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  • The Builder's Bargain.
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The Builder's Bargain.

The Builder's Bargain .

A CHRISTMAS CARD , PERFECTLY PERFUMED

WITH EAU DE COLOGNE . * Yc nymphs who reign over ' sewers and sinks ! Thc river Rhine , it is well known , Doth wash your city of Cologne . Bnt tell mc , nymphs , what power divine Henceforth shall wash thc river Rhine ? , Culer ' ulee

gl !|> HAD just parted from my reverend and esteemed mis , friend , tho Editor , and was returning to my cham-^ g & hers the other day , when I felt called upon to pause lip aud examine the then recently unveiled Temple Bar Memorial . Why was it that , two minutes after that inspection , when I had sunk comfortably into my easy chair before a blazing Christmas fire , I was immediatel y transported in imagination to the ancient electoral city

of Cologne on the Rhine ? Why was it ? Well , I will tell you . Tho preposterous griffin-surmounted erection opposite the new Law Courts in-esistibly suggested to my mind a certain porcelain Gorman stove by which I once fell asleep and dreamed a curious dream , in the city of the seventy two distinct—well—smells—and that dream and its attendant circumstances I propose now to narrate

to you . Itwas Christmas Eve—ever so many years ago—I was frozen up there—the trains conldn't rnn . I was simpl y maddened at the thought of the house-mother—see how Teutonic I had become in my ideas—and the little ones , eating their turkey and pudding without papa ; and my exeellentdinnerafc the Queen Victoria Hotel consequentl y

had disagreed with me , so I took a glass of schnapsperhaps two—I could not conscientiously plead " not guilty" to three—for I wanted to correct the sequelant acidity , you sec—nnd then—I had a dash of cognac in my coffee , with my post-prandial " weed , " and—then I wandered out . As I passed tho unfinished Dom Kirche , tho sublime but intricate outline was sharply rendered by

the effulgent moonlight in shadow on tho pavement of the platz ; oven the renowned crane—not a bird , but a lifting machine—then conspicuous upon thc roof , found its simulacrum there—I passed on with a deep abiding sense of awe . I throw my cigar away—I could not smoke in that august presence . I solemnly wandered along to the fano of the great Ursula and her eleven

thousand etevies , and I gloomily mused upon tho unromembered and innumerable bones of the young Indies enshrined within that sombre edifice , until—until—I was forced to light up another cigai—for smells are sug . gestive—and—nnd then I lost my way . I found mysolf in a large open platz—I subsequentl y learned that it was the Herbmarkct or vegetable market

a kind of Spitalfields , Farringdon , and Covent Garden combined—on tho banks of the silvery Bhinc—which isn't a bit silvery , by thc way . A mcdiajval gateway , opened by an arch , closed the vista , and I felt coming over mo that very straugo , uncomfortable , indefinable feeling we have all of ns at times experienced . Pschy . ologists say it is derivable from tho dual construction ,

functions , and actions of tho brain that the percussive power of perception is unequally received , as it wero ; that what should be a single knock of impression becomes accidentally a postman's double rap—that curious sense of having been in the same place before — sensible of tbe same presence—sensitive to the same impressions—perceptive by anticipation of all that is to

happen immediately afterwards . To me it seemed that I had known the place wherein I now , and , strange to say , by no means unexpectedly , found myself , from my youth up , and yet it was certain 1 had never been there before . Nor had I ever before entered tho gasthaus which bore the inviting , but rather clumsy and confnsedly composed sign—though that , of course , issolel y attributable to the construction of the language—of

" The ever to be admired swine ol the celestial colour of blue , " and which I at once tersely translated as the Blue Boar . Nor had I over before sat by , and gruteftill y warmed mysolf at , that ornate china-ware stove , anil yet it seemed as if I had been tracing tho intricate meandering of its tube upon tube of chimney—going " all over the shop , " and mixing itself up with the steam from my hot hollands and water and the smoke from my nearly exhausted Havanna , from infancy .

