.
 
 GIFT OF 
 SEELEY W. MUBD 
 
 and 
 
 GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER 
 DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD 
 JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI 
 
 to the 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SOUTHERN BRANCH 
 
 JOHN FISKE
 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 PQ 
 2238 
 
 H87E5 
 
 The Count of 
 
 Nideck. 
 
 Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L I
 
 THE COUNT OF NIDECK
 
 " ' AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT 
 ON THE WINDOW-SILL.' "
 
 TttEfouNjoFMlDECK 
 
 ADAPTED CPMTHEpHENCH 
 
 OF 
 
 ERCKMANN : 
 
 BY 
 
 RALPH BROWNING pISKE 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 BY 
 
 VICTOR /\, 
 
 BOSTON 
 GE \ CO 
 
 INCORPORATED 
 
 ggNSKai 
 
 ssg^esjagga 
 
 86119
 
 Copyright, 1897 
 BY L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY 
 
 (INCORPORATED) 
 
 Colonial 
 
 C. H. Sirr.onds & Co., Boston, Mass.. U. S.
 
 ?Q 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE . 9 
 
 II. I MEET THE COUNTESS . . . 37 
 
 III. MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER, 69 
 
 IV. KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE NlDECKS, 93 
 
 V. I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE . . I2O 
 
 VI. THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS, 135 
 VII. MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER 
 
 EXPERIENCE . . . 160 
 
 VIII. SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE . 180 
 IX. THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 
 THE MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE 
 ALTENBERG . . . .200 
 X. I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE 
 
 NIGHT IN THE DWARF'S LODGE . 219
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XI. I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS'S 
 
 CHAMBER, AND MAKE A CONFESSION, 2 44 
 
 XII. WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. HER 
 
 DEATH 269 
 
 XIII. THE BARON'S STORY. HE DISAP- 
 
 PEARS. ..... 305 
 
 XIV. THE BOAR HUNT . . . .324 
 XV. THE BANQUET. THE DWARF EX- 
 PLAINS THE MYSTERY OF THE Nl- 
 DECK HOUSE . . . -351
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " AND THE COUNT WAS STANDING UPRIGHT 
 
 ON THE WINDOW-SILL" . .Frontispiece 
 
 " POINTING TO A DARK OBJECT CROUCHING 
 
 IN THE SNOW" . . . . -25 
 
 IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY . . . 115 
 
 " ' STAY ! ' HE HOWLED, ' I HAVE NOT CURSED 
 
 YOU YET ' ' . . . . .145 
 
 " ' YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE AL- 
 
 TENBERG' ' . . . . . 153 
 
 " THEN HE WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL 
 
 CRIES" 195 
 
 " I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND 
 STARED FEARFULLY IN THE DIREC- 
 TION " 203 
 
 " I STEPPED FORWARD, AND FOUND MYSELF 
 
 IN THE PRESENCE OF ODILE " . . 248 
 
 " ODILE DROPPED HER EYES" . . . 315 
 
 " I FELL UPON MY KNEE BEFORE THE BRUTE " 345
 
 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 
 
 HPOWARDS Christmas time, in the 
 year 1780, as I lay soundly sleep- 
 ing in my room at the Swan Tavern, 
 in Tubingen, old Gideon Sperver burst 
 suddenly into my room, crying, " Gas- 
 ton, my boy, I have come to take you 
 back with me to the Castle ! You know 
 Nideck, twenty miles from here, the 
 estate of my master, the Count of 
 Nideck!"
 
 IO THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 My failure to respond was perhaps 
 due to the fact that I had not seen my 
 worthy foster-father for twenty years, 
 that in this time he had grown a full 
 beard, and that now, in my half-aroused 
 condition, he appeared before me thus, 
 with a huge fur cap pulled down over 
 his ears, and holding an ill-smelling lan- 
 tern just under my nose. 
 
 "In the first place," I replied, "let's 
 take up things in their proper order. 
 Who are you ? " 
 
 " Who am I ? " repeated the good 
 fellow, with such genuine surprise and 
 distress in his tones that I felt a some- 
 what embarrassing sense of ingratitude. 
 " What ! Don't you remember your 
 foster-father, Gideon Sperver, the Gen- 
 eral's old ranger who saved your life as 
 a child, in the swamp of the Losser?"
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. I I 
 
 And his voice became so husky that he 
 stopped and cleared his throat. 
 
 " Ah, my dear Gideon, I know you 
 now, indeed ! Give me your hand ! " 
 We gripped each other's hands, and 
 Sperver, passing his sleeve across his 
 eyes, continued, " You know Nideck ? " 
 
 " Of course, by reputation. What are 
 you doing there?" 
 
 " I am the Count's steward." 
 
 "And how did you happen to come 
 hither?" 
 
 " The young Countess Odile sent me 
 to fetch you." 
 
 " Very good. When are we to start ? " 
 
 "At once. It is an urgent matter; 
 the old Count is very ill, and his daugh- 
 ter begged me to lose no time. The 
 horses are waiting for us below." 
 
 " But, my dear Gideon, just look at
 
 12 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the weather; it has been snowing for 
 three days ! " 
 
 " Pshaw ! We are not starting on a 
 boar hunt. Put on your fur coat, fasten 
 on your spurs, and we are off ! Mean- 
 while, I will order a bite for you to eat." 
 
 He disappeared, and, as I never could 
 refuse the chosen companion of my 
 childhood anything from my youngest 
 days, I hurriedly dressed myself, and 
 lost no time in following him into the 
 dining-room. 
 
 "Ah, I knew you would not let me 
 go back alone ! " he cried delightedly. 
 " Swallow down this slice of ham and 
 drink a stirrup-cup, for the horses are 
 growing impatient. I have strapped 
 your valise to the saddle." 
 
 "What is that for?" 
 
 "You will be needed for some days
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 13 
 
 at Nideck ; that is indispensable. I will 
 explain everything to you on the way." 
 
 We went down into the inn yard. At 
 that moment two horsemen arrived. 
 They seemed exhausted, and their 
 horses were white with lather. 
 
 Sperver, who was a great lover of 
 horses, exclaimed in surprise, " What 
 beautiful animals! They are Walla- 
 chians; fine and swift as deer. Come, 
 make haste and throw a blanket over 
 them, my lad," he continued, addressing 
 the hostler, " or they may take cold ! " 
 
 The travellers, enveloped in white 
 astrakhan greatcoats, passed close to us 
 just as we were putting foot in the stirrup. 
 I could only distinguish the long brown 
 moustache of one, and his dark eyes that 
 were singularly bright. They entered 
 the inn. The groom released our bri-
 
 14 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 dies and wished us a safe journey. We 
 set off at a gallop. 
 
 Sperver rode a pure Mecklenburg, 
 and I was mounted on a spirited horse of 
 Ardennes ; we fairly flew over the snow. 
 In ten minutes we had left the outskirts 
 of Tubingen behind us. It was begin- 
 ning to clear up. All trace of our road 
 had become obliterated by the consider- 
 able fall of snow. Our only companions 
 were the ravens of the Black Forest, 
 spreading their great hollow wings 
 above the drifts, lighting for an instant 
 here and there, and crying in discordant 
 notes, " Misery ! Misery ! Misery ! " 
 Gideon, buried in his coat of wild-cat 
 skin and fur cap, galloped on ahead. 
 Suddenly he turned in the saddle and 
 called, " Hey, Gaston ! This is what 
 they call a fine winter's morning."
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 15 
 
 " So it is ; but a bit severe." 
 
