The Count of Nideck

kid, the pheasants, and the pike, murmuring, with his mouth full, "Thank God for the woods, the heather, and the ponds." Then, leaning over the back of hi

s, Gi

winter night, the blast from the snow-bound mountains, sang its unearthly hymn,-the hymn that it sings when stor

kling froth bordered its generous edges, and, handing it to me, he cried, "Here's to the recovery o

efilling the bowl, he

d chamber cut out of the live rock, shaped like an oval, and measuring in the highest part not more than twelve feet. At the further end I perceived a sort of alcove, and in it a bed resting on the floor, and cover

re now in Hugh's Tower, and it is as old as the mountain itself. It dates back to the time of Charlemagne. In those

l; but it is an odd corner that

Whenever the Count's particular friends come to visit him, they are

y, who was

ugh the

claimed in a

s,' they declared, 'and woe be to those who try to pass without paying toll. We will fall on them like wolves, tear the clothes from their backs, and the hides, too, if they are obstinate. From here we can command the landscape, the passes of the Rhethal, th

pwur

te to us; a droll chap, Gaston, who is always

e a scholar

ust from old family parchments. He moves about among the shelves like a cat, and he knows our history better than

e old wine, laughed for some mom

l this the Tower of Hug

you so? What are y

not

it in your face. What

s of the Rhethal, who would never sleep with a roof over your head in spite of all my father's urging, and who amused yourself roaming the paths of the Black Forest and revelling in the f

and snatching up a coal from the hearth, placed it on the bowl of his pipe; then, with

ed the General, and you, and your pretty mother, as I could never come to love others, not even the Count and my mistress Odile. So I

mrade, you have hunted long enough by yourself; now come and hunt with me. You have a good b

for some minutes;

o die. So it was with me. I loved the open air, and I love it yet; but now, instead of lying on a high branch at night and bei

for some moments;

a quiet glass of Rudesheimer with my friends, or

ust of win

scratching on the panel? I think one of the dogs

nd raised his fore-paws on his master's shoulders, licking his cheeks and beard with his long,

love me as this dog does? Look at

eces. Then pushing him off with difficulty, for the dog redoubled his caresses, he cried, "Down

nd fine coat, a bright eye, long paws, broad across the chest and shoulders and tapering down to the haunches,-a mass of nerves an

nd proudly over Lieverlé's head, while he enumerated th

five, and in his prime. I need not tell you that he is trained to hunt wild boar. Every time we meet them, I fear for Lieverlé; he attacks them too boldly; he f

senting to us his f

I came up with them first. Seeing my Lieverlé, I cried out, jumped to the ground, and lifting him in my arms, I wrapped him in my mantle and brought him home. I was beside myself with grief. Luckily, the vital parts were not injured,

the animal for his master. Lieverlé watched him and wagged his

cord to come to me,-a cord of six strands? He found

in front of the fire with the bone between his fore-paws, and he slowly tore it int

f any one should order you to go and ta

r which required del

on a stool, and the other on a log that was dripping with sap and singing in the fierce flame, puffed blue rings of smoke to the ceiling wi

not because of the death of your worthy wife, my old nu

e; he straightened up, and knocking the ashes

euse without sorrow, and so I have come hither. I hunt but little in the underbrush, and if the pack happen

images to his mind. Then, reflecting once more on the Black Plague crouching in the snow, I shivered. How singular that a single

tremble. We looked at the dog. He still held his half-eaten bone between his fore-paws, but with raised head, ears p

uddenly the animal sprang up and leaped against the wall, with a short, harsh, ominous bark that made the arches resound as if thunder were rolling away along the empty passages. Lieverlé, with his head low down, seemed to see through the granit

ause of his excitement, when a second howl, more

ng towards him, "for heaven's sake

gave forth only a dull, dense sound. There was apparently no

"you have had a nightmare. Come, lie down,

est Tobias Offenloch, with his round lantern in one hand and his stick in the other, and h

" he exclaimed; "what the

t," said Sperver; "he sprang against the wall and wo

le: "That will teach you, Master Gideon, to tie up your dogs. You have a weakness for dogs,-an absurd weakness. They will end by putting us all out of doors. Only

up are good for nothing; it makes them savage. Moreover, Lieverlé was

stick and put my wooden leg first. It is only for discipline. The dogs ought to be in the ken

his elbows resting on the table and his eyes beamin

tlemen, that I am a b

is

up with Gertrude in t

are in n

he lea

ome so late," observed Sperver

ly sorry. He would gladly have profited by his widowhood. In spite

er day," he said, getting up; "

up his

ght, gen

; "I see the doctor is sleep

umpf as we pass. He is down-stairs with the o

od night,

n't forget to call me if

. Lieverlé,

ssing the platform, I could hear th

to a deep slumber, where all night long I was wandering beside a radiant creature with a halo of golden hair a