I must have dozed ; tho stube—how ridiculous to call a tavern parlour a stove!—had no occupants when I entered—now , when I awake , ! find I have a companion —a little man who squats on a fall school and tucks his legs under him , as if afraid that people should see his feet . He is smoking a tremendously long German pipe with a large porcelain bowl , and , ever nnd anon , something

seems togo wrong with the tobacco . asif a practical joker had mixed gunpowder with it , a notion which appears to bo borne out by the strong smell of sulphurthat occasionally pervades the apartment . The smoker is dressed iu a tourist suit of " rench-me-downs at forfy-tivo , " ihe

colour of which ( strange to say ) is of bright red . " 1 travel in sealing wax , " explains the wearer ; with a revolting wink , observing that I am curiousl y noticing him— "What ' s your line ?—Oh , sight seeing ! Bot . „ doing the Dom Kirche ? Eh ? Moonlight effect ? ] . ; i , y English , eh ? Ah ! What , does your poet say ? 'He who

The Builder's Bargain.

would seo fair Melrose right should visit it on a—something or other—sort of night . ' That ' s not quite it , but accurately enough conveys the sense . Ah I You should have seen thafc platz on a moonlight night in the year 1248 . No pavement then—no gas—no voitures waiting for biro—boats , wherries . more likely , for the Rhine then came up nearly to where the walls of the Minster are

now pitched , and all thatis to-night flagstones was then shingle . Well , on just such a night as this , in the year 1248 , and at Christmas time , too , young Adelbert , the apprentice to the greatest architect and builder Cologne had up to that time ever produced , old Hans the Mas'r , sat on one of the posts to which they moored the skiffs aud—and—blubbered like a child .

" I love her "—he sobbed— " I love her and sho loves me . Alas and alack a day ! But oh ! the conditionsthe conditions , the cruel conditions ! Her flinty-hearted parent , my master , will not consent to her union with any one save an architect , and he—save the mark—must be thc one who , foz-emosfc in art , can design a cathedral for this—my adored one ' s native city , finer than any

now standing on the earth s surface . Oh , if I could but be inspired—I—I—I—yes ! I would give my soul ' s salvation freely if—Hallo ! is that somebody smoking ? * The poor lad , who had been gazing moodily upon the shingle , looked up and behold the corresponding log to that , upon which he was sitting occupied by a funny little being , clothed , as I am , all in red , and who tucked his legs up under him , just as I do , and was smoking a pipe exactly

like mine . Adelbert fancied , too , that tho tobacco his companion puffed sometimes seemed to smell of sulphur . You may have observed that mine does also occasionally . Thc little being grinned , and croaked— ' Never give up , try your hand , my boy . See , here is a stick with a tolerably sharp ferule . Now come , let us have your idea of a Dom Kirche . Come—trace a design in the shingle —So—"

Tho entered apprentice nervously took the staff in Ins hand . It hatl a rather ugly appearance , its head being , in fact , tho model of a scull enclosed in a pair of folded wings , and its crutch formed of two crossed bones . It also seemed to have a will of its own , and moved in his hand without his volition having anything whatever to do with its direction , liko thc hazel fork with which

old diviners used to try for water . Under the point of its ferule came traced upon the ground the linos of a noble church , with tall western towers and flanking transepts , and fairy-like flying buttresses , and stately eastern apse and glorious oriel lights . " Plagiarism , " grunted tho little man . " Westminster Abbey , London—Try again . "

Again the ferule moved swiftly , and again the tracery of a noblo pile appeared on the shingle in the moonlight . " More thievery , " said the critic ; " of course , you have been to Strasburg . There you aro ! Try and do something original , man , or lot me help you . " " Noire Damn , Paris , " sneered red jerkin , as the next design was submitted . " No invention ! Antwerp . York .