 " I like the clear cold weather ; it 
 makes you tingle. If old Parson Toby 
 had the courage to start out in such 
 weather, he would never feel his rheu- 
 matism again." 
 
 I smiled as well as my stiff cheeks 
 would let me. After an hour of this 
 furious pace Sperver slowed down and 
 let me catch up with him. " Gaston," 
 he said in a serious tone, "you ought 
 to know the circumstances of the mas- 
 ter's illness." 
 
 " I was just thinking of that." 
 
 " The more so, as a great number of 
 doctors have already visited the Count." 
 
 " Indeed." 
 
 " Yes ; they have come from Paris, 
 Berlin, and even Switzerland, and have 
 made a most careful study of their
 
 1 6 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 patient and employed all their skill, 
 but to no purpose." 
 
 As no answer seemed called for, I 
 remained silent, waiting for him to con- 
 tinue. 
 
 " The Count's disease is a terrible 
 affliction somewhat akin to madness. 
 It returns every year on the same day 
 and at the same hour; his eyes grow 
 red as fire, he shudders from head to 
 foot, and he mutters incoherently." 
 
 " The man has undoubtedly become 
 unbalanced through trouble and adver- 
 sity." 
 
 " No ! Not so ! He possesses power 
 and wealth and untold honors, every- 
 thing, in short, that other people most 
 desire ; but the most singular part of it 
 is that he fancies if his daughter would 
 only consent to marry, it would effect
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 17 
 
 his cure ; and she as strangely refuses 
 even to entertain the idea, maintaining 
 that she has consecrated her life to 
 God. The Count cannot bear to think 
 that the ancient race of Nideck must 
 perish with her." 
 
 " How did his illness first declare it- 
 self?" 
 
 " Suddenly, twelve years ago." 
 As he spoke my companion seemed 
 to be trying to recall something. " One 
 evening," he began, after a moment, " I 
 was alone with the Count in the armory 
 of the Castle. It was about Christmas 
 time. We had been hunting wild boar 
 all day in the gorges of the Rhethal, 
 and had returned at nightfall bringing 
 with us two poor hounds ripped open 
 the length of their bellies. It was just 
 such weather as this, cold and snowy.
 
 l8 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 The Count was striding up and down 
 the room, his head upon his breast and 
 his hands clasped behind his back, like 
 a man who is deep in thought. From 
 time to time he paused, and looked at 
 the high windows that were fast becom- 
 ing veiled in snow, while I sat in the 
 chimney-corner warming myself, think- 
 ing of my dogs, and silently cursing all 
 the wild boar of the Black Forest. For 
 fully two hours everybody in the Castle 
 had been asleep, and there was no sound 
 to break the silence, save the noise of 
 the Count's heavy spurred boots on the 
 flagstones. I distinctly recall how a 
 raven, doubtless borne along by a gust 
 of wind, came flapping against the panes 
 with a discordant cry, and how the sheets 
 of snow fell from the windows. The 
 casements on that side of the house
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 19 
 
 were suddenly changed from white to 
 black." 
 
 " Have these details any bearing on 
 your master's illness ? " 
 
 " Let me finish. You shall see for 
 yourself. At the raven's cry, the Count 
 suddenly halted ; his eyes became fixed, 
 his cheeks ashy pale, and he bent his 
 head forward like a hunter who hears 
 the game approaching. I went on 
 warming myself, thinking meanwhile. 
 ' Won't he go to bed soon ? ' For, to 
 tell the truth, I was dropping with fa- 
 tigue. I can see it all, Gaston ; I am 
 sitting there now ! Scarcely had the 
 raven uttered its harsh croak above the 
 abyss, when the old clock struck eleven. 
 At the same moment the Count turned 
 on his heel ; he listened ; his lips 
 moved ; I saw him totter like a drunken
 
 2O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 man. He stretched out his hands, his 
 teeth tightly clenched, and his eyeballs 
 shining like fire. ' My lord,' I cried, 
 ' what is the matter ? ' But he burst 
 into mad laughter, stumbled, and fell 
 upon the floor, face downwards. I 
 called for help immediately; the serv- 
 ants hurried to the room. Sebalt and 
 I raised the Count and moved him to 
 the bed near the window ; but just as I 
 was about to cut my master's cravat 
 with my hunting-knife, for I believed 
 it was a stroke of apoplexy, the 
 Countess Odile entered, and threw 
 herself upon the body of her father, 
 uttering such piteous cries that I trem- 
 ble yet when I think of it. From that 
 hour, Gaston, a pall has hung over the 
 Castle, and Heaven only knows when 
 it will be lifted. Every year, at the
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 21 
 
 same day and hour, the Count is seized 
 with these strange convulsions. The 
 attacks last from a week to a fortnight, 
 during which he howls and cries in a 
 most terrifying manner. Then he 
 slowly recovers. He is pale and weak, 
 and moves about steadying himself on 
 the chairs of his chamber, and turning 
 fearfully to look, at the slightest sound, 
 seemingly afraid of his own shadow. 
 The young Countess, the sweetest crea- 
 ture in the world, never leaves him ; but 
 he cannot bear the sight of her at these 
 times. ' Go ! Go ! ' he cries, stretching 
 out his arms before him. ' Leave me ! 
 Haven't I suffering enough as it is, 
 without your hated presence ? ' It is 
 abominable to hear him, and I, who am 
 always at his side in the chase, and 
 would readily risk my life to serve him,
 
 22 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I could throttle him at these moments, 
 when I witness his monstrous treatment 
 of his own daughter ! " 
 
 Sperver, whose swarthy face had as- 
 sumed a gloomy look, set spurs to his 
 horse, and we continued at a gallop. I 
 had become thoughtful. The cure of 
 such a malady seemed to me exceed- 
 ingly doubtful, if not indeed impossible. 
 It was evidently some moral disease. 
 In order successfully to combat it, it 
 would be necessary to trace it back 
 to its origin, and this origin was doubt- 
 less lost in the vagueness of the past. 
 These reflections tended to increase 
 my apprehension. The old steward's 
 story, far from inspiring me with con- 
 fidence, had depressed me, a doubtful 
 state of affairs to insure success. 
 
 It was about three o'clock when
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 23 
 
 we descried the ancient Castle of Ni- 
 deck on the furthest horizon. In spite 
 of the vast intervening distance, we 
 could distinguish the high turrets sus- 
 pended like baskets from the angles of 
 the edifice. It was as yet but a mere 
 outline, hardly distinguishable from the 
 blue sky ; almost imperceptibly the red 
 granite peaks of the Vosges appeared. 
 At that moment Sperver slowed up and 
 cried, " Gaston, we must get there be- 
 fore night shuts in. Forward ! " 
 
 But it was in vain that he plunged 
 his spurs into his horse. The animal 
 remained motionless, with his fore legs 
 planted firmly before him, his mane 
 bristling up with fear, and emitting 
 two streams of bluish vapor from his 
 nostrils. 
 
