WILL HE WIN HER?

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 71, 15 September 1880, Page 3

WILL HE WIN HER?

BX JAMES GRANT. ♦ Chapteb LI. Inspired by a desiro ' ■> do something 1 know not what, I wa3 pushing fortrnrd to the carriage steps and window when a burly Prusoiaa gendarme, with, his drawn hanger m one hand and his brai3 whistle m the other very unceremoniously pushed me back, while the passage was made for aa equipage as imposing, and with all its bright pannels, embosssing, and plated harness flashing m the gaslight, and the couriers tallgroen cocks tails fluttering m the wind, it vanished- down tho Konigstrassa, near the house m which the Klopstock. the poet, died. ♦'I shall force that woman, to tell where to find him ?" I exclaimed, •' Those are the couple I saw m the cemetery, and that fellow is Van J^ieukerque beyo/id all doubt." " 1 too, saw him plainly." " You are wrong, naein herren," said voice a voice close by us. " Pardon me for saving so ; but the name you mention is not that of the gentleman who is said to be the prime favorite- - indeed, as some will have it „ the intended of the beautiful countess." On timing, wo found it was the old Scoto-Prussian, Major Hulmuth von Gordon, our casual friend at the hotel table, who spoke. '• That gentleiran," he continued "is a Dutch Barren Elaudberg, from the JCape of Cood Hope, which the English so, wron* ally retain from his countrymen. He takes his title from a range of mountains there, his own prope.ty, I be'ieve." "Herr major, there is some mis' ake m all this," *:,'.& I. "How so?" "I know the mountains you name, and hare shot all over them. They are •eventy mile^long." "Well, wfiat of that?" said the major, coldly, "He received his iV.e from the Queen o£ Britain as a reward for his services m the Ca&'e wa-, and those of his brother, who was killed m action at the head of a regment of tb,e Bergschotten — what you call Highlanders." ; "Oh by Jove !" escla-med Graves; " but this is delicious." " Well, herr major, this is the first w have ever heard of t' os© services, or *] c baroA either, and we both bad c ! honor to serve m that war under Major General Somerset." "At the hotel de l'Europe I read it itv the newspapers," " Wh» -c very ikely he inscilbed he notices himself," said Graves, who. had lost much o£ his Dundrearyism a.u,d We*t-end foppishness The major shrugged his shoulde 3, and made hit silver epaulettes gl't'ev, and laying simply, but significantly, i : , h© twisted hrn wiry, gray mous - 2a — •' I tell you but tbe common rumov , mein herr. However as the Countess of Klampenborg is pretty reckless of her own character, or quite able to take care of it, I never care much for that of her friends. 1 He then bowed, and placing two fingers »f the right hand to the peak of his glazed leather helmet, wlrch was adcrned with the Prussian eagle ami a spike — vihich, by the way is : Iso a ventilator — m silver pla c, and passed 01. •'A peppery old customer," said Graves. "He retains gone of the old Highland blood as well as the m .;e of Gordon." " If, as there cannot be a doubt, Van Nieukerque is the Baren Elandberg who m the name of heaven, :s this dead baroness ?" I exclaimed. " To-morrow may discove ." " To-morrow for Ependorf," I added, as I took his arm, and we hurried through the handsome Eathhausmarkt to reach the Hotel de l'Eurb"pe. "We shall beg this incredulons halfcountryman of ours to accompany us," said I, as we sat at breakfast m the great parlor of the hotel, the four tall windows of which looked out on the Keuer'JungferAstieg, with his double row of linden trees. '-' Who ? Von Gordon ?" [ "Yes." I _ " Not a bad idea. Tho epaulette i* all powerful here ; and h»re he comes m all his war paint, buckled and belted for morning parade." The sturdy major, who, had breakfasted at fe, corner table on steak and potatoes, with a. glass tankard of lager beer, approached and bade as good, j morning, when we explained briefly the »rrapd we had m view, and requested the pleasure of his company andadyipe, but He JodTted doubtful for ' a. mpment and sajd— '•' MW herrtn, the w.ork you ha 4m.