No better ! Troyes , Malines , St . Gudulo Brussels , St . Denis , Mayeuce , Trior , " wore aggravatingly snapped ont successively , with cruelly accompanying sneers , such as " No conception of design , " " No creative genius "until poor maddened Adelbert flung down the rod at his companion's feet with the frantic communication , "Tho devil take the thing . " As the staff fell from fcho'prentice

hand of tho despairing boy , the death s-head top fell off , nnd disclosed that the rod was but a hollow tube , from whicli tho little man in rod , picking up the stick , drew forth a parchment roll , thc which he proceeded to unfold . " A mere matter of form , " said he , as coolly pricking the youth's hand with the sharp point of the ferule ho caused the blood to flow freely . " A more matter of form , " ho

repeated , as he dipped a pen , which bo produced from beneath Ids doublet , in the ruby stream , and present cd it to Adelbert— " You sign here , " he cheerfully said , "just where the pencil mark is made . You put your finger on this spot , where you see a dab of red sealing wax , and yon says , says yon , ' 1 deliver this as my act and deed , says you' —a mere niatterof form , I tlo assure

you . " The bewildered boy hastily made his mark—our entered apprentices of those days were not completely cnlligruphicnlly instructed ; you see , Hoard Schools had not then been invented—and went through the cabalistic ceremony indicated to him ; then his new friend , hastily concealing tho executed document somewhere about his person , screwed the death's headon to tho stick again ,

placed it between Adelbert ' s nervous lingers , and bade him try his luck once more . Luck ! Beneath that point ; upon that cold white shingle , grew in lino nnd tracery , and pinnacle and crocket ling , and fan work and stalactite ceiling , and stupendously lofty and intricate columnar group ! ' gaud wagon roofing , and oriel antl wheel nnd rose windowing ,

nave and transept , and choir and chancel , and aisle antl chapter house , and auxiliary chapels , and involved wood screens , and earth-encroaching towers and firmamentpiercing spires , and heavenly galleries and earthly cloisters , and lace-resembling arches and airy clerestories , the like of which mortal man had never seen before , lhe like of which mortal man will probably never see again , but the like of which any mortal man can sec

now in all its splendour , in all its delicate beauty , m nil its massive towering impressiveness , by spending an insignificant number of shillings on a Cooke's excursion ticket to Cologne on the Rhino . Adelbert worked out and sent in his design for the proposed cathedral , and it is needless to say that it was readily accepted , ami so was he , as the suitor of Grctchon , by hor father and his muster—Hans tho Mas'r . His wedding day would have been unclouded , but for tho

The Builder's Bargain.

presence of an inconvenient individual who would appear ) dressed all in red , who would smoke a china pipe that smelt of sulphur , and who would awkwardly tuck up his legs under him when ho sat down . Pretty Bertha , one of the housemaids , who , as a waitress , attended tho wedding feast , crossed herself piously when she narrated how she had peeped under this peculiar guest ' s stool and seen

ferated Adelbert . " " No , you musn't d the English law , " said the other , " or else I shall not be able to explain what I mean . Well , our uncivilized cousins , the English , have a ceremonial legal observance which they call ' giving a boud , ' aud that bond has a condition attached to it called ' a defcazance , ' that is to

that his feet wore " divided in the hoof , as may be read of in Holy Writ . The happy pair were departing for their honeymoon in a shower of rice and slippers , when the diminutive man in rod drew tho nervous bridegroom aside and craved his attention for a moment , so as to obviate possible future misunderstanding . " Just as a little matter of business , " the red one observed . " In that barbaric system the English law " "Oh , d the English law , "

vocisay , that snch aud such things shall happen as a return for the consideration expressed in the document . I should be sorry for you to go away on your wedding trip in ignorance of your legal liabilities , so I merely seize the present auspicious opportunity of informing you—its a mere trifle—that the architect who obtains thc kudos of designing Cologne Cathedral , and every succeeding

artist who continues tho construction , will die au early and a violent death . What may become of your successors after this world thus abruptly closes upon thorn is not given mc to know , but ns for you—I shall shortly have to talk to you , and settle with you—down there !" and he pointed grinningly to thc pavement in front of Hans the Mas ' r ' s house—" and . inst remember—its a mere

matter of form , yon know—that you or your successors will require a crane , as soon as you , or tbey , can place a roof , to raise jour stonework and materials for tho construction of the towers . Well , that crane must never be removed . On tho day that it is displaced destruction will come upon tho federal city . Oh , its of no consequence—merely a matter of form . GOOD-Byo ! Bless

you I" Somebody near adding " GOD bless you ! " tho man in red was taken with convulsions , and disappeared in the sulphurous smoko of his huge pipe . The foundation-stone of tho now church was laid in great state and with full masonic ceremonies by the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire , assisted by the Cardinal Archbishop , tho Princes of the Empire , the