 " What does this mean ? " cried
 
 24 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Gideon, astonished. " Do you see 
 anything, Gaston ? Can there He 
 did not finish his sentence ; pointing 
 to a dark object crouching in the snow 
 at a distance of some fifty paces on the 
 hillside, he exclaimed, in a tone of such 
 distress that I was a good deal startled, 
 " The Black Plague ! " Following with 
 my glance the direction of his extended 
 arm, I was astonished to perceive an 
 aged woman, her legs bent up between 
 her clasped arms, and so ragged that 
 her red elbows protruded from the 
 sleeves of her dress, seated in the snow. 
 A few locks of gray hair fell in disorder 
 about her thin, red, vulture-like neck. 
 Singularly enough, a bundle of some 
 sort rested on her knees, and her hag- 
 gard eyes wandered over the snowy 
 plain. Sperver had gone far to the
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 2J 
 
 right and kept as far as possible out 
 of the old creature's way. I had some 
 trouble in overtaking him. 
 
 " What the deuce is the meaning of 
 all this ? Are you joking ? " I cried. 
 
 " Joking ! God forbid that I should 
 jest about such matters. I am not su- 
 perstitious, but this meeting with the 
 old witch frightens me." Then, turn- 
 ing his head and seeing that the old 
 creature had not stirred, and that her 
 eyes were still fixed on the plain before 
 her, he seemed somewhat reassured. 
 
 " Gaston," he said solemnly, " you are 
 a man of learning, and are acquainted 
 with many subjects of which I know 
 nothing, but believe me, a man is wrong 
 to laugh at things he cannot understand. 
 It is not without reason that I call this 
 woman the Black Plague. Through-
 
 28 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 out the Black Forest she is known by 
 that name, but here at Nideck she has 
 won a special right to it." 
 
 My companion rode on for a few 
 minutes without speaking. " Come, 
 Sperver, explain yourself more clearly ! 
 I confess I don't understand you in 
 the least." 
 
 " The hag that you saw down there 
 is the cause of all our misfortunes. It 
 is she who is slowly killing the Count." 
 
 " How is that possible ? How can 
 she exercise such an influence ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell you. But one thing 
 is certain : on the first day of the 
 Count's attack, at the very moment 
 even, you have only to climb up to the 
 signal-tower and you will see the Black 
 Plague crouching like a dark speck in 
 the long stretch of snow between the
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 29 
 
 Tubingen Forest and the Castle of 
 Nideck. Every day she comes a little 
 nearer, and at her approach, the Count's 
 attacks grow worse ; sometimes when 
 the trembling fits come upon him, he 
 says to me, ' Gideon, she is coming.' 
 I hold his arms and try to quiet him, 
 but he keeps muttering with staring 
 eyes, ' She is coming ! Oh, oh ! She is 
 coming ! ' Then I climb the tower and 
 survey the landscape. You know I 
 have a keen eye, Gideon. At last, amid 
 the distant mists, between sky and earth, 
 I distinguish a black speck. The next 
 morning the speck has grown larger; 
 the Count starts up in his bed with 
 chattering teeth. On the second day 
 we can see the old creature distinctly, 
 almost within rifle-shot on the plain ; 
 and then it is that the Count's jaws
 
 3<D THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 become set like a vice, his eyes roll 
 in his head, and he utters terrible cries. 
 Ah, the cursed witch ! A score of times 
 I have brought my carbine to bear on 
 her, but the poor Count has prevented 
 me from drawing the trigger, crying, 
 ' No, Sperver ; shed no blood ! ' Poor 
 man ! He is sparing the creature who 
 is killing him by inches ; he is nothing 
 but skin and bones." 
 
 My good friend Gideon was too 
 much taken up with the vision of the 
 hag to be brought back to calm reason. 
 Moreover, who can define the exact lim- 
 its of the possible? Dj we not each 
 day see the realm of reality extend 
 itself more widely? These hidden 
 influences, these unseen bonds, this 
 world of magnetism that some pro- 
 claim with all the ardor of the fanatic,
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 31 
 
 and others deny with scorn and ridi- 
 cule, who can say that all these 
 forces will not some day revolutionize 
 our universe ? It is easy to arrogate 
 to yourself a claim to superior knowl- 
 edge in the face of such general igno- 
 rance. I confined myself, therefore, to 
 begging Sperver to moderate his anger, 
 and beyond all things not to fire upon 
 the Black Plague, warning him that it 
 would very probably bring grave mis- 
 fortune upon himself. 
 
 "Bah! I will risk all that!" he 
 exclaimed ; " the worst they could do 
 would be to hang me." 
 
 " But that would be a good deal for 
 an honest man to suffer." 
 
 " As well die one way as another. 
 In this case, you are suffocated, that's 
 all. I would as lief die that way as
 
 32 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 to receive a blow on my head, or a 
 stroke of apoplexy, or give up smoking, 
 drinking, and a good digestion." 
 
 " My dear Gideon, that sounds odd, 
 coming from a graybeard." 
 
 " Graybeard or not, that is the way 
 I look at it. I always keep a bullet 
 in my rifle at the service of the witch ; 
 from time to time, I renew the priming, 
 and if ever the occasion offers " He 
 finished his sentence by an expressive 
 gesture. 
 
 " You are wrong, Sperver ! I am of 
 the same opinion as the Count : ' no 
 bloodshed.' Reconsider, and discharge 
 your piece against the first wild boar 
 you happen upon." 
 
 These words seemed to have some 
 effect upon the old huntsman ; he 
 dropped his chin on his breast, and
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 33 
 
 his face assumed a thoughtful expres- 
 sion. 
 
 By this time, we were climbing the 
 wooded slopes which separate the 
 squalid hamlet of Tiefenbach from 
 the Castle of Nideck. Night had over- 
 taken us, and as it often happens after 
 a clear, cold day in winter, the snow 
 was beginning to fall again, and large 
 flakes fell and melted on our horses' 
 manes. The animals whinnied and in- 
 creased their pace, cheered doubtless 
 by the prospect of a warm shelter. 
 Every now and then, Sperver turned 
 and looked behind him with evident 
 anxiety, and I was not free from a 
 certain indefinable apprehension as I 
 reflected upon the strange account of 
 his master's malady which the steward 
 had given me. Besides, man's spirit
 
 34 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 harmonizes itself with its surroundings, 
 and, for my part, I know of nothing 
 more melancholy than a forest cov- 
 ered with snow and hoar frost, and 
 stirred by a moaning wind ; the trees 
 have a sombre, icy look that chills you 
 to the heart. 
 
 As we climbed the slope, the oak- 
 trees became fewer, and the birches, 
 straight and white as marble columns, 
 stretched one beyond another, far out 
 to the horizon line intersecting the dark 
 arches of the larch-trees. Suddenly, as 
 we emerged from a thicket, the ancient 
 fortress reared up before us, its dark 
 extent sprinkled with points of light. 
 Sperver had pulled up before a funnel- 
 shaped gateway, cut deep in the rock 
 between two towers, and barred by an 
 iron grating.
 
 SUMMONS TO THE CASTLE. 35 
 
 " Here we are ! " he cried, leaning 
 over the horse's head and seizing the 
 deer's-foot bell-handle. The clear tinkle 
 of a bell sounded in the interior. 
 
 After a few minutes of waiting, a lan- 
 tern appeared at the end of the arch- 
 way, dispersing the gloom, and showing 
 us within its circle of light a little dwarf 
 with a yellow beard and broad shoul- 
 ders, enveloped in furs from head to foot. 
 He came slowly towards us and pressed 
 his great flat face against the grating, 
 straining his eyes to make us out in 
 the darkness. 
 
 " Is that you, Sperver ? " he asked in 
 a harsh voice. 
 
 " Yes. Open the door, Knapwurst ! " 
 cried the huntsman. " Don't you know 
 how devilish cold it is ? " 
 
 " Ah, I know you now," replied the
 
 36 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 little fellow ; " it is you indeed ! You 
 always speak as though you would swal- 
 low people whole." 
 
