The Storyteller MY RICHARDIS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 13, 28 March 1907, Page 3

The Storyteller MY RICHARDIS

It had been three slong.. weeks since" Martha, deserted, and dish-washing had ceased to be a novelty, when on© morning a' half-grown girl knocked at ciur kitchen door. .- " Behind her- stood a rosy-oheeked maiden of about nineteen, ,who clasped her fat hands and cast down her eyes in embarrassment. - „ „ 4My ma heard as you wanted a girl,' the - child began. 4 This here's" Richandis- Maerner. Folks call her Riggie. She wants a place.' The pretty name, ' Richardis, ''■ pronounced with the "soft German _ sound ' of ' eh,' attracted me, but mother seemed t inclined to shun it?. ' ' - ' Indeed ? ' ; she said, with the dignity she always wears when she Interrogates new servants. ' Where did yiou work last, Rigg,a 7 ' ' : ' ' Rigga ' nervously unclasped and clasped her hands, .and shot appealing glances .at the girl" beiA.de her, who replied : " , "- 'By Schultze's hotel. She can't talk no English;^ thatis why I come.' * Oh, indeed.' Mother changed her aim, withoutloss of dignity, -and fired another question. - ' ' Ask her how long she has 'been in ' America without learning English.' . "Not so long, she says ; an' Schultzes., you know, they talk all German,' ( the youthful interpreter explained. ' M — m. Ask her what she can do.' - So the questioning went on ; whale 1 became so absorbed in watching, the pretty bashful creature that I forgot to listen. She was meant to be gay-looking, anid there was a frightened, distressed ' expression " -in her eyes which puzzled me. I did not kno\v how well I liked her, though, until mother asked me suddenly what I thought, and I surpAsed myself by answering.: ' Oh, I'm enchanted with her, mother ! Tell her you'll take her— do ! ' - - l .' v Something in my voice went to the girl's' heart, for she lifted, those big blue eyes- and ;gave me a .look that made me want, to cry,' and made motb&r say " hurriedly : ' > - *- /_'• 'Very well. Perhaps she'll answer, -if '^ou. feel so, . Janet. Little girl, ask her when she^ can come.' ' Why, she's here now ! ' was the surprised response ; and as 4 now ' was Monday morning, we" were glad enough to welcome our' treasure on the. instant. .As soon- a's Richardis' interpreter ' "was "gone ' mother pitched her voice -high and began: ' You- may- remove your hat. My -daughter will show you- where to put your things.' Richardis fidgeted". ' Lay— off— your— hat,' said mother, speaking .still louder, and an involuntary gleam of amusement made the girl's frightened -face look jolly. The next instant she turned to, me. for help, but 'l, ' Jwho- translate Goethe very well and should" have been equal to""-the~ emergency, -felt my tongue-, cleave to the roof of my mouth at the thought of speaking every-day German with a girl fresh from Berlin. However, when "mother cleared her throat to begin again I felt that something must be done. ' Mother, dear,' I said, *' if you'll go away and not- listen I'm sure -I can make her understand.' And I did too. ■ I never could talk German -for an audience. That evening,- when my sister Helen came home from her day's work as a stenographer in the city4,hat had grown up near -our quiet old village, • we held a solemn council. It hadjjeen— a- distracting_ i day for mother could not help feeling- that when she spoke distinctly and -.looked straight into R'ichardis' eyes she must understand. The result was always that mother's voice went up, while Riohardis' spirits went downi;" and when both- were* ready to despair my services would be called in. We had acted this little comedy as many times as the day would hold, and when we rehearsed 'It' once more for Helen she said it was- absurd ; that of course we could not ( keep a • raw girl like ' that ! •Mother^ said hoarsely but sweetly that the poor thing seemed •to mean well, and Lenore, whose time is occupied wi-th giving music |essons, anyway,- and who always treats a domestic crisis like a joke, declared it was only a question of whether we could afford to" keep' mother in gargles. Then I surprised them all by . volunteering to take charge of the troublesomefcireigner myself. - «.