Burgomaster , aud the echovins . Thoarchitectpresented his j dans , had them duly returned to him with profusely complimentary expressions , and injunctions to seo them faithfully carried out , and a patent of nobility to boot , and—walking round that evening complacently to view tbe excavations in progress for the outer walls —foil into a pit nnd broke his neck , and was drowned

as well , and so left his proud Grctchon a disconsolate widow . At the Coroner's inquest * that was held upon his remains , it was testified upon oath that the last person seen with the regretted deceased while alive , was a diminutive individual iu scarlet doublet and hose , wearing a cock ' s red feather in a carmine-coloured bonnet , and smoking a large china pipe , the odour from

which smelt strongly of sulphur . His successor , Franz Midler , tried tho effect of tho appearance of the rising walls from a punt on tho Rhine , which , capsizing , tho artist was converted into ichthylogicnl tissue ; and Rhenish salmon , I know , and Rhenish eels , I nm informed , make very good eating indeed .

Max Biillen swore to complete thc edifice , but differing in opinion lrom the baronial proprietor of Marxlierg , was one day seized aud hanged from the turrets of that funnily perehed-up fortalice . His successor , Luigi Franconi , anItalian , was convicted of embezzling the funds of the Cathedral chapter , and also bade adieu to an unapprcciativc world mts . pe ,-, cut .

It would be very wearisome to go through tho list of the Franzes and Muxes and Hanses and Pctorkins who attempted the consummation of poor Adalbert ' s work . Each one either walked over the roof anil fell in n pulpy architectural mass on the Hags of tho platz below , or trotted blindly into tho Rhino , or was quietly poisoned by a rival artist , or got hanged or beheaded ,

or came to some other untimely end . As for the crane , nobody ever dared to touch that . From tho time it was raised on the roof of the nave it dominated tho districts of tho city . In 1412 tho contractors thought tho edifice so far advanced that the unsightly excrescence might bo conveniently removed . Tho operation was effected , and lo ! a fearsome and unparalleled tempest and whirlwind

devastated tho town . Meekly and reverently the burghers restored thc palladium . In 1561 a heretical and sceptical generation dethroned itagain , anil , behold , the pestilence came and smote the inhabitants by their thousands . In 1025 a sneering burgomaster hauled it over the then bnt partially completed parapet , and anon Wallonstein ' s

freo riders ravaged tbe ancient city . In liv-l the principles of revolutionary France so leavened tho on-coming youngsters of the old German society that tho party of progress wero emboldened to again displace th " apparatus , but old Father Rhino arose in his wrath null revenged tho desecration by an inundation which—"

"Aachen!—Aachen ! " Why does my rubioso companion shout " Aachen " , ? Wo are at Cologne , not at Aix-la-Chapelle .