 The door opened, and the gnome, 
 raising his lantern towards me with an 
 odd grimace, greeted me with, " Wel- 
 come, Monsieur Doctor," but in a tone 
 as much as to say, " Here is another 
 one who will go the way of the rest." 
 Then he quietly closed the door, while 
 we dismounted, and this done, he came 
 to take our horses by the bridle.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 
 
 "POLLOWING Sperver, who climbed 
 the staircase at a rapid pace, I was 
 able to convince myself that the Castle 
 of Nideck merited its reputation. It 
 was a true stronghold, cut out of the 
 rock ; a relic of feudal times. Its high, 
 deep archways reechoed the sound of 
 our steps, and the wind blowing through 
 the loopholes caused the flame of the 
 torches which were fastened at intervals 
 along the wall to flare and flicker and 
 send our giant shadows dancing along 
 the corridor. Sperver knew every nook 
 and cranny of this vast place ; he turned 
 
 86119
 
 38 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 many times to right and left, and I fol- 
 lowed him, out of breath. At last he 
 stopped on a large landing, and said to 
 me: 
 
 " I will leave you with the people of 
 the Castle for a moment, Gaston, while 
 I go to inform the young Countess 
 Odile of your arrival." 
 
 " Very good ; do whatever you think 
 suitable." 
 
 " You will find among the domestics, 
 our majordomo, Tobias Offenloch, an 
 old soldier of the regiment of Nideck. 
 In former days he made a campaign in 
 Germany under the Count." 
 
 " A good fellow, no doubt." 
 
 " You will also see his wife, a French- 
 woman, named Marie Lagoutte, who 
 pretends to come of good family." 
 
 " And why not ? "
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 39 
 
 " To ue sure ; only, between our- 
 selves, she was nothing but a canteen- 
 woman of Soubise's army. One day 
 she brought us in Tobias Offenloch on 
 her cart, minus one leg, and the poor 
 fellow married her out of gratitude; 
 you understand." 
 
 " Precisely ; but open the door, I am 
 freezing ! " I tried to push past him, 
 but Sperver, obstinate, like all good 
 Germans, was bound to enlighten me 
 as to the people into whose presence I 
 was about to enter, and seizing me by 
 the frogs of my greatcoat, he continued : 
 
 "Then there is Sebalt Kraft, the 
 master of the hounds, a sad sort of 
 chap, but without an equal in sound- 
 ing the horn ; Karl Trumpf, the butler ; 
 Christian Becker, and all our people, if 
 they haven't all gone to bed."
 
 4O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Thereupon Sperver pushed open the 
 door, and I stood surprised on the thresh- 
 old of a high, dark hall, the former guard- 
 room of Nideck. I took in at a glance 
 the three windows at the further end 
 of the room, that dominated the preci- 
 pice ; on the right a sort of sideboard 
 of old oak, browned by age, and on it 
 a small cask, glasses, and bottles; on 
 the left a Gothic chimney with a broad 
 mantel-shelf empurpled by the blazing 
 fire underneath, and ornamented in front 
 and on the sides by carvings represent- 
 ing the various scenes of a boar hunt in 
 the Middle Ages; and finally, in the 
 centre of the room, a long table upon 
 which stood a huge lamp, its light re- 
 flected by a dozen mugs with pewter lids. 
 
 All this I saw at a glance, but it 
 was the people that interested me most.
 
 I MEET THE. COUNTESS. 4! 
 
 I recognized at once the majordomo 
 with his wooden leg; a small, square, 
 thickset man, with a ruddy face, and 
 prominent waistband, and a nose of 
 marvellous brilliancy. He wore an 
 enormous hemp-colored wig, with a 
 long pigtail, a coat of apple-green plush 
 with steel buttons as large as a five- 
 franc piece, velvet breeches, blue silk 
 stockings, and shoes with silver buckles. 
 He was about to turn the spigot of 
 the cask; an air of inexpressible satis- 
 faction beamed upon his rubicund face, 
 and his eyes, starting slightly from his 
 head, glowed in profile like a pair of 
 watch glasses. His wife, the worthy 
 Marie Lagoutte, dressed in a gown of 
 woolen stuff with a large flowered pat- 
 tern, and her thin face the color of a 
 withered apple, was playing cards with
 
 42 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 two servants, all three seated in straight- 
 backed armchairs. Some small split 
 pegs pinched the olfactory organ of 
 the old woman and that of another 
 player, while the third was winking 
 slyly and seemed to enjoy seeing his 
 opponents subjugated beneath this new 
 variety of Caudine Forks. 
 
 " How many cards ? " he was asking 
 them. 
 
 " Two," replied the old woman. 
 
 "And you, Christian?" 
 
 " Two." 
 
 "Ah, ha! I've got you! Cut the 
 king ; now the ace. Ha, ha, ha ! An- 
 other peg, mother; this will teach you 
 once more to boast to us of your French 
 games ! " 
 
 " Master Christian, you don't treat 
 the fair sex with due respect."
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 43 
 
 " When we play cards, we respect 
 nobody." 
 
 " But you see, I have no room for 
 any more." 
 
 " Pshaw ! with a nose like yours, 
 there's always room enough." 
 
 At this moment Sperver cried, " Here 
 I am, comrades ! " 
 
 " Ha, Gideon ! back so soon ? " 
 
 Marie Lagoutte made haste to shake 
 off her numerous pegs with a motion of 
 her head ; the big majordomo emptied his 
 glass, and everybody turned to look at us. 
 
 " Is the Count better ? " 
 
 " Hum ! " exclaimed the majordomo, 
 drawing down his under-lip. 
 
 " Is his condition unchanged ? " 
 
 " Just about," answered Marie La- 
 goutte, who never took her eyes off 
 me. Sperver noticed this.
 
 44 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Let me present to you my foster- 
 son, Monsieur de la Roche, from Tu- 
 bingen," he said proudly. " Things 
 will change now in the Castle, Master 
 Tobie ; now that Gaston has come, this 
 cursed malady will be put to flight. If 
 we could only have found him out 
 sooner! However, better late than 
 never." 
 
 Marie Lagoutte was still watching 
 me, and the examination seemed to 
 satisfy her, for, turning to the major- 
 domo, " Come, come, Monsieur Offen- 
 loch ! Stir yourself," she said ; " offer 
 monsieur the doctor a chair ! You sit 
 there with your mouth open like a great 
 carp ! " 
 
 With these words, the good woman 
 sprang up as though moved by a spring, 
 and came to help me off with my great- 
 coat.
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 45 
 
 " Permit me, monsieur." 
 
 " You are very good, my dear woman." 
 
 " Hand it to me, monsieur. Such 
 weather ! Ah, monsieur, what a country 
 this is!" 
 
 " So our master is neither better nor 
 worse," continued Sperver, shaking the 
 snow from his cap. " We are here in 
 time. Ho! Kasper! Kasper!" 
 
 A little man with a drooping shoul- 
 der, indicating a partial paralysis of his 
 frame, and a face liberally sprinkled 
 with freckles, came out of the chimney- 
 corner. 
 
 " Here I am." 
 
 " Good ! You must prepare for the 
 doctor the chamber at the end of the 
 long gallery, Hugh's chamber. You 
 know which one." 
 
 "Yes, Sperver. I will see to it at 
 once."
 
