loved Lii much. She would
have done anything for her, and she
really felt that, before Lii went to
Dresden, she had not a better friend
than her, the baron's daughter.


When Lii returned to spend her
vacation at home, she did not see
Liese, for Liese had never the privi-
lege of spending vacation at home.
She must always stay at Chemnitz,
and work hard all day long, and some
times in the night.


When Lii had finished her last term
in the boarding school in Dresden, and
graduated, she returned home to live
with her parents in the old castle above
the Silesian village. There was nobody
in the village whom she thought
worthy of associating with her, and
consequently, she had very little soci-
ETY.. One day she felt a severe head
ache, and the next day it grew worse,
and on the third day she had to lie in
bed. The doctor was called, but he
did not know what was the matter
with her, and, after 8 week, he pro.
nounced that she had a very severe
fever which might last a long while.


Day after day, and week after week
little Lii became worse and worse, and
wasted away, SO that she was nothing
but skin and bone. 1t had now been q
long time since she had written word
to Liese, the weaver girl in Chemnitz.
But Liese did not forget her, neither
did Lii forget what good friend Liese
used to be to her.


One day, Liese received letter from
her father, the old miller, in which be
told her how sick Lii was, and that
she had nobody to associate with her,
and that she would very likely die
Poor Liese felt very badly now, for she
still loved Lii very dearly. She could
scarcely weave at all the whole day,
and frequently burst into tears, and hel
crying was observed by some Of ths