“The Freemason: 1880-12-25, Page 20” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fvl/issues/fvl_25121880/page/20/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
CONTENTS. Article 1
PROVINCIAL GRAND CHAPTER OF SOMERSET. Article 1
PROVINCIAL GRAND MARK LODGE OF SUSSEX. Article 1
FATHER AGNEW. Article 1
CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. Article 2
LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE. Article 2
Masonic Notes and Queries. Article 3
Reviews. Article 3
South Africa. Article 3
Ancient and Primitive Rite. Article 3
REPORTS OF MASONIC MEETINGS. Article 4
Royal Arch. Article 6
Mark Masonry. Article 6
Knights Templar. Article 6
Literary, Art, and Antiquarian Notes. Article 6
Masonic and General Tidings. Article 7
A MASON'S CHRISTMAS GREETING. Article 7
To Correspondents. Article 8
Untitled Article 8
WARM THANKS AND "HEARTY GOOD WISHES." Article 8
SUMMARY FOR 1880. Article 8
Original Correspondence. Article 11
METROPOLITAN MASONIC MEETINGS. Article 11
Births, Marriages, and Deaths. Article 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
A Chritmas and New Year's Greeting. Article 13
Our Christmas Areemason. Article 13
Christmas. Article 13
The Christmas Waits. Article 14
A Christmas Souveuir. Article 14
" Old Pyramid's" Christmas Day in the Drsert. Article 14
How we kept Christmas in an Old Manor House Article 17
Sprigs of Holly. Article 17
The Ugty Duckting. Article 18
The Sea-King. Article 19
The Builder's Bargain. Article 20
Peare, Good Will Iowards Men! Article 21
How I First Berame a Mason. Article 21
Christmastide. Article 21
The Mysterious Yisitor at Manston Hall. Article 22
Christmas Day. Article 22
How Podgers Lost his Christmas Dinner. Article 22
Pass the Bowl Round. Article 23
Hephsibah. Article 23
A Coutraband League. Article 24
Christmas Morning. Article 24
Harotd Suffiuan. Article 25
Good Bye.* Article 28
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Builder's Bargain.

The Builder's Bargain .

A CHRISTMAS CARD , PERFECTLY PERFUMED

WITH EAU DE COLOGNE . * Yc nymphs who reign over ' sewers and sinks ! Thc river Rhine , it is well known , Doth wash your city of Cologne . Bnt tell mc , nymphs , what power divine Henceforth shall wash thc river Rhine ? , Culer ' ulee

gl !|> HAD just parted from my reverend and esteemed mis , friend , tho Editor , and was returning to my cham-^ g & hers the other day , when I felt called upon to pause lip aud examine the then recently unveiled Temple Bar Memorial . Why was it that , two minutes after that inspection , when I had sunk comfortably into my easy chair before a blazing Christmas fire , I was immediatel y transported in imagination to the ancient electoral city

of Cologne on the Rhine ? Why was it ? Well , I will tell you . Tho preposterous griffin-surmounted erection opposite the new Law Courts in-esistibly suggested to my mind a certain porcelain Gorman stove by which I once fell asleep and dreamed a curious dream , in the city of the seventy two distinct—well—smells—and that dream and its attendant circumstances I propose now to narrate

to you . Itwas Christmas Eve—ever so many years ago—I was frozen up there—the trains conldn't rnn . I was simpl y maddened at the thought of the house-mother—see how Teutonic I had become in my ideas—and the little ones , eating their turkey and pudding without papa ; and my exeellentdinnerafc the Queen Victoria Hotel consequentl y

had disagreed with me , so I took a glass of schnapsperhaps two—I could not conscientiously plead " not guilty" to three—for I wanted to correct the sequelant acidity , you sec—nnd then—I had a dash of cognac in my coffee , with my post-prandial " weed , " and—then I wandered out . As I passed tho unfinished Dom Kirche , tho sublime but intricate outline was sharply rendered by

the effulgent moonlight in shadow on tho pavement of the platz ; oven the renowned crane—not a bird , but a lifting machine—then conspicuous upon thc roof , found its simulacrum there—I passed on with a deep abiding sense of awe . I throw my cigar away—I could not smoke in that august presence . I solemnly wandered along to the fano of the great Ursula and her eleven

thousand etevies , and I gloomily mused upon tho unromembered and innumerable bones of the young Indies enshrined within that sombre edifice , until—until—I was forced to light up another cigai—for smells are sug . gestive—and—nnd then I lost my way . I found mysolf in a large open platz—I subsequentl y learned that it was the Herbmarkct or vegetable market

a kind of Spitalfields , Farringdon , and Covent Garden combined—on tho banks of the silvery Bhinc—which isn't a bit silvery , by thc way . A mcdiajval gateway , opened by an arch , closed the vista , and I felt coming over mo that very straugo , uncomfortable , indefinable feeling we have all of ns at times experienced . Pschy . ologists say it is derivable from tho dual construction ,

functions , and actions of tho brain that the percussive power of perception is unequally received , as it wero ; that what should be a single knock of impression becomes accidentally a postman's double rap—that curious sense of having been in the same place before — sensible of tbe same presence—sensitive to the same impressions—perceptive by anticipation of all that is to

happen immediately afterwards . To me it seemed that I had known the place wherein I now , and , strange to say , by no means unexpectedly , found myself , from my youth up , and yet it was certain 1 had never been there before . Nor had I ever before entered tho gasthaus which bore the inviting , but rather clumsy and confnsedly composed sign—though that , of course , issolel y attributable to the construction of the language—of

