CLAUS WEIDE'S PIPE;

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1105, 29 October 1883, Page 4

CLAUS WEIDE'S PIPE;

LITERATURE.

A. Legend ol tlie Grave.

By D. W. C. Nesfield.

He was nothing Toth, and hefo.c» the loving hands of his mother had smootho I his pillow and tucked in the coverlet, exhausted nature had given way, and for five ' hours Yal lay in a heavy slumber. : Tlven he awoke, stiff and son from head to foot, !ml refreshed 11» plunged his curly head into cold water, looked at himself in the glass, and feeling pleased that he really looked loss wain and tired, went down and ate his broth with fair appetite.; Then taking from a little box, where his savings were stored, two krouen-thaler, or silver crown pieces, he put them in his pocket, lit his pipe, and went to the tavern.^ If his manner'was brusque the night before, it was the reverse now. The tavern was full and the “ Hascnwirth busy, for the storm had interfered with a great deal of outdoor work among limber cntlers and wood haulers. Yal was the gayest of tlie gay. He threw down a crown and bade them all toast Maiblnemchcn and he stayed there until enrfew... , : There were four inorc notches in his stick as be staggered home and met bis mother waiting for him at the door. It was her turn to grow pale now ns she saw him come reeling up the street, tier own boy, the pride of Berg, betrothed to Elise and without a venial stain on his his record—so far^—stupidly and disgustingly drunk. •

The Yolksfest had come and gone now, but there was no talk of the marriage of Elise Koppcl to,Valentin Brerrier. She sat at home always now, never going out even to church, and the bridal dress had long been laid away, and the homespun linen put out of sight It is true that her acquaintances and friends called continually, but she either refused to' see them, or only answered their kind ( inquiries as to her health by low monosyllables, without even lifting her head, from the work which served as an excuse for her to hold while she sorrowed

And Yal? He was always at the tavern now, always smoking a hideous clay pipe and cutting notches in a slick. Sometimes he was led home by his companions, and but for the mystery which surrounded jhis sudden change .in his lifCj he Would have often passed the night in prison. The watchmen, knowing him from childhood, hated’ grace him more than was necessary. Once when his mother threw herself before him and begged him not to go out, it was paid that he struck her and went to the tavern by stepping over her ns she lay bleeding on the floor. But he was killing her more surely than by blows, and he was killing Maiblnemchen, too, but what did that matter ? There were eigh'y-five notches tin the stick and six more would make ninety-one—four score and eleven, or seven times thirteen. Then they would nil be happy, of course. : ' He had had his pipe four months now, but some days he was too sick to smoke it and often he could flot finish it, so that he had to throw the tobacco away and begin that pipe again before he could put another notch in his stick. Once he was only able to make one notch in ten days, but he persevered. Every day he became more and more persuaded of the truth of his dream, and when he doubted it for a moment he drowned the suspicion in Kirsch-Wasser or brandy. Of course he felt that his disgrace was known. He had not seen Elise since the night of the thunderstorm. He had'- .only heard of her having fainted when the story of his first fall had been broken to her, .

'On this night ac he was rolling home, it was colder than usual,‘and the October eveningswere closing In very early. He was less intoxicated than usual, and in 8 dnll way was wondering whether he conld .make a big effort and finish the ninety-first pipe two days hence. Then he would find his money, throw the pipe away and never touch liquor again, except perhaps the evening schoppen with ,hia mother. And so thinking, he came to the little bridge at Berg with its wooden railing on one side and the shallows of the Neckar rippling over the pebbles six feet below. He had got half way across in the twilight when a dumb fear seized him. His.,legs, refused to do his bidding, a cold sweat’Broke out on bis body, and with a fearful cry of agony Valentin Bremer reeled on the planks and fell over on the open side of the bridge headforemost into the river. Elise and her mother had seen him coming, and so had turned np the hill again to avoid him. Elise went out every evening now with her mother in the twilight for a little walk when she was not likely to meet any one, and the fresh air was very grateful to the drooping Maiblucmchen. i How she did it she never knew but she heard that awful cry, that yell of despair, and before her mother could stop her, with her golden hair streaming in the wind, she had rushed down the hank, was in the icy cold water ,up to her waist and by some superhuman energy was holding Val’s head just above the water. A minute afterward and both were lying senseless on the bank, rescued by a dozen strong arms that her mother s cries had brought to the scene. They were carried to their homes and medical aid summoned. The shock to Elise’s system, though a severe one, was less lasting than they expected, A hot bath and ordinary remedies seemed to effect a marvelously rapid cure for one so delicate, and on the third day after her immersion she sat np, asked to be dressed and to be taken to see Yal. Then they told her that he had not 'spoken except to rave since he had been brought home, and that she must prepare for the worst. He might live a week or he night die in twenty-four hours. (To be continued.)