1
VOL. XI.
THE J I,M E S .
An Independent Family Nenspnpcr,
IS PUBLISHED BVEHT TBESDAT BT-
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cation. A SIEGE OF OLDEN TIMES.
rpilia MORNING, Relnbold Dort,
X the money changer, was found
dead In his bed.
"Yesterday, Helena Hexht, the fair
young wife of Peter Hexht, the clothier,
in the market place ; was taken from
him."
" Old Abraham, the apothecary of the
Elephant, is gone too."
"And the pretty babe of Martha Oratz
n i
" Shame I shame I "cried twenty voices
in according chorus, and some frowned
their discontent, and some idly shook
their clenched hands above their heads.
" Ye are bold citizens to cry thus on
death's works," said a young man, who,
leaning against a door, listened with a
thoughtful face to the traglo gossip of
the talkers.
" Death's works I" exclaimed one of
the knot ; " marry, yes death and the
Governor." , ,
" And the Governor y A money
ringer of three-score and odd, sleeps in.
death ; a young wife defies the doctors ;
the man of rhubarbs finds all physio
vain ; a baby died teething ; a beggar of
, eighty needs at last a grave ; and all
these deeds," cried the young man with
a contemptuous laugh, "ye lay upon the
Governor."
"And on none but him," replied on6
of the crowd ; and a shout from his fel
lows approved his answer. " Oh' none
but him. There is no hope of relief for
the city."
"How know you that," calmly asked
the youth.
"I I have no hope," said the man
doggedly.
" Hap'plly, Simon Holzkopt, though,
as, I believe, the quickest tailor of your
quarter; the safety of the city rests not
upon you. It may be saved, though you
have lost all hope." ,
" And we are to behold our wives arid
children fall down dead before our faces I
cried Simon ; " hear ye that my mas
ters I We are to starve, and starve in
silence, too."
" The Governor, I doubt not," cried
another of the crowd, " finds patience
in his larder."
" I saw him yesterday," said a third,
" and it made my blood boil, so sleek and
fat he looked. Ha I Simon, I wish that
you and I,and every honest body among
us, had no more than a lark for every
capon swallowed by his governorship
since the siege ; only one mouthful of
sour wine for every quart he has taken
of the best Rhenish."
" Ay, ay," cried the tailor, and he
clutched his jerkin, " pur clothes would
hang with better credit to the makers,
eh Master Caspar V fori think I have
seen the day when your feathers have
been finer, ay, and have 6hone upon
plumper limbs. That's hardly the leg
of Martinmas last;" and Simon Holz
kopf glanced askant at the attenuated
figure of the young man, who had
braved the displeasure of his fellow
townsmen by advocating the policy, of
the determined Governor. '
" Never heed the leg, Simon," said
Caspar, civilly; "it may dwindle to a
rush, 9tillmy heart shall not be too
heavy for it."
" And is there no hope of capitula
tion y Will the Governor not relent V"
asked more than one of the mob.
" Another week only another week,
'tis said, he purposes to keep the enemy
out. If, by that time, no succor comes
"It matters not," cried an' old man,
"what banner floats uron our walls
since death death will be at all our
hearths."
" Men !" exclaimed Simon Holzkonf.
' shall we endure this y Shall we drop
ISTEAV; BLQOMFIELD, IJ.A., TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1877.
into our graves, while the pampered
Governor" ,
"Down with the tyrant 1" shouted
the mob, and Simon,' animated by the
cry, proceeded in Ills oration.
" While the pampered Governor
feasts upon the best, what cares he for
our shrle king bables,our weeping wivesy
He, gorged with the fat of the earth,
drunk with the wine of " '
" Peace, fool!" cried Caspar, and, at
his indignant voice, the eloquent tailor
stood suddenly silently, with open
mouth ; " peace-thls is no hour to bab
ble falsehood foolish at any time, most
base and wicked at a time like this.
We have all suffered all must suffer ;
not one throughout the city, but has felt
the fierceness of the war. - In every
place has hunger had its victims." ;
" The nuns of St. Ursula have eaten
their gray iarrot," ,, exclaimed Hans
Potts, an idle M ag, known to many of
the mob ; and while some laughed at the
sally, some, condemning it, called out
for Caspar to proceed. . ,
" Not one among us," cried the yoking
man, " hath tared more naruiy tuan uio
Governor. You you Simon Holzkopf
who know every dish upon the Govern
or's table, every flask of wine in the
Governor's cellar, toll me the dainty
that he fed on yesterday. You cannot
guess no; it is too rich, too costly, for.
your simple apprehension; you cannot
dream of such a rarity I Fellow towns
men!" and young Caspar turned for a
moment from the abashed Simon to the
still increasing crowd; "You remem
ber the holyday at Easter last y The
Governor rode through our city, and
feasted with the merchants at their hall.
