Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1875 — Love in a Snower Bath. [ARTICLE]

Love in a Snower Bath.

Mr. Henry Seller was a rich German bachelor who lived in a nice bouse of his own in Brooklyn, and whose only occupation consisted, duiing the day, in reading the newspapers, and in the evening playing “ binocle” at his club with his intimate friends, Klauss, the druggist, and Wolff, the real estate agent. The only other intimate of Mr. Seiler’s house was his housekeeper, Barbara, a maid of forty-seven, who, in an evil hour, one Sunday, went to a little temporary theater somewhere on Blank avenue, where the admission was only ten cents, and where she witnessed the performance of the grand tragedy of “The Knight of Urdenburg; or, The Horrors of Castle Drachenfels.” So deep was the impression which this extraordinary play made upon her that she henceforth went almost every night to the same diminutive and inexpensive temple of Thepsis. What pleased her still more was she picked up a charming male acquaintance at this establishment—one Mr. Theobald Arnim —who said he could not sufficiently admire sjich noble characters as Charles Moor, in “The Robbers,” “William Tell,” etc. One night, upon leaving the theater, Miss Barbara was delighted because Mr. Arnim offered to escort her home. He was only twenty-five, quite good-looking and such a conversationalist! Barbara had never seen such a sweet young man. And how he quoted poetry! Schiller, Goethe, Shakespeare he had at his fingers’ ends, and when the two arrived at Mr. Seiler’s door Miss Barbara could not help confessing that she entertained the most ardent admiration for him. A glance at her master’s window told her that Mr. Seiler was still at his club and so sne invited Mr. Arnim to step in and have a piece of cold fowl and a glass of wine with her. Her escort readily accepted the invitation and the wq sat down in the kitchen, where Arnim quoted poetry while Barbara set a good cold meal and a bottle of Mr. Seiler’s best Burgundy before hun. They parted when it was about time for Barbara’s master to return. The acquaintance of the housekeeper and her beau soon ripened into an> intimacy and finally a formal engagement. Thenceforth Mr. Theobald Arnim of course lived in. clover. The best of Mr. Seiler’s viands and wines were placed at his disposal by the over-happy Barbara. As he was a good drinker and a very hearty eater this addition to Mr. Seiler’s household could not help making a serious inroad both upon his larder and wine-cellar. Six months afterward Mr. Seiler began to notice that his wine was nearly out and that his butcher-bill Whs growing larger and larger. He noticed furthermore that his best dress suit had been repeatedly worn by somebody besides himself, and in the side pocket of his overcoat he found one dav a bill unpaid that led to suspicion, fie also discovered that the top-boots he had never used were worn down at the heels. Still

the real state of affairs remained unknown, until one evening he happened to come home from his club a little earlier than usual. He entered the kitchen, where he found Barbara a prey to visible embarrassment. “Why,” said Mr. Seiler, “there is a strong smell ol tobacco here, Barbary, and there is a burning cigar on the table. What does it mean?” Barbara stammered an excuse. “ I have the toothache, sir,” she replied; “I thought smoking would do me good.” Mr. Seiler did not say anything, but looked about the kitchen, fixed his eyes a moment on the large shower-bath standing in a corner, and went out. Next day he returned fully an hour sooner than usual from the club. He was accompanied by a couple of friends, and made so much noise in the hall-way that his arrival could be heard all over the house. He conducted his friends straightway to the kitchen, where they found Barbara again embarrassed and surrounded by a cloud of cigarsmoke. “ Poor Barbara,” said Mr. Seiler, in a singular tone. “I see you have the toothache still.” Without paying any further attention to her he took his friends to the shower-bath in the corner, “I promised to show you how splendidly my shower-bath works,” he said to them, and pulled the string hanging down on its side. The next moment there was a sound of rushing waters in the shower-bath, and then, with a scream of distress, the unfortunate Theobald, who had been hidden there, emerged from it in the most pitiful plight. Drenched to the skin, he rushed out of the kitchen and out of the house, while his heart-broken fiancee resorted to a swoon in order to hide her confusion. Next day Barbara was no longer Mr. Seller’s housekeeper, and the ungrateful Theobald repudiated the engagement with her.

The Warsaw New Yorker tells the following singular story: “ A heifer lost by Mr. Sedore four weeks ago was found in 31 gully near the State Line Railroad, last week, nearly starved to death, with the end of a rope around her horns frozen in a brook,, holding her down. She was reduced to skin and bones, and so crazed that she could not be approached with safety. By lassoing her on each side she was finally drawn up the embankment, and, after drinking some warm water, was led to'the stable, and is doing well. How the creature had survived during the weeks of terrible cold, with no food except what little she got by browsing on brush, and nothing after she was imprisoned by the ice, was a marvel."