The Mysterious Sketch

dow in my dungeon tower when I was roused out of my niche in

d besides comes to molest the solitary reign of silence; it is especially the last long note which spreads in widening waves over the immensity of

my chamber, the ancient den of the Wolf of Nideck, with its low, dark arch, threatening almost to come down to crush the occupant; and further on

and ran to open

that overhung the horizon by night mountains farther off! mountains far away! and yet again in the blue distance-mountains still, blending with the grey mists of the morning in the shadowy horizon!-motionless billows that sink into peace and stillness in the blue dist

ill of painter attain the sublime

ing light of morning; hamlets, farm-houses, villages, seemed to rise and peep out of every und

r of an hour when a hand was laid lightly upon my shoulder; I turned round

Fritz! Goo

the window, smoking his short pi

ust admire all that. Look there below; there is Roche Creuse. Do you s

away a tear. W

pectacle. From time to time the old poacher, noticing me w

it is hanging down in great fringed sheets, like the curtains over the shoulder of the Harberg-a cold winter'

time pa

arp-pointed at each end, the fan-shaped tail spread out, were silently sweeping round the rock-hewn tower; herons flew unsca

sky; all the snow had fallen to earth; onc

in Germany. Listen, Fritz, how soft and mellow the notes are! Poor Sébalt! he is pining away over monseigneur's illness; he cannot hunt as he used to do. His

ered no interruption to my contemplations; but when, my eyes dazzled and swimmin

ght; the count has

e back to a sense of

am very

owing to

an? I have not

You were there;

What is the use of my being

bring him

at him, but he was

he lord had another attack the next day after the first, then a thi

very clear; on the contr

meet him as I am going out hunting I am sure of some misadventure; my gun misses fire, or I sprain my ankle, or a dog gets ripped up!-all sorts of mischief come. So, being quite aware of this,

ll, but your ideas seem t

innumerable blessings; just one glance at your jolly countenance, your frank, clear eyes, your good-natured smile, is enough

h while to know how much there is in me

rasping my wrist,

ck at a couple of gun

lf-buried in the snow, with

te w

ee anythi

N

he warmed herself and boiled roots. She bore a curse with her. This morning the very first thing which I did was to get up here. I climbed up the beacon tower; I looked well all round; t

nthusiasm, shook me warmly by the

that I brought you here! T

een all my life such a very well-deserving young man

id, "the count has

y good

well pleased.

prodigious depth; and they were extended along the sharp narrow ridge of the rock down to the very bottom of the valley. It was

to the middle of the platform, I hastily descen

before us. I looked in, and descried, at the top of a double ladder, the lit

the archives of the house of Nideck, a high, dark, dusty apartment, with long Gothic win

er, and great folio volumes from the presses of Gutenberg and Faust, entitled to equal veneration on account of their remarkable history and of the enduring solidity of their binding. The deep shadows of the groined vaults, their arches divided by massive ribs, and descending partly down the cold grey walls, reminded one of the gloomy cloisters of the Middle Ages. And amidst these c

ost entirely one side of the ancient library. All were there, men and women; from Hugh the Wolf to Yeri-Hans,

naturally drawn i

ing upon you round the corner of a wood. His grey bloodshot eyes, his red

hands crossed on the breast over a book of devotions, and tresses of fair long silky hair encircling her sweet c

an this old painting on wood, which was stiff enough indeed

s side, drew my attention reluctantly away. Here was a woman of the true Visigoth type, with a wide

nsider the costume, which answered perfectly to the energy displayed in the head, f

ssed through my mind in the examination of these three portraits.

urst with a sharp whistle, which made that worthy send a glance in his di

e whistling to like a

It is an honour y

man with sublime scorn; "you cannot spit so hig

I were to

e step I'll squash you

ughed, an

y respect you for your learning; but what I want to know is what you are doing here

have been read

s long enough fo

rtant inquiry, and I don't mean

may this very impo

ock, served up in all his plumage. It was at that time one of the greatest delicacies, served up garnished all round with sucking pigs, gilded and silvered. During the banquet Otto kept spreading the peacock's tail, and all the lords, courtiers, and ladies of high birth were astonished and delighted at this wonderful piece of mechanism. At last he came out, sword in hand, and

prevented me from showing too much of my feelings, for he alone could supply

ectfully, "would you oblige me by enlig

ct of family history and chronicles I am entirely

respecting the two portraits on ea

on lighting up his hideous features; "you mean H

k more at his ease. His eyes glistened, and the delight of grat

y well satisfied that I was admiring the dwarf of Nideck. In spite of the ill luck which, in his opi

837. Then Hugh, having become lord and owner of the dowry, refused to give it up, and there were terrible battles between himself and his brothers-in-law. But his second wife, Huldine, whom you see there in a steel breastplate, aided him by her sage counsel. It is unknown whence or of what family she came, but for all that she saved Hugh's life, who had been made

hese wives was called Hedwige, and the des

at

u quite

tree; Hedwige had no children; Hu

surprisin

y s

I traced a

portrait of my great-grandfather, Hanswurst. His nose is as long and as pointed as an extinguisher, and his jaws like nutc

-of cou

ke Hedwige, but for all that Huldine is the head of their anc

-Knapwurst and I-