The horse he sat upon a king might
have backed a beautiful, a glorious
thing a creature that scarcely touched
the earth an animal of perfect frame
and blood. You all remember how your
eyes were fixed upon it, and the brute,
as conscious of Its beauty, pranced to
your shouts. Yesterday, the Governor
dined off that horse ; with the meanest
of his men, he drew lots for a choice
morsel of that noble Bteed."
" A burgomaster's wife," cried Hans
Potts, " has made a roast of her monkey.
Hard times, my masters hen the
siege sends our best friends to the spit !"
" Silence, hounds IV exclaimed an old
man. " Is this an hour to fling about
your sorry Jests, when those we love are
dropping dead around us V Peace, mur
murer ! Speak you truly, Caspar V Is
the garrison so straitened y"
" Go to the walls ask not of me,", re
plied the youth ; " go, and behold the
sight I've quitted ; if that convince ye
not, hang up the Governor and call in
the foe."
"What sight y what sight V" roared
the mob. . ,,.
" Famine feeding on a thousand men.
Burly soldiers, shrunk almost to skele
tons; their flashing, hopeful eyes deep
set, and flickering with a horrid glare ;
their manly cheeks pinched in with
want; their hearty, jocund voice sunk
into a hoarse whisper ; the gallant bear
ing changed to slow decrepitude ; their
looks of victory to the blank stare of
coming death."
." Horrible 1 horrible ! down with the
governor J" exclaimed the crowd.
" They suffer this, but suffer nobly,"
cried Caspar ; " not a murmur, nbt. a
look of treason to the storn will of Him
who rules them. Martyrs to the glory
of their arms,they stand resolved rcome
what, will, they have sworn with' the
Governor to hold the citadel another
week."
" Glory 1 a pretty word, faith. Shall
we dry our wives' eyes with it I Will it
fill our children's bellies V" cried one of
the crowd. ,
" I trow they've something more
toothsome than glory for supper," said
a second, " or does the Governor's lady
and his delicate daughter feed off the in
sipid dish y If so, 'twill spoil their pret
ty looks 1" A derisive shout followed
this remark, and again the crowd called
for vengeance on the Governor.
"Let's to the citadel.!" cried fifty
voices, and " to the citadel 1" hallooed
the mob. With the words, the crowd
rushed onward, but soon halted in their
course.
Many paused, as they avowed,' tore
consider their determination ; the' great
er part 'slunk ' home; and when, at
length,' , the discontented townsmen
halted at the outer gate, few were to be
seen save the half dozen immediate par
tlzans and admirers Of Simon Holzkopf
and Hans Potts. Whether they ' de
manded Instant audience of the Gov
ernor, at the time surrounded by his
family, gnzlng wistfully from the walla
for expected succor; or whether, con
tented with his stern answer just ren
dered to the eivlo authorities then in
garrison, they held their peace, the
archives of the city give no bote. Quit
ting the discontented, self-subdued,lcpu-ties,
let tts return to the hero of our
story, Caspar Brandt.
"And the good widow, Caspar?"
asked the old man who had rebuked the
wit 6f Hans Potts, and who, on the
flight of the crowd, walked slowly to-'
ward the marketplace with the youth ;
" these are sorry times for necessities
like here ; how fares she ' 1
Caspar answered not strove with
manly strength to repress the emotion ;
but a deep groan burst from his lips he
paused, and quivered like a struck reed.
" Caspar Caspar Brandt!" cried the
old man, and he caught the youth in
his anus, " Blessed Virgin, whatallsthe
boyy'
"Nothing nothing; a sudden fuint
ness nothing more;" and Caspar, with
a sickly smile, pressed tne old man's
hand. , ,
" By all the saints, your hands burns
like heated stone. Come come to my
house. I have yet half a cup of wine,
that, for the love of old times, for the
grateful thoughts I liear your mother,
kind in the days of misery and death to
me and mine, shall be spared you. Tell
me, how fares the widow y"
" Sick, Master Martin, sickt almost to
death," answered Caspar. "For two
months she has kept her chamber for
two months has been almost helpless.
Still her state brings this comfort with
it; she knows not the extreme misery of
the town knows not the bitter suffer
ings of her friends and neighbors."
"And her wants, Caspar y Alas,"
cried the old man, "affliction has made
me selfish steeled my heart to old ac
quaintance, else I had sought you long
Bince. Now, Heaven help me, I can do
nothing. Her wants how are they
supplied y"
" She needs but little, of the simplest
kind, and that, Heaven be thanked I I
have obtained, and may still obtain for
her. She will die she cannot wrestle
with the sickness that consumes her;
she wllldiel" repeated the young man in
a hollow, hopeless voice, and big tears
started from his eyes; "but not with
famine ;" and as he spoke, the youth
clenched his hand and trod the earth
with more strength.