' I shall stay with my daughter,' mother said. (Lenore told me all about it afterward,- wor-d for word.) ' But you're not strong enough to nurse her alone. Now; I advise this : i will ris.< taking JLenore home with me to stay until the trouble. is over, and' I'll send to the city for some one to help you. There are nurses who.se regular ' business is .to take charge of this kind of- case.' , --». Mother and' Lenore bothT- shuddered. , s , 'I shall _ndt leave Janet, 1 Lr. Maxwell, Lenore said suddenly. Bless her heart ! Mother says she turned quite pale when she said it too. Lenore's complexion is a marvel. " - ' - ' Indeed you shall leave her !.' the doctor said. Le- . nore is not strong, and, besides, ' she is his favorite among us all. At that moment Richardis, whci had been standing silent and forgotten, went down on her knees in the midst of the group. " I mus say !- I not can keep still ! ' she,.cried: ' Why, Rigga !" mother said. ' You need not stay an hour if you are afraid. - You are right to" go.' ' No, no ! ' she answered. 'You not unlstan ! I not - haf -fear ! I vill bleiben." I vill take ' care litta mutter ! Oh, lats' mich. Bitte ! Bitte ! Fraulein Lenore l . Herr doctor ! Mutter ! I beg. Aoh-L I not "can" ~say auf Englisch, aber I beg.' Mother's eyes were full of tears by -that time, atid . all she could say was : ' There, there, Rigga. ! ' But Dr. Maxwell, after one keen look at Richardis, asked : , i well, why - not ? ' ' Janet loves her,-' mother said', half to herself \ but Richardis understood. . ' Oh,' she murmured, ' I net so good for dat. Jen vill sterben, aber, ef I not bin by little mutter. I - - mus do it.' ( \ J So it was s&ttled. JLenore, much against her will, was bundled off to Dr. Maxwell's, and mother; and Richardis stayed with me. We went .into v quarantine at once. __^" -Provisions were left outside the gate, and people, walked blocks to avoid passing our place. There was talk of • forcing mother to send me away somewhere, but our grounds were large,' and Dr. Maxwell managed that somehow. Stories spread and grew, . until the" gossips had us all clown with a malignant form of ihe disease, doing 'every careless thing _we could to /carter contagion, and it was only by the efforts of a stouthearted few, who cared more for us than for a sensation, that the village panic was kept down-.. But .for days i knew nothing of these outside happenings. Even the. memory .pi what went on within my darkened room is mcire a vague nightmare than a reality/ These were sheets wet with disinfectants, I know, flapping in the doorways and windows, and there were" suffering and fever and delirium, but through it all ran the sense of Richardis' quiet, hopeful, . tender presence. I shall never " forget the thrill of relief that ' used to come when my burning hand was folded between her strong, cool palms. Dr. .Maxwell told me afterward that she was-" in despair at the thought of my face being disfigured until he told her how it might be -.prevented, when. she began following his suggestions with a persistency that he never saw equalled. ' "-■-'" ' That's the way she did everything,' he' added. ' Your mother gave you. up from the /irsu, and I ' 11most gave you up at the r last, bub Richardis never gave you up at all.' ' - - — ' Leniore sent daily bulletins lo liejen, who, rebellious at her exile, wrote anxious," lonesome letters in reply. ..The days ''dragged into weeks, and, to our joy, no one else contracted the disease. At Jast, when I was really convalescent and Ihe - quarantine was lifted so that we could all be together again in a ■ joyful reunion, Di\ Maxwell said one moming that his final prescription would be some long drives 'behind his old white horse— the first to" be taken>that very, afternoon. ' And Richardis must be your driver,' he said. — . ' . _,We - all guessed that he had been touched by her de- __ votion to, me, and .that he chose this way of showing " " his appreciation. The summer was in its prime, and it seemed to me that every separate flower and leaf in all outdoors, was looking x its sweetest just for us. Richardis did not as-k where we should go, but turned the horse's head away from the A*lllage, and soon we were, jogging gently along a shady country, road. I 'sat silent for a long while, feelmg thankful. At last Richardis' said softly: _ 1 Litta matter, I mus tell.' - - - 1 Must tell what, ■ Richardis ?-' Shrt was "very solemn. ' I foaf,vnnsester in America. 'Why, Richardis, you said' }'' y ' '