hand — the discovery, it may bo the unmasking, of a foreign imposter — is that of a police magistrate and the gendarmes." " You mistake us, lierr major," said I. "We simply ask you to accompany us as a friend, to aid u» with your advice and the influence of your presence." " I have merely to see the guard changed at the military post m the Admirality^strasse, aad shall be back m time, biit when to you start for Ependorf?" " Whenever you return, h«r major." "Agreed. I shall be back man hour We have a brigade day at Altona tomorrow, and to-day I am an idler, fortunately." He applied two lingers to the peak of his helmet, chucked his sword m that adroit way peculiar to the Prussian ofllcor3 through the orifice of his left skirt, and withdrew on foot, for somehow whalher on duty or not, "we never had the luck to see the worthy major mounted, and had grave doubts whether he ever indulged m equestrian exercise. While loitering m the recess of the hotal windcw, watching the crowds of little boys and girls going to school, all alike carrying their books m a tiny Prussian knapsack, strapped m military fashion to the back, and their dinner m a cant«en slung m the same fashion over the left shoulder; the mobs of city pedestrians hurrying to and fro ; the tiny steamers starting every ten minutes from the lower gallery of the Aliter Pavilion ; tho gigantic Sporvle 'busses, gliding noiselessly along, save for the bolls that jingle so merrily from the collars and girths of their horses. While watching these and other things, we saw one of the sixteen hired mournes, m his quaint sable costume with long, slender rapier, thick, high, ruff and black mantle, obtaining a match from the hotel porter with which to light his meerschaum ; and resolving at once to question him, we had him summoned to my room. Ad? k, sombre fellow, with a hooked nose, and quick gleaming eyes, a pale face, m his shabby and absurd official costume, he looked like a half starved a.:tor about to perform " Hamlet" or some such character part, m a country booth. " You are one of the public mourners ?" said I, suavely, to introduce the matter m hand. " Ya, mem herr." "Be seated, please." " May I ask your name ?" " Certainly, meiu herr ; but I may not give it." 'Well, perhaps it is of no consequeuce," said I, m- my intense anxiety willing to pass over this incivi- " I have no reason to conceal it," said he, after a pause. "I am Lautitz Belchen, senior member of the honorable fraternity of tTie Heiten-Deiner, buryors of the dead, and bodyguard to the magistrates Hamburg." He said this slowly, emphatically, and with on air of perplexity, as if he wondered whither all these questions tended. "Ifyoubave anyone to inter, mein herr" said he aiter a pause, "and have the requisite certificates and credentials that the deceased came lawfully by his or her death — " " Fortunately, ire have no such sorrowful du<:y for you to perform." "It would be a pleasure to us, mein herr," said he. "I have no doubt of it, Herr Balch.cn; though I know nofc whether you refer to burying the dead or pocketing the fees therefor. But I have a question to ask of you concerning a certain r'ntennent — " "1 do not like answering such questions mein herr, unless they are asked by one m authority. Thus you must excuse me," said he, rising, and brushing the nap of his shabby, steeple 'crowned hat. " And you also must excuse me," I continued, but still suavely, for I felt how much depended on the i nfemation one of these men could aiford me ; " and if you wife would like the richest dress " "Ih'weno wife," said ho sulkily, " I have buried two, and very creditably, with a ] l the faaternity m new mourning ruffs and bands." " WelJ, anyway, these are at your service if you wiL oblige me," s^id I while deftly slipping into las hand four or five kassengelds — large silver pieces, each, worth three-quarters of a dollar. On this |his whole manner changed. He bowed profoundly, and m the gli; ter of his beady eyes, and the increased arch of his hooked nostril we saw that tho aVaricious blood of Judea mingled with that of the scarcely less greedy German m his veins. " Now I think we shall understand each other," said I. " Ya, ya. This is the language all men understand, mein herr," he replied with a knowing wink, while depositing th<j the coins m the pocket of his trunk breeches. " Tho information I seek is simply this — and if you do. not yield it, gome other member of your honorable fraternity will probably do so ;.if not there is a final appeal to,th.e magistrate " " I trust that np such appeal may be necessary." " Do you remember conducting the funeral of a lady who d'd m the cottage on the bank of the Akter about the 25th of May last P" "The 25th. of May," he repeated after me as if to gain time for reflection " Th"s is September — little more.than. four months ago. You cannot have forgotten if you wer* then one of the hired mourners." " I have been one for fifteen years, mein herr." " Well ?" "I have nQt forgottta. If was from V.-.9 village of Kpc-wdorl vre brought the body (how the word thrilled me), from the house of Ulrik Jlosing." " Could yon point out that house P l He paused and scratched his chin as if bis memory wanted refreshing. "■Think," said I, slipping, a double mark into his hand. "Oh ya, herr graf," said he ; "I reinembor|it quite well. The Alster washes the wall below the window of the room m w..hich th« d«ad body lay."('.fo.le continutdj

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