 46 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " One moment ! You will take the 
 doctor's valise with you as you go. 
 Knapwurst will give it to you. As to 
 supper " 
 
 " Never fear ; I will take care of all 
 that." 
 
 " Very good." 
 
 The little man went out, and Gideon, 
 after throwing off his cape, left us to go 
 and inform the young Countess of my 
 arrival. I was somewhat embarrassed 
 by the attentions of Marie Lagoutte. 
 
 "Come, up with you, Sebalt!" she 
 said to the master of the hounds ; " you 
 ought to be sufficiently roasted by this 
 time, sprawling there since morning. 
 Sit down by the fire, monsieur doctor ; 
 your feet must be cold. Stretch out 
 your legs ; that's the way." Then, after 
 a minute : " You have come just in time ;
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 47 
 
 our master had his second attack yes- 
 terday, and it was a terrible one ; hey, 
 Master Offenloch?" 
 
 " Terrible is just the word," replied 
 the majordomo gravely. 
 
 " Nor is it to be wondered at, when a 
 man takes no nourishment; and he eats 
 nothing, monsieur. Fancy, it is two 
 days since he has taken so much as a 
 bowl of broth." 
 
 "Or a glass of wine," added Tobie, 
 crossing his fat hands on his comfort- 
 able waistband. 
 
 I felt it incumbent upon me to ex- 
 press some surprise, so I shook my 
 head ; whereupon the majordomo came 
 over and sat down on my right, saying, 
 " Take my advice, doctor, and prescribe 
 a bottle of Marcobrunner every day." 
 
 " And a chicken wing at each meal,"
 
 48 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 added Marie Lagoutte ; " the poor man 
 is as thin as a ghost." 
 
 " We have some Marcobrunner sixty 
 years old, and Johannisberg of the year 
 '14; for Villars's fellows didn't drink it 
 all, as Madame Offenloch would have it. 
 You might prescribe now and then a 
 glass of Johannisberg ; there is nothing 
 like it to set a man on his feet." 
 
 " There was a time," said the master 
 of the hounds in a melancholy tone, 
 " there was a time when our master 
 went on the hunt twice a week, and he 
 was well ; now that he has stopped, he is 
 ill." 
 
 " That is reasonable enough," ob- 
 served Marie Lagoutte ; " the fresh air 
 gave him an appetite. The doctor should 
 order him three hunts a week to make 
 up for lost time,"
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 49 
 
 " Two would do," replied the master 
 of the hounds dismally ; " two would do. 
 The dogs must have some time to rest. 
 They must be considered as well as we." 
 
 A few moments of silence succeeded, 
 during which I could hear the wind rat- 
 tling the windows and whistling boister- 
 ously through the loopholes and along 
 the empty halls. Sebalt had crossed 
 his legs, and with his elbow on his knee 
 supporting his chin, he gazed into the 
 fire with unspeakable gloominess. Ma- 
 rie Lagoutte refreshed herself with a 
 pinch of snuff, and I was reflecting on 
 that strange infirmity that leads us to 
 press our advice on others, whether 
 they desire it or not, when the major- 
 domo rose, and leaning over the back 
 of my chair, said : 
 
 " Will you have a glass of wine, doc- 
 tor?"
 
 5O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Thank you, but I never drink be- 
 fore visiting a patient." 
 
 " What, not even one small glass ? " 
 
 " Not even a tiny glass." 
 
 He opened his eyes very wide, and 
 looked with astonishment at his wife. 
 
 " Monsieur the doctor is right," she 
 said ; " I am of his opinion ; I prefer 
 to drink with my meals and take a 
 glass of cognac afterwards. In my 
 country, the women drink cognac ; it is 
 more genteel than kirschwasser." 
 
 Marie Lagoutte had hardly finished 
 this explanation, when Sperver opened 
 the door part way, and motioned me to 
 follow him. I nodded a farewell to the 
 worthy company, and as I stepped into 
 the passage, I heard Tobie's wife saying 
 to him, " He is a nice-looking young 
 man. He would have made a fine sol-
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 51 
 
 dier ! " Sperver looked uneasy ; he 
 said nothing. I too was thoughtful. 
 
 A few steps beneath the shadowy 
 arches of the Castle served completely 
 to efface from my mind the gro- 
 tesque figures of Tobie and Marie La- 
 goutte, poor, inoffensive creatures, 
 living like bats under the vulture's pow- 
 erful wing. Soon Gideon threw "open 
 the door of a sumptuous apartment, 
 hung with violet-colored velvet worked 
 in gold. A bronze lamp, resting on a 
 corner of the mantelpiece, and covered 
 with a globe of ground crystal, vaguely 
 lighted up the room. Thick rugs dead- 
 ened the sound of our footsteps. It 
 seemed like a refuge consecrated to 
 silence and meditation. 
 
 On entering, Sperver lifted the heavy 
 draperies that concealed a turret win-
 
 52 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 dow. I saw him gaze earnestly into 
 the plain beneath, and I divined his 
 thoughts ; he was looking to see if the 
 witch were still there, crouching in the 
 snow, but he could see nothing, for 
 the night was dark. As I moved for- 
 ward into the room, I made out, by the 
 pale rays of the lamp, a young woman 
 of girlish figure seated in an armchair, 
 her forehead resting in her hand, and 
 her whole attitude one of patient but 
 despairing sorrow. Her back was 
 slightly turned towards us, and for 
 this reason I could not at first see her 
 face. 
 
 But at the rustle of pur entrance 
 she rose quickly, and exhibited to my 
 gaze the most beautiful presence I had 
 ever beheld. The tall, stately figure, 
 the ideal formation of the features, the
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 53 
 
 glory of golden hair that fell about the 
 fair, white neck, the deep, lustrous eyes 
 that bespoke a soul as pure and beauti- 
 ful as the scenes among which it flour- 
 ished, everything about the young 
 mistress of the Castle proclaimed her 
 to be of that noble type which we meet 
 with but once, if at all, in a lifetime. 
 Just what my feelings were at sight of 
 this beautiful young woman I know 
 not, but certain it is that they were of a 
 nature hitherto unknown to me, and I 
 felt a strange sense of harmony and 
 contentment within me as my glance 
 continued to rest upon her. 
 
 After a moment the Countess ad- 
 vanced, and said simply, " You are 
 welcome, monsieur;" then, motioning 
 towards the alcove where the Count 
 lay, she added, " There is my father."
 
 54 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I bowed low, and without reply, 
 such was my agitation, I approached 
 the couch of the sick man. Sperver, 
 standing at the head of the bed, held 
 the lamp in his raised hand, and the 
 light, softened by the crystal globe, fell 
 palely upon the face of the Count. Odile 
 remained near me, waiting anxiously for 
 my first word. 
 
 At the first glance I was struck with 
 the strange physiognomy of the Lord 
 of Nideck, and in contrast to the admi- 
 ration that his daughter had inspired 
 within me, my first thought was, " He 
 is an old wolf ! " And in truth, his head 
 bristling with gray hair and swelling 
 behind the ears ; his long, pointed face 
 and receding forehead ; his narrow eyes 
 and shaggy eyebrows that met in a point 
 over the bridge of his nose, imperfectly
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 55 
 
 shading the dull, cold eye beneath ; his 
 short, stiff beard, spreading unevenly 
 over his bony jaws, in short, every- 
 thing about the man made me shudder, 
 and brought involuntarily to my mind 
 the oft-alleged affinities between man 
 and the brute creation. 
 
