Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans

Tears of Heaven

Tears of Heaven Young Franz Hartzein saw Caroline Koehn coming along the path, and he hastened to greet her. The long, full skirt of checked blue calico which she wore swished about her small feet and caught on a twig. "Ach," Franz laughed, as he stooped to disentangle the dress, "what would you do without your Franz when you get into difficulties!" "I never could do at all—you know that quite well, don't you?" she rejoined, as he kissed her yielding lips lightly. "Mother would say we were terribly immodest to be kissing each other out here where everyone can see." "Nobody has seen anything at all, sweetheart," the young man assured her fondly. "It is less than an hour after dinner, and you know the enormous dinners they eat. They can scarce see over their stomachs at this hour—if they are awake, which I doubt. Anyhow, every man is paying strict attention to his pipe, and every Hausfrau is finishing with the dish washing." They both laughed merrily, and Caroline bent to pick a dandelion. "Do you think every Hausfrau is stupid, Franz?" she asked, her slate-blue eyes serious, and her fingers fiddling with the prim row of buttons on her dress. "No, indeed—they are the saviours of the world!" he declared. "Think of the excellent cheeses they make—the beer they brew, the bread they bake, the noble little pigs they roast! Ach, now, meine beliebte—don't twist my meanings. 101 (I8 73) IO2 Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans You will be a Hausfrau yourself, you know, after we are married ." "And I should dread to think that I was just to grow thick and dull, knowing only the baking and the cleaning and the sawing and such things, Franz dear. I want to understand and enter into all your life, as a wife should." "Should I then learn about the making of Kuchen and Wiener Schnitzel and the stitching of seams?" he laughed, patting her cheek. Nein, nein—we shall not quarrel over that. You shall always know everything there is to know about my doings." "I was speaking to Father Apfel yesterday, Franz," Caroline observed shyly. "Ja? Did you mention that we are planning to marry, next year?" "Yes, Franz—and I asked him which was the nicest month to be married in." "Everybody always says June." "But Father Apfel said May." She executed a gay hippetyhop . "He said, 'The month of Mary is the blessed month for young brides.' I like to think of being married in 'the blessed month,' Franz—don't you?" "Yes," he returned tenderly. "And, besides, it is a month sooner than June. Let us set the date, then—we are to be married next May. In May, of 1872, you will be Frau Franz Hartzein—think of that!" He caught her round the waist and they danced a measure or two. "Oh, Franz dear!" she cried, out of breath. "What will people be saying of us! They will think you have had a glass too much beer or something, and that I am a wild rattle-head. I hope Mother does not hear of it—she is so strict and proper, you know." "She is a wise mother," the young man nodded. "You must bring up our girls exactly as she has brought you up." "Oh, Franz!" Caroline's cheeks were pink and her eyes were lowered. "It is not immodest nor vulgar to speak of the family we expect to have," he said gently. "To me it is very beautiful and sacred. Little children of one's own must be marvelous. Tears of Heaven 103 Do you know where we are standing at this moment, sweetheart ?" "Why, yes, Franz. This ground is on Saint-Claude street, near Clouet—in the Third District of New Orleans. German settlement, substantial people, religious, well-to-do, law-abiding . . . I can think of more, probably." Her eyes were dancing saucily. "But that is not the right answer, anyhow," he grinned. "This is a vacant lot with a live oak on it, ja. Also, it belongs to one Franz Hartzein, and he is going to build a house on it, for his wife and himself." "Oh, Franz—really? You mean our house is to stand here?" "Ja. It seems very wonderful to me, Caroline." "It is wonderful. I shall make curtains for its windows and...