Stories of Childhood

eir last piece of plate had the effect of sobering them just enough to enable them to stand over Gluck, beating him very steadily for a quarter of an hour; at the expiration of whi

gree of credence; the immediate consequence of which was, that the two brothers, after wrangling a long time on the knotty question which of them should try his fortu

taken before the magistrate, fined for breaking the peace, and, having drunk o

s the question. He went to the priest, but the priest could not give any holy water to so abandoned a character. So Hans went to vespe

g flask, and two bottles of wine and some meat in a basket, slung them over

he looked in at the windows, whom should he see but Schwartz

Hans; "have you any message fo

and advising him to make himself comfortable till he came back again, shouldered his basket, shook the bottl

t gradually ascending till they caught the sunlight, which ran in sharp touches of ruddy color along the angular crags, and pierced, in long level rays, through their fringes of spear-like pine. Far above, shot up red splintered masses of castellated rock, jagged and shivered into myria

rly in shadow; all but the uppermost jets of spray, which rose like slow smoke above the

e ice was excessively slippery, and out of all its chasms came wild sounds of gushing water; not monotonous or low, but changeful and loud, rising occasionally into drifting passages of wild melody, then breaking off into short, melancholy tones, or sudden shrieks, resembling those of human voices in distress or pain. The ice was broken into thousands of confused shapes, but none, Hans thought, like the ordinary forms of splintered ice. There seemed a curious expression about all their outlines,-a perpetual resemblance to living features, distorted and scornful. Myriads of deceitful shadows and lurid lights played and floated about and thro

eans of refreshing himself but by breaking off and eating some of the pieces of ice. This, however, relieved his thirst;

, and the rays beat intensely upon the steep path, while the whole atmosphere was motionless, and penetrated with heat. Intense thirst was soon added to the bodily fatigue with which

th from thirst. Its tongue was out, its jaws dry, its limbs extended lifelessly, and a swarm of black ants were crawling about its lips and throat. Its eye moved to the bottle which Hans hel

more than three drops in it. He stopped to open it, and again, as he did so, something moved in the path above him. It was a fair child, stretched nearly lifeless on the rock, its breast heaving with thirst, its eyes closed, and its lips parched and burning. Hans eyed it deliberately, drank, and passed on. And a dark gray cloud came over the sun, and long snake-like shadows crept

ed on the rocks. His eyes were sunk, his features deadly pale, and gathered into an expressi

d a flash of blue lightning rose out of the east, shaped like a sword; it shook thrice over the whole heaven, and le

hes of bloody light gleamed along their foam. Their sound came mightier and mightier on his senses; his brain grew giddy with the prolonged thunder. Shuddering, he drew the flask from his girdle, and hurled it into t

LACK