WILL HE WIN HER?

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 69, 8 September 1880, Page 4

WILL HE WIN HER?

»T JAMES GRANT.

CfiAPtCBB Ll,

At all the hotels I inquired minutely whether a; .person named Nieukt'rque bad taken rooms or dined there ; but no stUlh man was known. At the: ; poste rest ante I was informed by a re-markably-sharp clerk that letters for a person ;8b named had been ".transmitted from thence to a place call -d Ependprf nine miles from the city, but none had] gone thera since the ; 2s*th of May, as hei irould seem tb" have left the place. I The'.2sth of May— a strange coinci-' d>nce ( It was the very date I had; ■ Yen carved on the tombstone, baaide which Xi U' «rque liad been loitering, and from coftaj?e on the Alster had the dead l.!y t.-e ; ih brought. ■ ] [ He wflks said to be a merchant ; but amid the roar of th.« Bourse, , perhaps r.the most -crowded - arid noisy-in the ■world, from tho upper balconies I scan-; ned the se*/pfv human. ; faces m the court below with my lorgnette, but .. looked m vain for his. However the _ theatre! ftiid" other public places, yet . . remained to me ; but would I _be lucky •nough'to»«iect. the same time and place tnat he , did P, ; More than all might he not have le'fii'Vhe city entirely and' thus rendered all my labour furtileP \; „= -.■.......-■ ■ If 1 met him, how should I address iiim, I asked of myself P Of cburie, 'introducing myself as a stranger m that, foreignrcity-^-ak a former friend of his jnfflH* 1 ! I%© : friead. of Douglas's, from whom, by the' way, I had not v r heard,, for months ■ now,, so . unsettled J.^i^ ? my%»b'ii6iV.'- ; sb e'rratie' '"nay", move' irientt— As one ! who had known his brother Schallc m the far -Cape Colony, but hare I must own that knowledge to have been more perplexing that pleas■';ing;.r".i.^- ;..■. :; '. /:; „..-: . - ■ '-■■ A^d this Man whose whereabouts . fai 'involved m «o much mystery, who' seemed to appear and. disappear at will, who ceuld riot be ' trae^d/' axid whote name- was quite unknown to the Pruisian gefidarmes that'patroiled everjy .. street of HamVurg and Altona, was the ; man -who had parted us for ever. '?' heavens ! were all the passionate : lasses we had "exchanged— all tne vows' ; wi^had uttered— all the vows arid thoughts that were unuttered as being too jdeep for words— all. the happy, ' Chappy hours of tender eridearrii«iit, %h#n hope' waii high -and our hearts were ybnng--all the long and silent love traiic'efiniwhich we had , shared— times when th.c world itself seemed to stand ■till— were these each and all really gone for ever, and to b» as nothing .■ -■.nowP-:: ." "' '.'"'■ "" '. '.. . . . .-.' .'.'■■. •' echo mmy heart aniwered— -'-— '^Nothing 1" - ....... (■_■ Should I insulfc him— put a bullet into him at -twelve paces,? We were; free to act ; as"foreigners on foreign c , .ground. . a "" But then ; came another reflection. He was not altogether to blame, and a - 3uel" might be theicauie of : sbrrbw, perhaps of disgrace to her; so the. thought was .abandoned as soon ai, formed, and juit at I drew m my chai^ at one pf the boards ; of the table d'hote m the stately Hotel del 'Europe, where ;';-;-Beldom.-leM'.thaniw.o--hundr9d sat daily ' <i*fly down to dine at three p^ini, a {gentleman on my right hand, .who had Veen, intent on talking to a fair* Sw;ede besidihini, turned to me abruptly,' exr claiming — '•; v "What, Haddori, are you here P By Jove, how cloo\;id strange that] we should meet m Hamburg-! • ;; 1 turned with surprise to hear a fsrni Kkr English voice amid -the* foreign Babel and guitaral_babble around .me, and met thie hand.some Anglo-Saxon face, the- nicely ipartedi. hair, the baridolined moustache, and the perfect tbil»tte r eVen to collar, cuf£i, aud. studs, of Percival Graves, of the Coldstream, Guards-^the nide-de-eainp whom I had VT '-sgjen' ; btf-pM^«nded'7ii«jk;Jeave:;«iijo^ing. : the luxurfe^-of Datetree Pen im JJ axnaicaw : '••■ -; . ■-■>-'■-■ ■ •■:./■ >; . ' •; >rj:«;By Jore, how dopeid ,.; oild we should meet here ; but doooid pleasant .