" Nay, her years give everything to
hope," said Martin.
"At little more than seventeen ah
me I it seems but yesterday she was
your mother. And still she has kept
her youthful face still, in looks, has
seemed more than your elder sister."
" Ay, Master Martin, ay. God pardon
me!" exclaimed the youth, and the
tears poured anon down his cheeks.
"God pardon me, and make me humble.
But now now I cannot think of losing
her, and pray for meekness." '
" Hope should be the young man's
staff as It is the old man's crutch," said
Martin. " You will not lose her ; trust
me, no ; the present troubles past, all
will be well again. Come in and get a half
a cup of poor wine," said Martin, lower
ing his voice as he passed a passenger,
who paused a moment, and leered with
the malice of keen want at the old man's
talking too foldly of a priceless luxury ;
"let us good Caspar, drink to better
times. A half cup boy, a poor half
cup," and the old man sighed, as he
paused at his threshold. Drawing a
key from his pocket, he unlocked the
door, and led the way into a house,
where once comfort and heaped plenty
gave a constant welcome. " Sit down,
Caspar, your father has sat in that chair,
when the roof quaked with the laughter
of fifty throats when fortune herself
served at the hearth and seemed my
handmaid. Well, well, the hearth is
quenched now ; the old, old faces are
passed 'like morning shadows ; the sweet,
constant voices are heard but in my
dreams',' and I sit at my cold fireside, an
, old, ' gray-headed solitary man. ' But
come boy, the wine ;" and Martin took
a 'small flask from a shelf. " What stirs
you ?" asked the old man, seeing Cas
par start.
" Your pardon, Master Martin is not
tlint bread t" and Caspar pointed to a
small loaf by the flask on the shelf; nt
the same moment, a deep blush crim
soned the young man's face, and he sat
as though detected in act of shame.
Martin took the loaf, and, gazing in
Caspar's face, a tear shone in the old
man's eye, and his voice trembled as he
spoko.
"It is so, lady God help you ! it is
so!
"Forgive me, pray, forgive me!"
stammered Casper.
"I have another," said Martin; " your
mother Was playmate of Margaret, my
own bright girl tended her in sicknes
would, with the love of early girlhood,
watch her in death : I tell you, boy, I
have another," cried the old man with
vehemence; " take it, and God increase
it to youl"
" Never ! I am not that sordid, selfish
wretch, to rob old age," cried Casper,
and he sought to reach the door.
" I tell you, boy, I have another," ex
claimed Martin ; " You hear y another,"
and he placed himself before the youth.
" Where is it 1" asked Caspar ; " make
me see it ; and so bitterly has the time
wrung us, that, for her sake, I will I
must despoil you."
" The loaf is 'tis locked up the key
is in my chamber, I have wine have
feasted twice to-day," said Martin ; but
Caspar mournfully shook his head, and
hurriedly embracing the old man, at
tempted to depart. " You do not quit
me thus," cried Martin, holding the
youth. " Heaven forgive me I I knew
not that things had gone so hardly with
you. Hear me; to-morrow I have anew
supply a friend,an old friend has prom
ised me. If, boy, you would see your
mother live, cast not away her life upon
an idle form. Caspar Brandt, in the
name of your dead father; whose spirit
at this moment lingers at this hearth,
share this with your father's friend."
Saying this, old Martin forced the loaf
into Caspar's hands,and broke it. " Now,
boy, get your home," said Martin, seat
ing himself ; " bear my good wishes to
your mother, and leave me to my sup
per." Again Caspar embraced the old man,
and swallowing a half-cupof wine forced
upon him by the hospitable host for
surely hospitality was in that broken
bread, that meagre vintage hastened
from the house. Martin, for the first
time, tasted food that day, but he sat not'
in solitude at his deserted fireside, for he
ate his crust, and drank his humble
draught, with the spirits of the dead
gathered about his board ; and the dry
bread became manna, and the wine a
draught for saints.
Caspar hurried to a distant quarter of
the city, where, at the commencement
of the siege, he had secured an asylum
for his sick mother .where day and night,
he had watched her sinking health. The
rent of three small houses, bequeathed
to her by her father, and frugally ap
plied, had enabled the widow to support
herself and child ; but since the war had
closed about the city, all trade had
ceased, debts were no longer paid, social
obligations no longer respected or ac
knowledged. It had been the chief care
of Caspar to disguise from his mother
the extent of the calamities that pressed
around them ; and though deceived by
filial tenderness, she knew not half the
misery that threatened them half the
horrors raging In the city she read with
a mother's eye the haggard story writ
ten in her son's face ; it was plain that
he was sinking beneath the task of ad
ministering to her comfort her repose.