 I mastered my repugnance, and raised 
 the arm of the sick man. It was wasted 
 and tremulous, the hand small and wiry. 
 The pulse was rapid, fluttering and fever- 
 ish, indicating intense nervous excite- 
 ment. What was I to do ? I considered. 
 On one side stood the young Countess, 
 anxiously awaiting an expression of my 
 opinion ; on the other, Sperver, trying 
 to read my thoughts and following at- 
 tentively my slightest movement. A 
 painful restraint was thus imposed upon 
 me.
 
 56 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 However, I saw that no decided 
 step could be undertaken as yet. I 
 dropped the arm, and listened to the 
 breathing. From time to time, some- 
 thing like a sob escaped the sick man's 
 breast; then the respiration became 
 normal again; then faster, and finally, 
 labored. Some sort of nightmare op- 
 pressed him. But the cause! this I 
 must determine first, and I must con- 
 fess it seemed hopeless enough. I turned 
 round, sorely perplexed. 
 
 " Is there any hope, monsieur ? " asked 
 the young woman. 
 
 " Yesterday's crisis is drawing to a 
 close, mademoiselle. We must seek to 
 ward off the next attack." 
 
 " Is that a possible thing ? " 
 
 I was about to reply in some scientific 
 generalities, not daring to commit my-
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 57 
 
 self, when the distant sound of the Castle 
 bell fell upon our ears. 
 
 "Strangers," said Sperver. 
 
 There was a moment of silence. 
 
 " Go and see who it is," said Odile, 
 whose brow was shadowed with anxiety. 
 " How can we be hospitable at such 
 times ? It is impossible." 
 
 Just then the door opened, and a 
 yellow head and rosy cheeks appeared 
 in the shadow, whispering, " The Baron 
 Zimmer, accompanied by his servant, 
 asks for shelter in the Castle. He has 
 lost his way in the mountains." 
 
 "Very well, Gretchen," replied the 
 Countess quietly; "go and tell Offen- 
 loch to attend to the wants of the stran- 
 gers. Tell him to inform the Baron 
 Zimmer that the Count is very ill, and 
 that this alone prevents him from doing
 
 58 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the honors of the house in person. Wake 
 up our people, and see that he is prop- 
 erly waited on and that everything is 
 suitably done." 
 
 It would be difficult to describe the 
 well-born simplicity with which the 
 young mistress of the Castle gave her 
 orders, and I reflected that if an air of 
 nobility seems inherent in some fami- 
 lies, it is certainly because the discharge 
 of hospitable and charitable duties 
 tends to elevate the character and en- 
 noble the soul. 
 
 All this passed through my mind 
 while I was admiring the gentle glance, 
 the distinguished carriage, and the ex- 
 quisitely cut features of Odile of Ni- 
 deck, that purity of outline only 
 to be met with in the realms of aris- 
 tocracy, and I tried in vain to recall
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 59 
 
 anything comparable to her in my 
 recollection. 
 
 " Make haste, Gretchen ! Don't keep 
 the travellers waiting," said the young 
 Countess. 
 
 " Yes, madame." 
 
 The servant departed, and I stood 
 for a few moments unable to dispel the 
 charm of my meditations. Odile turned 
 and addressed me. 
 
 " You see, monsieur," she said with 
 a sad smile, "we are not allowed to 
 indulge our grief ; we must ever divide 
 ourselves between our feelings and the 
 claims that others have upon us." 
 
 " That is too true, mademoiselle," I 
 replied ; " souls of the higher sort seem 
 purposed to serve as a guide and prom- 
 ise to us weaker ones : the traveller 
 who has lost his path, the sick man,
 
 6O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 and the starving pauper, each has a 
 claim upon them, for God has created 
 them like the stars above us, for the 
 happiness of all." 
 
 Odile lowered her deep-fringed eye- 
 lids, while Sperver pressed my hand. 
 
 After a moment, the Countess con- 
 tinued : 
 
 " Ah, monsieur, if you could only 
 save my father ! " 
 
 " As I have had the pleasure of tell- 
 ing you before, mademoiselle, yester- 
 day's crisis is past; we must now 
 endeavor to prevent its recurrence." 
 
 " Do you believe that this can be 
 done ? " 
 
 " With God's help, mademoiselle, it 
 is not impossible. I must give the mat- 
 ter the most careful thought." 
 
 Odile, much agitated, moved with me
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 6 1 
 
 to the door, and as I bowed myself out 
 of the chamber, I fancied that I de- 
 tected in her lovely face an expression 
 of increased hope. Sperver and I 
 crossed the antechamber, where a few 
 servants were standing awaiting the or- 
 ders of their mistress. We had just 
 entered the corridor, when Gideon, who 
 led the way, turned abruptly round, and 
 resting his hands on my shoulders, 
 said: 
 
 " Gaston, I am a man to be trusted ; 
 what is your opinion of the case ? " 
 
 " There is nothing to be feared to- 
 night" 
 
 " I know that ; you said as much to 
 the Countess. But to-morrow ? " 
 
 " To-morrow ? " 
 
 " Yes. Don't turn your head. I sup- 
 pose you can't prevent a recurrence of
 
 62 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the attack, but, frankly, do you think he 
 will die of it ? " 
 
 " He may, but I don't anticipate it." 
 " Ah," cried the good fellow joyfully ; 
 " that means you are sure he won't ! " 
 
 Thrusting his arm through mine, he 
 pulled me into the gallery. We had 
 hardly set foot in it when the Baron 
 Zimmer and his groom appeared, pre- 
 ceded by Sebalt, who carried a flaming 
 torch in his hand. They were on their 
 way to their chambers, and these two 
 figures, with their cloaks flung over 
 their shoulders, their knee-boots of soft 
 Hungarian leather, their waists tightly 
 buttoned in, their long green tunics or- 
 namented with frogs and twisted fringes 
 of silk and gold, their bearskin caps 
 drawn down over their ears, and their 
 long hunting-knives stuck in their belts,
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 63 
 
 looked strangely picturesque in the 
 white light of the dripping pine torch. 
 
 " By Jove ! " exclaimed Sperver, " if I 
 am not greatly mistaken, those are our 
 Tubingen friends. They were close at 
 our heels, you see." 
 
 " You are right ; they are the same 
 people ! I remember the younger one 
 by his slim figure ; he has the profile 
 of an eagle, and wears his mustache 
 like the astrologer-general Wallenstein." 
 
 They disappeared beneath a side tri- 
 forium. 
 
 Gideon took a torch from the wall, 
 and guided me through a labyrinth of 
 corridors, passageways, and high, low, 
 turret-shaped, and winding entries. I 
 thought he would never have done. 
 
 " Here is the hall of the Margraves," 
 he said ; " and this is the portrait gal-
 
 64 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 lery. There is the chapel, where no 
 mass has been said since Louis the 
 Bald became a Protestant. Next comes 
 the armory." 
 
 These facts possessed but little in- 
 terest for me. After having reached 
 the end of the gallery, we had to de- 
 scend a staircase that seemed inter- 
 minable ; at last, thank Heaven ! we 
 halted before a low, massive door. 
 Sperver drew an enormous key from 
 his pocket, and handing me the torch, 
 said, " Mind the light ; be careful ! " 
 
 At the same time, he pushed open 
 the door, and the cold outside air rushed 
 into the passageway. The flame leaped 
 back and sent a shower of sparks in all 
 directions. I fancied myself standing 
 on the edge of an abyss, and I re- 
 coiled instinctively.
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 65 
 
 " Ha, Ha ! " laughed the steward, his 
 mouth parted in a broad grin, " any one 
 would think you were afraid, Gaston. 
 Come on! We are now in the little 
 court that leads from the Castle to the 
 old tower." 
 