«iiand^jdily too. Glad tc see you,; old; fellow \" be exclaimed, and we «iiook hands warmly.for my old »illy jealousiettba him when we were on the march "^i6-''th« ; A- : ma/tpi4/'Mouh^iuß"were''all|gone „;. now, and here; /by the Alster. arid the muddy Elbe, I hailed, hiui quite as an old friend", and wo began to converse vas well. as we, might amid the buzz of tongues m eve.ry lauguajje, but chiefly iHaaiburg-German, arouud us. together >*iT-fc;i, the incessant iaterruptions consequent to a stream of waiter* pokirig silrer e»fo < e^disb.ef.and so forth over one's left shoulder,- ;-;- •-■-' ; " ' ' I was full of thought, my miud| was '.- -ill at ea«e, I could, not eat, and, sooth : to ■ay, 1 German cookery i» not very attrActivej hot water with a single peajin it being generally considered as ri/> tbnp. '■'^■\ ■ : V?- I> '- Si : >; ; : ' :; : --v. ;;?>.....-; . ; .: ; % So, GraveSi ypu;are on lea^e again P" ■ -■' BliidwL-: 'M^-^ i: - ■:. - ■ -.' '•■■::-, ' V ;,?.; v. ■ "Wo ; sold but— could'nt help^ it — made' a bad book bn t:«e Derby and Oaks r.-'/I sent m my papers from Jamaica.". "Marrie?— eh ?" ; ; Oh^ no," said he, laughing; "time eribugh for that sort of thing after I my first gray hair. Talking of v ' v -fbgie.B :i N?ll!»ard anything of Douglas lately P" _ -, ....■:,.. . j .'.-. " Kot since I saw his name m the Owzettg"' .r.':-W-rv' ' ■;■■. .■■■-'■ "■ Among the bankrupts— eh P" " N'O i ; Wmethirig better than that— 'as bre,vet-major P" .: ■ -•'.. , ! ".".*{ GlacLtp hearpf ifc. That is my bottle of moselle." Wift you join me ?" - : "How jolly strange it ia that they give you potatoes here at breakfast, just as is done m Norvray and Denmark , and that .* 6s h al way* f orms- ,i he secon d . ijouriejat dinner after tlie meat. And look at those German fellowi^ how they gquare their elbowt and poke them- into . •achjbtker at table ; and the women how they grasp. their forks like daggers* by Jpve! Ah, no one comports hersrlf ; so exqisitely at table as a genuine English lady." . T •'■■■*;■■ ■-■*' But what are you doing m Hamburg laskedT^ .. '•JN"othing. And you?" j^a*^ " jfothing also— th .t J ii>, aTJ^a/' *'I came here fr .»ui Jfyiixnjgfim route for London, arid don't kuoyv- . whether to tike railway for Osteud, or aj steamer

from the Elbe to the /Thames di-; tecfc" ' "■■-:.•_ . -^ ■"'.' /v, '■■ ■'. ' : .• . ■ :^Do you put ttp at;tKa/J^urope^" • ; " Yes ; second etage." .'.-/. /"■ '" w-: '.■„;,. " Stay with me ilprjj'dayjor two. 1^ hare a little iiat-t^ou.ll^yd that, onee 1 dise.usw»s; I'ina^r^urn* > A#ii,jp.ii. > ' " W4^/pleasure. I'm .ytfur, man;; but it is a stupid; place this Hamburg, stupid to a Londoner, at least anJ I wondet I Kave loitered her».- so long/ s ■;-;:""^ :> .::- ; •-■•• : •■/:;- - -.;- ■•:/ .i ■ "It seerai gay enough." said I. ; " Gay— a.lifetle ; anddgn't^he women of all ranks" and class leVr'at the m«ri P No mate piped escapes them. It is fclie most dissipated hole . m the ■world—: beats Paris and-Loudon all to nothing.; But when, you hare been at the Circus Kenz, ■■Smidt'g^-Tivbli-VGardensi.'.thej • theatre the Elbe and v. Schweitzer . Pavilions, had a glance at the countess m; her carriage as she bowls along the* Maidari Walk' or the' Ke'ufer SVall, there is;.notfiing v mbr t e to be seen, and nothing . aipre to bejdpiie but to strap your portmanteau, wool tip your wugt and be off."