" The ever to be admired swine ol the celestial colour of blue , " and which I at once tersely translated as the Blue Boar . Nor had I over before sat by , and gruteftill y warmed mysolf at , that ornate china-ware stove , anil yet it seemed as if I had been tracing tho intricate meandering of its tube upon tube of chimney—going " all over the shop , " and mixing itself up with the steam from my hot hollands and water and the smoke from my nearly exhausted Havanna , from infancy .

I must have dozed ; tho stube—how ridiculous to call a tavern parlour a stove!—had no occupants when I entered—now , when I awake , ! find I have a companion —a little man who squats on a fall school and tucks his legs under him , as if afraid that people should see his feet . He is smoking a tremendously long German pipe with a large porcelain bowl , and , ever nnd anon , something

seems togo wrong with the tobacco . asif a practical joker had mixed gunpowder with it , a notion which appears to bo borne out by the strong smell of sulphurthat occasionally pervades the apartment . The smoker is dressed iu a tourist suit of " rench-me-downs at forfy-tivo , " ihe

colour of which ( strange to say ) is of bright red . " 1 travel in sealing wax , " explains the wearer ; with a revolting wink , observing that I am curiousl y noticing him— "What ' s your line ?—Oh , sight seeing ! Bot . „ doing the Dom Kirche ? Eh ? Moonlight effect ? ] . ; i , y English , eh ? Ah ! What , does your poet say ? 'He who

The Builder's Bargain.

would seo fair Melrose right should visit it on a—something or other—sort of night . ' That ' s not quite it , but accurately enough conveys the sense . Ah I You should have seen thafc platz on a moonlight night in the year 1248 . No pavement then—no gas—no voitures waiting for biro—boats , wherries . more likely , for the Rhine then came up nearly to where the walls of the Minster are

now pitched , and all thatis to-night flagstones was then shingle . Well , on just such a night as this , in the year 1248 , and at Christmas time , too , young Adelbert , the apprentice to the greatest architect and builder Cologne had up to that time ever produced , old Hans the Mas'r , sat on one of the posts to which they moored the skiffs aud—and—blubbered like a child .

" I love her "—he sobbed— " I love her and sho loves me . Alas and alack a day ! But oh ! the conditionsthe conditions , the cruel conditions ! Her flinty-hearted parent , my master , will not consent to her union with any one save an architect , and he—save the mark—must be thc one who , foz-emosfc in art , can design a cathedral for this—my adored one ' s native city , finer than any

now standing on the earth s surface . Oh , if I could but be inspired—I—I—I—yes ! I would give my soul ' s salvation freely if—Hallo ! is that somebody smoking ? * The poor lad , who had been gazing moodily upon the shingle , looked up and behold the corresponding log to that , upon which he was sitting occupied by a funny little being , clothed , as I am , all in red , and who tucked his legs up under him , just as I do , and was smoking a pipe exactly

like mine . Adelbert fancied , too , that tho tobacco his companion puffed sometimes seemed to smell of sulphur . You may have observed that mine does also occasionally . Thc little being grinned , and croaked— ' Never give up , try your hand , my boy . See , here is a stick with a tolerably sharp ferule . Now come , let us have your idea of a Dom Kirche . Come—trace a design in the shingle —So—"

Tho entered apprentice nervously took the staff in Ins hand . It hatl a rather ugly appearance , its head being , in fact , tho model of a scull enclosed in a pair of folded wings , and its crutch formed of two crossed bones . It also seemed to have a will of its own , and moved in his hand without his volition having anything whatever to do with its direction , liko thc hazel fork with which

old diviners used to try for water . Under the point of its ferule came traced upon the ground the linos of a noble church , with tall western towers and flanking transepts , and fairy-like flying buttresses , and stately eastern apse and glorious oriel lights . " Plagiarism , " grunted tho little man . " Westminster Abbey , London—Try again . "

Again the ferule moved swiftly , and again the tracery of a noblo pile appeared on the shingle in the moonlight . " More thievery , " said the critic ; " of course , you have been to Strasburg . There you aro ! Try and do something original , man , or lot me help you . " " Noire Damn , Paris , " sneered red jerkin , as the next design was submitted . " No invention ! Antwerp . York .