 The good fellow moved on by way 
 of example. The snow lay deep in 
 this courtyard, and the wind swept it 
 with terrific gusts. Had any one seen 
 our flaring torch upon the plain, he 
 would have asked himself, " What are 
 they doing up there in the clouds ? 
 Why are they prowling about at this 
 time of night ? " 
 
 " Perhaps the old witch is looking 
 up at us," I thought, and the idea made 
 me shudder. I drew closer the folds of 
 my cloak, and holding my hat on with 
 the other hand, I ran after Sperver, who
 
 66 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 held his light above his head to show 
 me the path, and moved along with 
 rapid strides. 
 
 We rushed into the tower, and then 
 into Hugh's Chamber, where a bright 
 fire greeted us with cheerful crack- 
 lings. How grateful it was to be shel- 
 tered by the thick walls ! I had stopped 
 while Sperver closed the door, and con- 
 templating this ancient abode, I cried, 
 " Thank God, we shall have a moment 
 to rest now ! " 
 
 " And before an excellent table," added 
 Gideon. "Just look at that, the leg 
 of a kid, two roasted pheasants, a blue- 
 backed pike, his mouth stuffed with 
 parsley; cold meats and hot wines is 
 what I like. I have no fault to find 
 with Kasper ; he has carried out my 
 orders to the letter ! "
 
 I MEET THE COUNTESS. 67 
 
 Gideon spoke truly, "cold meats 
 and hot wines ; " for before the fire stood 
 a generous array of bottles, being sub- 
 mitted to the gentle influence of the 
 heat. The sight of this repast served 
 to whet my already considerable appe- 
 tite; but Sperver, who understood the 
 art of being comfortable, said to me : 
 
 " Don't be in too great a hurry, 
 Gaston ! Let's take things easily ! We 
 have time enough ; the pheasants won't 
 fly away, and as for the pike, I'll war- 
 rant he cares no more about swim- 
 ming. In the first place, having been 
 eight hours in the saddle, your boots 
 must hurt you, so off with them. Sit 
 down there and put your boot between 
 my knees. I've got that one; let's 
 have the other. There you are. Now 
 put your feet in these slippers, take off
 
 68 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 your cloak, and throw this dressing- 
 gown over you. Now you'll do ! " 
 
 Having gone through a similar course 
 of preparation, he cried in a hearty 
 tone: 
 
 " Now, Gaston, fall to ! You do your 
 share and I'll do mine, and remember 
 well the German proverb : ' If Beelze- 
 bub created thirst, surely the Lord 
 made wine to quench it.' "
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MY FIRST NIGHT IN HUGH'S TOWER. 
 
 A "Jl 7E ate with the ravenous appetite 
 which a ten hours' ride through 
 the snows of the Black Forest would be 
 likely to impart. Sperver attacked, in 
 turn, the 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 his chair and seizing the first 
 bottle that came under his hand, he 
 added, " And for the hillsides, green in 
 spring and purple in autumn. Your 
 health, Gaston ! " 
 " Yours, Gideon 1 "
 
 7O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 The fire crackled, the forks jingled, 
 the bottles gurgled, and the glasses 
 clinked, while outside the wind of the 
 winter night, the blast from the snow- 
 bound mountains, sang its unearthly 
 hymn, the hymn that it sings when 
 storm-driven, fantastic cloud-shapes rush 
 across the sky and obscure from moment 
 to moment the pale face of the moon. 
 
 We continued our grateful meal. 
 Sperver filled the " wieder komm " with 
 old Brumberg wine, whose sparkling 
 froth bordered its generous edges, and, 
 handing it to me, he cried, " Here's to 
 the recovery of Hermann of Nideck, 
 my noble master! Drink to the last 
 drop, Gaston, that your prayer may be 
 heard." 
 
 This was done; then, refilling the 
 bowl, he drained it in his turn.
 
 IN HUGHS TOWER. 71 
 
 A sense of satisfaction took posses- 
 sion of us. We felt at peace with all 
 the world. I sprawled out in my chair 
 with my head thrown back and my 
 arms hanging down, and began to study 
 my apartment. It was a low, arched 
 chamber cut out of the live rock, shaped 
 like an oval, and measuring in the high- 
 est 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 covered, as nearly as I could 
 make out, with a bearskin robe. Still 
 further back was another and smaller 
 niche, with a statue of the Virgin cut 
 out of the same piece of granite and 
 crowned with a bunch of withered grass. 
 
 " You are studying your chamber," 
 said Sperver ; " it is not as large nor as 
 luxurious as the rooms of the Castle.
 
 72 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 We are now in Hugh's Tower, and it 
 is as old as the mountain itself. It 
 dates back to the time of Charlemagne. 
 In those days the people didn't under- 
 stand the art of building lofty, spacious 
 dwellings ; they cut right into the solid 
 rock." 
 
 " That served the purpose as well ; 
 but it is an odd corner that you have 
 stuck me in, Gideon." 
 
 " Don't be deceived on that point, 
 Gaston ; it is the place of honor. When- 
 ever the Count's particular friends come 
 to visit him, they are put in here. 
 Hugh's Tower is the most honorable 
 accommodation of all." 
 
 " By the way, who was this Hugh ? " 
 
 "Why, Hugh the Wolf!" 
 
 " What ! " I exclaimed in astonish- 
 ment.
 
 IN HUGH S TOWER. 73 
 
 " Certainly ; the founder of the family 
 of Nideck ; a rough customer, they say. 
 He came and settled down here with a 
 score of horsemen and archers. They 
 scaled the highest rock on the moun- 
 tain, you will see it to-morrow, and 
 built this tower. ' We are the masters,' 
 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, the Steinbach, and the 
 Roche Plate, and the entire line of 
 the Black Forest. Let the merchants 
 beware.' And the bold fellows carried 
 out their threats under the leadership 
 of Hugh the Wolf. Knapwurst told me 
 all about it when we were sitting up the 
 other night."
 
 74 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Knapwurst ? " 
 
 " You know ; the little dwarf who 
 opened the gate to us; a droll chap, 
 Gaston, who is always to be found in 
 the library bent over a book." 
 
 " So you have a scholar at Nideck." 
 
 " Yes, the rascal ! Instead of staying 
 in his lodge, where he belongs, he 
 spends the whole blessed day shaking 
 the dust from old family parchments. 
 He moves about among the shelves like 
 a cat, and he knows our history better 
 than we do ourselves. He would like 
 nothing better than to tell you his sto- 
 ries ; he calls them chronicles. Ha, 
 ha, ha!" 
 
 Hereupon, Sperver, exalted by the 
 old wine, laughed for some moments, 
 without knowing exactly why. 
 
 " So that is why you call this the
 
 IN HUGH S TOWER. 75 
 
 Tower of Hugh the Wolf?" I re- 
 sumed. 
 
 "Didn't I just tell you so? What 
 are you so surprised at ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing." 
 
 " Yes, you are. I see it in your face. 
 What are you thinking of ? " 
 
 " It isn't so much the name of the 
 tower that surprises me, as that you, 
 an old ranger, who from a baby had 
 never known any home but the fir-trees 
 and crests of the Wald Horn and the 
 gorges 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 
 fresh air, the sunlight, and the freedom 
 of a hunter's life, should be found here, 
 after sixteen years, in this red-granite
 
 76 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 hole. Come, Sperver, light your pipe 
 and tell me how it happened." 
 