-'; k' •;■'> ;??■:.;; ". ..;. I could not help; smiling at his pronunciation of rolling up one's rugs. ; ' "But this, countess— who is 'she ?" I inquired. "■ :.. " # ■ '' '- "Hpn; long; have you been m Hamburg?" '...:../. . ■' '"■' ' " About a week." " And hare not; yet seen the r countess ?" ' , " No ; I am a stranger here." " So am I, for the matter of that,*'' said Graves ; "but she was soon pointed outto me. Sheis a very handsome and. wealthy woman this r Kathi Countess of ]tlampenb\irg,' and leads the fashion among a certain — perhaps^ I should rather say uncertain— set here. She' m the observed of kll -'dbterfers 'at thje theatre, opera Sckweitzer's, Pavilion,] and even at St. ,Michaei's , Church, where her equipage draws up at the porch every Sunday. By the way, you i should see 'that church. Its spire is the' loftiest m Europe,' being one hundred ifee't higher than th» dome pf : St. Pauls m London;.'' *jj fv ;:J;^.^^ ri , h .;,....\.' ,*' Arid this cpuntesi?'' " . " oh, her character won^tbfbolc; much handling, Who" she is nobody knows. She was married" tp piie of; thefrichest Jews m Hamburg, who t» please her bought a countship somewhere, and th^n di.cd, r leaving her his title and what was better "his tin ;■ and ' sinee 1 then she .has been going the pace most rapidly.But as for St. MichaeV* Ch^ch— — '; "I have other work, on -hand than sightseeing," laid I, impatiently. ' 'VHareybuVeally iiowP I thought you said you had nothing tp do." j'•And nothing -was absolutely my object until day >^ " , "Ypu.fellin with some pretty face — put a monkey on it you did !" cried he laughing. ; . ; , T " No, Gravel ; I had a very singular rencontre.'' '". y ; — : ; "Mynheer ' Van Nieiikerque, who married Miss Hay wood." , : >v 'Are they here P' /ii? .-,•• .... "He, at least, is here. As for . :i - • "lsowth*t you speak .of it, it seems like a. dream to me that I hay» teen h£nV sothewhereii 'Poor girl— poor Gla- ; 'ricfe Haywood !' 7 I was awfully spoony * on her once, and she almost jilted me to marry that . horrid jßiutch fellow.";. "Hesayedher life,, it seems," said 1 gloomily. ' j •" Certainly. It was pluckily and deuced well done, for I- saw it. . But where is she n»\r j f not with him P" ; " I have a gtia^ing curibßity r td ask ■ —aye, to force hi ni to say— if Icmeet him; but I hive, no i; legal title to do «o.'^ ■•;■• .;.= V: : j-- ';;■/; /,'■.■■ ' \' . ..-.> \ / " N-->r I. ; bjit I. sjrear we are cousins or something 6^ that* sort. 1 ' ' ; I then teld Graves all about the tomb, near which t^had : sefei» ; him "lingering, and the m teresj; he seemed to take mit of the initials and inscription^ the date of which tallied so closely with^that up'i to. which letters had. been' fbrw.arded to iiiSriat 7 Ep^jffdprf-^the same Epenjderf from whence the jiead body was said to have been brought, and after /he, h,eard . nie,my "cbinp«injon ; became v lost iv a maze of cqnjecture, ;. : '■*• Can she be buried there P", he asked . m alow voice;'*" ';'-"'' it: --' ■■-■'■. I "If so whence this' title of ba?; roness ?" . : . f I _" In a burying ground ; and_ iti was there you saw.him.?'\Ke':eXelaimed:.---"Ye»-v tlie"-great-; cemetery outside: the Damm Gate— the^Kensall-green of Hamb\i%." c " "i "fjbwdoocid odd," said Graves ponjlering: ■;•;. „' , _ , ' -; :s ='/: '■S" And. seeing him there waked ;some ; memo.ries,of my Cape adventures! that ] wfjrfe odd indeed, atfd^avelrise tb the i :i." ; , i ? ; " He must have a- fancy for gloomy objects/ 1 said Graves, .."-foiSit was m a cemetery that,, l recognised him at, lipmer ' -■:■ ■:,'■! .' ■.:.,«.« When was this P ' - i " Six months agp^— him to a certainty, out TOfh Y :bther sightseers m th&'Piazza d'Espana .to see the military funeral of a 'colonel of one of the French regiments. 