No better ! Troyes , Malines , St . Gudulo Brussels , St . Denis , Mayeuce , Trior , " wore aggravatingly snapped ont successively , with cruelly accompanying sneers , such as " No conception of design , " " No creative genius "until poor maddened Adelbert flung down the rod at his companion's feet with the frantic communication , "Tho devil take the thing . " As the staff fell from fcho'prentice

hand of tho despairing boy , the death s-head top fell off , nnd disclosed that the rod was but a hollow tube , from whicli tho little man in rod , picking up the stick , drew forth a parchment roll , thc which he proceeded to unfold . " A mere matter of form , " said he , as coolly pricking the youth's hand with the sharp point of the ferule ho caused the blood to flow freely . " A more matter of form , " ho

repeated , as he dipped a pen , which bo produced from beneath Ids doublet , in the ruby stream , and present cd it to Adelbert— " You sign here , " he cheerfully said , "just where the pencil mark is made . You put your finger on this spot , where you see a dab of red sealing wax , and yon says , says yon , ' 1 deliver this as my act and deed , says you' —a mere niatterof form , I tlo assure

you . " The bewildered boy hastily made his mark—our entered apprentices of those days were not completely cnlligruphicnlly instructed ; you see , Hoard Schools had not then been invented—and went through the cabalistic ceremony indicated to him ; then his new friend , hastily concealing tho executed document somewhere about his person , screwed the death's headon to tho stick again ,

placed it between Adelbert ' s nervous lingers , and bade him try his luck once more . Luck ! Beneath that point ; upon that cold white shingle , grew in lino nnd tracery , and pinnacle and crocket ling , and fan work and stalactite ceiling , and stupendously lofty and intricate columnar group ! ' gaud wagon roofing , and oriel antl wheel nnd rose windowing ,

nave and transept , and choir and chancel , and aisle antl chapter house , and auxiliary chapels , and involved wood screens , and earth-encroaching towers and firmamentpiercing spires , and heavenly galleries and earthly cloisters , and lace-resembling arches and airy clerestories , the like of which mortal man had never seen before , lhe like of which mortal man will probably never see again , but the like of which any mortal man can sec

now in all its splendour , in all its delicate beauty , m nil its massive towering impressiveness , by spending an insignificant number of shillings on a Cooke's excursion ticket to Cologne on the Rhino . Adelbert worked out and sent in his design for the proposed cathedral , and it is needless to say that it was readily accepted , ami so was he , as the suitor of Grctchon , by hor father and his muster—Hans tho Mas'r . His wedding day would have been unclouded , but for tho

The Builder's Bargain.

presence of an inconvenient individual who would appear ) dressed all in red , who would smoke a china pipe that smelt of sulphur , and who would awkwardly tuck up his legs under him when ho sat down . Pretty Bertha , one of the housemaids , who , as a waitress , attended tho wedding feast , crossed herself piously when she narrated how she had peeped under this peculiar guest ' s stool and seen

ferated Adelbert . " " No , you musn't d the English law , " said the other , " or else I shall not be able to explain what I mean . Well , our uncivilized cousins , the English , have a ceremonial legal observance which they call ' giving a boud , ' aud that bond has a condition attached to it called ' a defcazance , ' that is to

that his feet wore " divided in the hoof , as may be read of in Holy Writ . The happy pair were departing for their honeymoon in a shower of rice and slippers , when the diminutive man in rod drew tho nervous bridegroom aside and craved his attention for a moment , so as to obviate possible future misunderstanding . " Just as a little matter of business , " the red one observed . " In that barbaric system the English law " "Oh , d the English law , "