At first they laughed. Because I was youngest, the- girls would look on me as a" 'baby, but mother took it seriously and said it would" be experience tor me and a rest for her ; so i told the girls to laugh away. - . - They did laugh, too, though not at our domestic blunders. What amused Lenore and Helen was i friendship that grew up between Riohaidis and me. The truth was l". could not coax her to make any friends outside the house, -and neither could 1 I . ignore her loneliness." When evening came she w,ould sfit down .by herself in the little kitchen", - which she had polished until it shone, arid there I used to find herwith tears rolling down her cheeks. Instead., of telling me the trojuble, though, she always tried to smile, _ except once, when I accused her of .being home-sick ' nach Berlin.' Then the tears came again, and she shiocik her head, murmuring in German that' it was ' worse than that,' Still, at other times, her manner was so bright that the- girls were disposed to poke fun at my anxiety over_ her secret woe. • ' It's just devotion to you, Janet, '^Lenore would % say." ' She can't help weeping whenever you are out of her sight ! ' ■ Lenore mean-t more than a joke. , I had begun a series of evening lessons with Richardis, which kept" me in the kitchen more than the girls thought proper ; and they were sure that I was spoiling her, " though I insisted, and it - was true, too," that I was getting my half of the benefit every day, for it was a maitual school that Richardis and I- had from . the' - start. In the morning we addressed each other in German ; in the afternoon in English, and the rule -Was that each should correct the other. She neyer minded when I laughed at her, but no matter how I floundered about in German, she would not allow herself so, much as a smile at my expense, and always 'pulled me out of the bojg, in a respectful, even reverential, way. It made me feel positively foolish at times to meet her worshipful glances. 1, knew she had idealized me into something so much better than 1 was. In the evening, af£er hearing her read, I used to set her a.t iwriting exercises -in an English copy-book, while I went back to mot/her and the girls in the library. Sometimes a little later there would be a timid knock ' ; at the door, and Richardis .would hand in a note she had written to me in her funny, mixed-up English. At first I showed one or two of them to Helen and Lenore, bub they quoted them to me so much " that I was afraid Richardis might overhear ; so after that I kept them, like_ the love letters they were, from every one except mother. - She never laughed, and once she even cried a little. That - was after; reading the note that went like this :— ' Kleine Mutter,— l mus'call it. You bin, mutter to mir. Mos deer mutterchen. I - lik- rite you letter und I not kno Englisch. 1 mus knci.. Et iss - missery • ef I not kann. How sail I more say it. Et iss lov, lov on you all time' von mfcr. Greeting on you.— Richardis.' There are many like it in my desk — dear, funny little notes ! As the weeks went by I wondered more about the sorrow that kept showing through Richardis' smiles. I had noticed that, though she watched the malls eagerly, she received nothing, and once^ when I asked her whether she had any relatives, she answered that her father and mother were living in Germany. ' But in America— not one ! ' she added, straightening up and looking almost defiant.. Then came a morrfing when, after feeling wretchedly for a few days, I- found myself too ill to rise. Old Dr. Maxwell called ~at once, and I could not help noticing how sharp his questions were, and how shorta time he stayed in my; room. ,H© laid 1 especial stress on the fact that.' l had spent a day in the v city about two weeks earlier, and made me tell him exactly whe r e I went and what I did. Then he nodded to mother, and they went out of- my hearing. Afterward I knew that be called the family, including Richardis, into the library and began to ask when eaoh one had been vaccinated. Asi soon as the first shock of the horror was past they commenced to plan, and it was decided that Helen, who had already gone to' her day's work in town, should be telegraphed- to remain -there.. - llf she came she would have to stay, and tbat ; would expose her to danger, while she would be of' comparatively .little use to us,' Dr. Maxwell said: He knew very .well that, since , my father's death, Helen's position had meant the largest share of our .little, income. 'By all means,' he went on, c have her stay where she is until the ■ house is free from contagicm. Now, about you and Miss Lenore, Mrs. Blakeslee.'