'It took place after;dusk, and was almost imposing speet*cle. f First came a Hundred Rptiaan boys attired m pink :and s white, ;followied by, twiceVthat number of. monks^. all .chanting and .carrying, lighted .'candles four : feet m length, '^heh: c^me the priests ' ai-pund a gigantic ycriicpy,- the! cofib' covered b y a pall of blackti and- yellow satin, with six field officer,S;iph eaa^'side, ;two- regimental . bands,^follow^d with.. mufEud drums; the infantry, wath 'arms i followedthiß^ fiiends bf thede r , ceasedKand. among \]joie who .stood by the grave 'in' a l m3uTnillg clt3^>, wa». this man, Nienkerque- whom no "one .present /seemed' to know. What the deuce does it ail mean. At Ependorf, -he wpuld be sure to have been known bjkj^ own name." ' „ ' '^Ifes ; so say the postal officials. %V!ajl^Je4;U#; lopJ^^P -* 8 9 me °^ * ne -piiblic n)o^ef s^t^^lmay elucidate ' '%&. "An escellent^idea 4^ Graves '^sr ' which 'd^jiartdr^uty 'I wd3bJthiiik,sL it before.-' . • '*»«t ';• • .' *•- But we must wait until tp-mprrow.' . '.'Well. hero comes/the cantlles.'"' •"And" there go ihe ladies like a convey of partridges." ; . • For ar is usual at the dinner tables of all German and North European hotels, the w^ers entered with' lighted candle*

when th» cloth was rambved, as smokivng was to begin. So we all rose and; tiirned tovrpi'ds the doors as the ladies: .bowed and* withdrew; -' -'-* h An old "Prussia^-'-inajor, of Scottish descent, Helmuth '.von Gordon^yOf the 75t h Eegi men i t \ whbl dined dVily'£f hotel, fiuding that we had both; served,now joined'in^the conversation, when If did not wish to have it interrupted by talking " shop," ala Prusse, till he went to ■ sle^p over his simple tancard of -ligerboer,] wearied after a. long argum«at on that system, the advantage of which no foreigner or Englisli civilian can see or understand — perchance m our army. Yet the old soldier was something more~than- an soldier, for he could talk of Gorman literature 'and • art, and appreciate the beauties of Mozart and Mendelstohn, Haydn, and Handel. ■."■-■' ' We shall have More of the major anon, for we met and parted daily "with that sort of 'Mutual liking- that is so pleasant to take up, so easy to lay! down, and yet might become friendship if had time to ripen." | I now ordered more sparkling moselle Graves and I exchange our cigar cases, -rehearsed all our plans and . measures to unravel the mystery m the movements of Myuheei' van Nieiikerque, and we hoped to do so easily and clearly on the morrow. However, the mystery was to be a lUtle increased, ere . the night was passed. As the darkness closed m we proposed to go •omewhere. Graves suggested the Schweitzer Pavilion, or the Altona Casino, where wohl cartes, weregiven to the prettiest girls alone, and "where the wine was unexceptionable, but, I wasin no' mood for dancing, and bltintly . declined to go to. < either place, .though: the former ; wa» fashionable, ari<| required visitors to be m f ,ull dress. ■■'•■-"■ •■. ■ ■ ■■ •- ; v The theatre and operk.W^re 'shut, so we oirdered the hotel porter to summon •'■& dr'oßchki>>andi4tt-the" : hope that-Lwe might light upon our Dutch acquaintance ift, somej public , place, drove to the fienz ; Circus— a large and beautiful arena for horaemanahip and acrobatic feats, with an ample stage for theatrical representation*, and a mtgrificent orchestra played during the evening the finest airs frott£" Faust " and " j>forma," vari d by t loserabbisrh/ measures chat suited tho action of the horse, when the pretty Svrede, Fru Tibell, flew through the troops or over the banners at full Bpee'd, or iciracoled among the sawduat as a ; yery