vocisay , that snch aud such things shall happen as a return for the consideration expressed in the document . I should be sorry for you to go away on your wedding trip in ignorance of your legal liabilities , so I merely seize the present auspicious opportunity of informing you—its a mere trifle—that the architect who obtains thc kudos of designing Cologne Cathedral , and every succeeding

artist who continues tho construction , will die au early and a violent death . What may become of your successors after this world thus abruptly closes upon thorn is not given mc to know , but ns for you—I shall shortly have to talk to you , and settle with you—down there !" and he pointed grinningly to thc pavement in front of Hans the Mas ' r ' s house—" and . inst remember—its a mere

matter of form , yon know—that you or your successors will require a crane , as soon as you , or tbey , can place a roof , to raise jour stonework and materials for tho construction of the towers . Well , that crane must never be removed . On tho day that it is displaced destruction will come upon tho federal city . Oh , its of no consequence—merely a matter of form . GOOD-Byo ! Bless

you I" Somebody near adding " GOD bless you ! " tho man in red was taken with convulsions , and disappeared in the sulphurous smoko of his huge pipe . The foundation-stone of tho now church was laid in great state and with full masonic ceremonies by the Elector of the Holy Roman Empire , assisted by the Cardinal Archbishop , tho Princes of the Empire , the

Burgomaster , aud the echovins . Thoarchitectpresented his j dans , had them duly returned to him with profusely complimentary expressions , and injunctions to seo them faithfully carried out , and a patent of nobility to boot , and—walking round that evening complacently to view tbe excavations in progress for the outer walls —foil into a pit nnd broke his neck , and was drowned

as well , and so left his proud Grctchon a disconsolate widow . At the Coroner's inquest * that was held upon his remains , it was testified upon oath that the last person seen with the regretted deceased while alive , was a diminutive individual iu scarlet doublet and hose , wearing a cock ' s red feather in a carmine-coloured bonnet , and smoking a large china pipe , the odour from

which smelt strongly of sulphur . His successor , Franz Midler , tried tho effect of tho appearance of the rising walls from a punt on tho Rhine , which , capsizing , tho artist was converted into ichthylogicnl tissue ; and Rhenish salmon , I know , and Rhenish eels , I nm informed , make very good eating indeed .

Max Biillen swore to complete thc edifice , but differing in opinion lrom the baronial proprietor of Marxlierg , was one day seized aud hanged from the turrets of that funnily perehed-up fortalice . His successor , Luigi Franconi , anItalian , was convicted of embezzling the funds of the Cathedral chapter , and also bade adieu to an unapprcciativc world mts . pe ,-, cut .

It would be very wearisome to go through tho list of the Franzes and Muxes and Hanses and Pctorkins who attempted the consummation of poor Adalbert ' s work . Each one either walked over the roof anil fell in n pulpy architectural mass on the Hags of tho platz below , or trotted blindly into tho Rhino , or was quietly poisoned by a rival artist , or got hanged or beheaded ,

or came to some other untimely end . As for the crane , nobody ever dared to touch that . From tho time it was raised on the roof of the nave it dominated tho districts of tho city . In 1412 tho contractors thought tho edifice so far advanced that the unsightly excrescence might bo conveniently removed . Tho operation was effected , and lo ! a fearsome and unparalleled tempest and whirlwind

devastated tho town . Meekly and reverently the burghers restored thc palladium . In 1561 a heretical and sceptical generation dethroned itagain , anil , behold , the pestilence came and smote the inhabitants by their thousands . In 1025 a sneering burgomaster hauled it over the then bnt partially completed parapet , and anon Wallonstein ' s

freo riders ravaged tbe ancient city . In liv-l the principles of revolutionary France so leavened tho on-coming youngsters of the old German society that tho party of progress wero emboldened to again displace th " apparatus , but old Father Rhino arose in his wrath null revenged tho desecration by an inundation which—"

"Aachen!—Aachen ! " Why does my rubioso companion shout " Aachen " , ? Wo are at Cologne , not at Aix-la-Chapelle .

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