■' I kno|w. Litta mutter, please foorgif., und I vill all tell vat I haf " keep. Meine sester und "her mann lif 'here sence long time. , Veu I 'bin on my home in - Berlin, meine sester -haf write I sail' to her kommen. S'e haf say s'e, will be meine mutter here 'in America. Dat makes mein fater und • meine mutter sorry yen I say, "Yes, dat iss goot. • 1 vill naoh America." So mean- fater say, "*" Yen Richardis vill, s'e sail go."' Sb meine mutter haf cry, und '1 .bin come ;to my sester. Et iss sex mile to • dat place wo meine sester lif. Her unarm iss far-mer. You ."know far-mer— yes ?" (She 'had evidently just mastered "the word.) ' Unti I haf york by my sester, und cows milk, und alles, und dat iss all right. Abei* meine shoes sind full von holes, und I had not . mcmeyf neffer not* any, litta mutter. Now kommt.ein mann. He iss far-mer, too. He, got big farm mit plenty money und vun' mutter und vun bruder, Und idat mutter iss old und f not Can more vork. So dat mann say to de bruder," Joe, you git a frau?' Und Joe say no. So dat mann say to my sester, " Vat I sail dci it ? Joe, he not vill get a frau, Und de mutter not can vork. I mus git -vun." So my sester tell dat mann, " Dat iss goqt. Here is Richardis." . . - ' Oh, ' litta mutter, vat you tink I s^all-do it? Dat iss goot mann, aber dat mann iss not for me. - I mus sa ng, so soon 1 canspi'k it!" She stopped for a minute, but hurried on, in- -her curious mixture of English and German, with her ' mys ' and ' meines ' tumbling over each other, to tell how angry her sister had been at her 'refusal. She had even gone so far as to write, asking their .parents not to notice Richardis' letters until she should promise tci obey, and had told Richardis that their father, in anjswering, sent word to 'her that if she wanted to be their child and have their love she must do as her older sister said. Richaixfts had written, again and again, to both father and mother without receiving a reply, and at last, sick at heart and really afraid that she would be forced into the dreaded marriage, she had run away to the village one night, and. had found a position for. a few weeks in the German boarding house from , which she had come to us* Apparently her sister had dropped the matter then, for she had never tried ""to follow her. Richardis said that when she first came to 'us she could not bear to tell me that her parents had disowned her, because she was afraid I would think she was a wicked daughter, but afterwards, when I was so ill, she wished she had confessed it all. ' So,' she finished, ' I haf vun sester in America. S'e iss meine soster. 1 know dat. I bin sorry s'e iss bose auf mich und I not can help dat, but oh, little mutter, tell vat I sail do ie, yen my fater und meine mutter vill me net more luf ? ' Her voice choked and her eyes were full of tears. I reached for her hand. ' You poor child ! - I cried, and then— l cannot remember what then. There was a sudden rushing and pounding behind us, and a yoioe screamed. Richardis looked ' over her shoulder ar.id jumped to her feet in a flash. The same instant I, felt her strong ' arms seize me and cast me bodily out of the carriage, and after that there was a time" whe n . everything w.as b^'ack. . '- idftr ~ My poor Richardis ! They ' had tTTOught her dead when they first drew her cut of that mass of wreckage in the deep ditch by; the roadside, buVnow she was mioaninjg pitifully, and she knew me as soon as I knelt beside her. Gradually I was comprehending what had happened. That mass in the ditch was Dr. Maxwell's buggy, and I heard some men who had gathered -around saying that they would have to .shoot his horse. The great automobile, which stood there like a disabled monster, had come whizzing like mad down the main highway, and had slowed up barely enough to turn the corner into the bit of narrow road where we, hidden from .it by a grove until it turned the corner, • were jogging along, too much absorbed in our own thoughts to realise danger. The chauffeur was an inexperienced boy, out for a frolic with. a. party of reckless friends, and when he had suddenly seen us .close, ahead of him and , had realised that there was no room to pass, he had lost his head completely. Instead of throwing the lever that would stop the machine, as he meant to do, he had done exactly the opposite, and, to the horror of all in the car, 'it had shot forward and crashed with all its tremendous weight into t]y» rear of our buggy. But between that one swift jinnee, over her shoulder and the final crash Richardis had saxed my life. The men on the auto had juried when they had seen the danger, and, stranejelv pr>o"e:h, none- ,cf- them was seriously injured. LitMe Richardis had suffered for us all.