killing Polish lancer. ■ But to our great delight- the English . riders and clowns Ibpre ; away the. palm from all the foreigners, and Jthdugh our Crown Princess is to be the future Empressofi Germany, "our.; satisfaction m this small national 'triumph did not 'seem to be shared by Major Von Gordon and a score or so of officers of the 75th and 76th line regiment, who were all grouped together m one place m the first parquec, and were: — it. seemed odd to our eyeaT-.alLia their uadress uniform with blue surtouts, forage caps, and their straight, spring shell swords slung through a hole m the left skirt — s words "of the fashion worn by the British at Fontenoy. | We tppn wearied of this place, and were returning through the spacious, finely lit 1 ," and crowded streets to our hidtel, When the shrill blowing oE polise. whistles, and the hurrying to and fro of the Prussian' gendarmes, that a conflagration was. seen m some part of; the city by the fire .watch, . which nightly occupy tlie great spire of Sf Michael, from whence the whole of Hamburg with the Elbe, the Alster, and the Bille winding through, nay be seen like a glittering map four hundred and fifty-six -feet -below. , The fire was of no interest to us, and having no desire to be jostled by a crowd, or fobbed by those roughs with whom the city abounds, we proceeded, towards^pur hotel, till at the corner of the Hohe Bleieheh we found the street . almost. Jm passable, as a block of ; carriages drosc|ikis, " and "carts J hid take& place, consequent to the passage of a gigantic fire. engine on the iron tram.'wa^ij '.','!-.■.■.'■;■■." :i "> ■'■•■ ■■ ■ •"'' ;i ' ' :>." Loot, Haddpn-^tho . counteisi by : Jove !V fxejaimed'Grayes, us a' magnificent carriage, liriei'with white' satin, 'the' panflrgorgeous with coats of arms, a.row pf embossed .coronets round the roof,' the'hsiaess of a pair ; of ' beaiiliful grays ihiriing with plate ornamentiii, the liveries 6f the (Jriver^and valet, anjd the ■ unif pr^r— if we / may so degrade the wprd^pf . the , courier \ who shared tlierurnjble with "'] the latter — a cocked hat, epauletteW, , Ivjelt "arid aabre worthy thbae' pi a Suisiaft fiel dmajrthal; _,all camr Biflwly pa«t, pressing towards the JKonigstrasse. * V ' " ; ! •'-> ,By ; th^, blaze qf the, street gas and the light of , the silver carriage, lamps I saw within it. a beautiful w'btriari m fulldress,'her bare neck, arms, and shoulders all' perfect . m form as those of 'Giulia Grisi when Grisi was ila the bloom of youth; ' v ' ; Her face was fine m profile, though her nose, appi:bached the Homan {type ; her eyes; were dark like her haijy but sparkJing and clear ; her lips wereffinely cut, yet with:the J form of her jaw it' expressed X riot what-— a firmness that borcl§f*d pnfcMelty. . She. gave me Jhe> ideapf a TToman who could be' "both ibviug and pitiless, 'and whdrii it might .be perilous to offend. ~ ■.. j y --^ ■j. s •■"B,old /she "looked,; and confident, and liig s n-bred ; her •■■ delicate /.ears and the w^e.Wths { ofTeaLand artificial hairfwhich' yfeffH coiled round ; ber superbrhead,. sparkling with- dimonds and opali; ; ; "Is jthatvlady ,the Countess JKlampenborf ?'*■ I askedj grasping the arm of -Graves, so tightly litat he wiricedi . ' O.J " Ye»'. "' Is she nbt b'eautifuFP'' "' ,'". v -«! 'Tis ihe'l saw with !Van« \Nienker-* que m the cometery ; and >there, by heavens, m; Nieiikerque himself !" I exclaimed, as one .of the white satin,' curtathy was Withdrawn, arid the pale and ha^ljßp!. visage, the cold eyes^and calm, collected features of that ir^markable personage, seated oppqsjte« to her m,f ull_ c v^iiipjr costume. 'They were eyid^tly on;J|yi3wa3r to some route togeiEer.^" -■■';". (Toie oontinutd.J