He had, on the day on which our story
opens, been many hours from home,
and the widow with a beating heart, and
with a thousand thoughts of undefined
danger busy in her brain, sat watching
the declining rays of a spring sun.
Every sound smote her. soul with disap
pointment, for it was not Caspar's foot
steps. There she sat, until suspense be
came a torture ; until, with her over
wrought fancy, she had filled her ckani
ber with phantoms of terror ; until she
was surrounded with a host of fears.
" Caspar I Caspar y" she shrieked and
sprang from her chair as the youth en
tered the house.
" Mother 1" exclaimed the boy, and in
a moment he stood in the chamber, em,
bracing his parent. . .
" Now,. God be praised I'? cried the
woman; "God be thanked, aud may
my doubts, the fears of a widowed
NO. 21.
mother, meet forgiveness I Oh, this la
a blessing !" and the widow again car-
ressed her son. , , , .i .
Mother, how is this y Why did you
rise to-day, and what is here V and Cas
par pointed to the widow's cloak, for the
mother, worn with anxious watching,
had resolved to seek her sou abroad.
" You have stayed late, Caspar ; very
late," said the widow,., evading an
answer to his question, "very late.:
What lias happened 'i What news from
the walls '("'
" We shall beat them yet, mother,"
said Caspar, with a forced smile ; " fear
not, we shall have merry days. The
Governor is strong in hope, we shall
beat them yet.'?
Alas I my boy, you are pale and
weary, need rest and nourishment."
"A little rest, mother; only a little
rest," said Caspar, " for to-day I have
fared nobly with our old friend, Martin,
of the market-place. I have drank wine
to-duy, mother ; and see here is bread
for supper ;" and the boy placed a por
tion of the loaf upon the table, and
hastily quitted the room. Descending a
staircase, he unclosed a door , which
opened into a little stone-paved court ; a
goat ran to him, and gamboled about
him. ' Caspar, breaking the bread which
he had received from Martin, gave it to
the animal to eat. "Come what will,"
said the youth looking mournfully upon
the feeding creature, " come what will
you must not go supperless," and Caspar
reserving only a small piece for himself,
gave the remainder to the hungry goat.
He then, with new looks of cheerful
ness, returned to his mother.
" Yes, Caspar," said the widow, "I
feel that this misery will end ; it would
be wicked to doubt it. Your love, your
tenderness my brave boy, must find the
recompense of happy days. Such virtue
cannot pass away unknown and unre
warded." "I am rewarded, ten times over-paid,
dear mother; by your fond words your
doting looks. There, you are better to
day, I am sure, much better," said the
son. " Let this hateful war once cease ;
let these horrid tumults end ; this sick
ening desolating want give place to old,
familiar comforts, and you will be
strong, be happy once again."
", I am happy, Caspar, believe it, pro
foundly happy. But for these times of
peril I had never known my son. Good
gentle, and tender, I ever thought him ;
but I had not known his full nobility of
soul, his generous contempt of wrong,.
his scorn of selfish times."
" Mother!" cried the youth, blushing
at the praise, and playfully placing his
hand to her lips. As they sat embraced
in each other's arms, the still young
and beautiful face of the widow
a face to which even sickness had
added a soft and melancholy sweet
ness, and the flushed, animated, manly
countenance of the youth, presented a
picture of the purest love, the holiest af
fection, dignifying hearts; the love of
mother for her child, the answering de
votion of child to parent. Never was
maternal tenderness more exquisitely
manifest; never filial duty more devout
ly paid. Thus they . sat, and Caspar,
looking in his, mother's face, taught
himself to hope for coming health;
never had she looked so beautiful."
" Let the war be ended,',' he thought,
"and all will be well again." With
those new hopes Caspar rose, and taking
a small earthen vessel from the shelf,
quitted the room. An hour more had
elapsed since the goat bad , taken her
scanty meal, and Caspar, was again
about to descend the stairs that led into
the court, when he was startled by a
loud, quick knocking at the door.
" Who knocks there ?" asked Caspar,
his band upon the door bolt
" Open the door, Caspar Brandt; we
would speak with you,", answered a
voice without. " We are sent by tho
burgomaster ; honest men fear not the
magistrate."
At these words, Caspar drew the bolt
and opened wide the door. Instantly
the patge was tilled with the under of
ficers of justice. "Caspar Brandt,"
said one of them, " you must come with
us.
" : ' . . ... .,
m First tell me for what ". answered
Caspar, drawing back. T . . . i I
" That you shall know in proper sea
son," said the officer ; " in the meantime
you are our prisoner." - : t .
" Prisoner 1 Impossible I With what