How we managed to get" her home I scarcely know. - Somebody brought a wagon with a cot in it, and at last we had her lying on my- bed, .with Dr. Maxwell lending over her..- One look at his face, after he'had finished his examination, - took away my hope, and . from that moment 1 did .not - leave her side. She was not conscious all the time, .but there were moments when she seemed to understand everything, and in one of them .she whispered a wish to me. Itold mother, and she hurried to send a messenger to Richardis' sister. - - As soon as horse's feet could bring her she was there. She was a hard-faced woman, but she went on her knees beside her little sister and sobbed bitterly. She confessed that there had been loving answers to all of Richardis' '-letters home, but that she had man- ~ aged tci get and- keep them in the hope of influencing her sister to marry as she had planned. She pro-, ' raised solemnly that she would tell their parents all the truth, and said that they had never really • written one of the unkind things she had quoted from their letters ; that they loved Richardis more than any other chilfc " -•-.'-'. Richardis lay (with closed eyes!- •We were afraid she was not hearing, but she was, for one of her hands - wavered out and rested on her" sisters- Head. 'Et iss luf in my heart to you,' she said, with an effort. ' Yen meine fater und meine miutter not hate me, I bin happy.' , ' Dr. Maxwell led the sobbing woman into the other room and came, .back quickly. I knew what his'expression meant, and I 'bent closer over Richardis. Suddenly her fingers clasped mine more tightly, and'her eyes opened and looked straight into -mine with a strange, deep gaze. cEt iss someting I vill say,' she whispered. "I not know J how. 'I not can tell it. Oh, litta mutter, I — am — yours ! ' -My tears fell on her face as I kissed her; but even then she was past heeding kisses or tears. A few days later there was a new-made grave in our 'own- family lot in the village cemetery. That is the chapter. There are^ other happier ones to follow it, I know — arid some day I shall read beyond that , little grave in the story of my Richardis.— 'The "Advance-,' - Messrs. R. H. Scott and Co., Princes street, Dunedin, are now. showing all that is newest in gentlemen's rainproof overcoats, also a large stock of overcoats for boys and youths, ~ at the very lowest possible prices.... Messrs. Wilkinson and Fon, dispensing and family chemists, Princes street, Dunedin, direct attention to the new remedy for o-jesity and corpulence, prepared in ' accordance with the directions for treatment suggested by Dr. Catbell. This remedy is perfectly harmless...:- ; Mesdames Chirnside and White, principals, notify that * a school of instruction" on the' Imperial" method of .patternmaking" and dresscutting has been opened Jn Clyde Chambers, Dowling street, Duneddn. This system "was patented 'In 1904, and has now a firm footing • in New and the other colonies.... • ■ /MYERS"' & CO., Dentists, Octagon; corner of George "Street. They guarantee the highest class of work at moderate , lees. • Their artificial teeth give general satisfaction, and the fact of them supplying a temporary denture while the ""gums are healing does away with the inconvenience of being months without teeth. , They ■ manufacture a single artificial tooth for Ten 'Shillings, and sets equally moderate. The administration of nitrous "oxide gas is also a great boon to those needing the' eXtraction of a t00th.... The -.many clients of Messrs. J. N. Merry and Co:, "cash buyers' of wool, sheepskins, rakbitskins, .wades, - tallorv, horsehair, etc.,- Dunedin, will be interested' to know that in consequence of- the' increase in the business- of the firm, it has been found necessary to • secure more extensive premises, which have just been completed at 117 Crawford street. With their increased facilities 1 for, business, the firm will now be in a" better position than ever to give complete "satisfaction to their patrons.... .