 The old ranger drew a short, black 
 pipe from his leather jacket, filled it 
 leisurely, and snatching up a coal from 
 the hearth, placed it on the bowl of his 
 pipe ; then, with his head thrown back 
 and his eyes wandering over the ceil- 
 ing, he replied thoughtfully: 
 
 " After I left your father's service 
 twenty years ago, it was long before I 
 could bring my mind to work for any 
 other master, for I loved 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 took to poaching for a term of 
 years, and found a living by any means 
 I could, until one night the Count came 
 upon me in the moonlight.
 
 IN HUGHS TOWER. 77 
 
 " He did not despise Sperver, the old 
 hawk, the true man of the woods ; and 
 he said to me, ' Comrade, you have 
 hunted long enough by yourself; now 
 come and hunt with me. You have a 
 good beak and strong claws, and you 
 might as well hunt my game with my 
 permission as without it.' " 
 
 Sperver was silent for some minutes ; 
 then he continued : 
 
 " I was getting old, and the old fal- 
 cons and hawks, having long swept the 
 plains, end by settling down in the 
 cleft of a rock to 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 being rocked 
 to sleep by the wind, I prefer to come 
 back to my cover, quietly pick a wood- 
 cock, and dry my plumage before the 
 fire."
 
 78 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Sperver was silent for some mo- 
 ments ; then he continued : 
 
 " I still hunt as before, and afterwards 
 I drink a quiet glass of Rudesheimer 
 with my friends, or " At this mo- 
 ment a shock made the door tremble. 
 
 " It is a gust of wind," I said. 
 
 " No ; it is something else. Don't 
 you hear a claw scratching on the 
 panel ? I think one of the dogs must 
 have got loose. Open, Walden ! open, 
 Lieverle ! " 
 
 He got up, but he had not gone 
 two steps when a formidable Danish 
 hound leaped into the room and raised 
 his fore-paws on his master's shoulders, 
 licking his cheeks and beard with his 
 long, red tongue, and whining with joy. 
 Sperver put his arm around the dog's 
 neck, and turning to me :
 
 IN HUGHS TOWER. 79 
 
 " Gaston," he said, " what man could 
 love me as this dog does? Look at 
 this head, these eyes, and teeth ! " 
 
 He drew back the animal's lips and 
 showed me a set of fangs that could 
 have torn a buffalo to pieces. Then 
 pushing him off with difficulty, for the 
 dog redoubled his caresses, he cried, 
 " Down with you, Lieverle ; I know 
 you love me ! Who would, if you did 
 not ? " He went and closed the door. 
 
 I never had seen a dog of such 
 formidable proportions before ; he meas- 
 ured nearly four feet in height, with 
 a broad, low forehead and fine coat, a 
 bright eye, long paws, broad across the 
 chest and shoulders and tapering down 
 to the haunches, a mass of nerves and 
 muscles interwoven, but he had no 
 scent. If such animals possessed the
 
 8O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 scent of the terrier, the game would 
 soon be exterminated. 
 
 Sperver had returned to his seat and 
 was passing his hand proudly over Lie- 
 verle's head, while he enumerated the 
 dog's fine points. Lieverle seemed to 
 understand him. 
 
 " Look, Gaston, that dog would stran- 
 gle a wolf with a snap of his jaws. He 
 is what you might well call perfection 
 in the matter of courage and strength ; 
 not yet 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 Lieverle; he attacks them 
 too boldly; he flies at them like an 
 arrow. Beware of the brutes' tusks, 
 Lieverle, you rascal ! It make me 
 tremble. Down on your back ! " cried 
 the huntsman ; " down on your back ! "
 
 IN HUGH'S TOWER. 8 1 
 
 The dog obeyed, presenting to us 
 his flesh-colored thighs. 
 
 " Do you see that long, white line, 
 without any hair on it, which extends 
 from his thigh clear up to his chest? 
 A boar did that. The noble chap did 
 not let go of the brute's ear, in spite 
 of the wound, and we tracked them by 
 the blood. I came up with them first. 
 Seeing my Lieverle, 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 my- 
 self with grief. Luckily, the vital parts 
 were not injured, and I sewed up the 
 wound. God ! how he howled and suf- 
 fered; but at the end of the third day 
 he began to lick the place, and a 
 dog who licks a wound is already 
 saved. Ha, Lieverle ! you remember
 
 82 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 it! And now we love each other, don't 
 we?" 
 
 I was much moved by the affection 
 of the man for the dog, and the animal 
 for his master. Lieverle watched him 
 and wagged his tail, while a tear stood 
 in Sperver's eye. Soon he began again : 
 
 " What strength ! Do you see, Gas- 
 ton, he has broken his cord to come to 
 me, a cord of six strands ? He found 
 my tracks, and that was enough. Here, 
 Lieverle! Catch!" 
 
 He threw him the remains of the 
 kid's leg. The dog went over and 
 stretched himself in front of the fire 
 with the bone between his fore-paws, 
 and he slowly tore it into shreds. 
 Sperver watched him from the corner 
 of his eye with evident satisfaction. 
 
 " Hey, Gaston," said the old steward,
 
 IN HUGH'S TOWER. 83 
 
 " if any one should order you to go and 
 take that bone away, what would you 
 say?" 
 
 " That it was a matter which re- 
 quired delicate manipulation." 
 
 We laughed heartily, and Sperver, 
 who was stretched out in his red-leather 
 armchair, with his left arm thrown over 
 the back, one leg resting on a stool, 
 and the other on a log that was drip- 
 ping with sap and singing in the fierce 
 flame, puffed blue rings of smoke to 
 the ceiling with an air of supreme con- 
 tentment. As for me, I was lazily 
 watching the dog, when suddenly re- 
 membering our interrupted conversa- 
 tion, I began : 
 
 " Listen, Sperver ! You haven't told 
 me everything. Was it not because of 
 the death of your worthy wife, my old
 
 84 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 nurse Gertrude, that you left the moun- 
 tains to come here ? " 
 
 Gideon looked grave, and a tear 
 dimmed his eye ; he straightened up, 
 and knocking the ashes from his pipe 
 upon his thumb nail, he replied : 
 
 " Yes, my wife is dead, and that is 
 what drove me from the woods. I 
 could not see the valley of the Roche 
 Creuse without sorrow, and so I have 
 come hither. I hunt but little in the 
 underbrush, and if the pack happen to 
 go in that direction, I leave them to 
 themselves and turn back again, trying 
 to think of other things." 
 
 Sperver had become melancholy. 
 His head had fallen on his breast, and 
 he remained silent. I regretted having 
 recalled these sad images to his mind. 
 Then, reflecting once more on the
 
 IN HUGH'S TOWER. 85 
 
 Black Plague crouching in the snow, I 
 shivered. How singular that a single 
 word had thrown us into a train of dis- 
 mal recollections ! A whole world of 
 retrospection had been invoked by the 
 merest accident. 
 
 I know not how long our silence had 
 lasted, when a deep, terrible growl, like 
 the sound of distant thunder, made us 
 tremble. We looked at the dog. He 
 still held his half-eaten bone between 
 his fore-paws, but with raised head, ears 
 pricked up, and shining eyes, he was 
 listening, listening in the dead silence, 
 and a tremor of rage ran along his 
 back. 
 
 Sperver and I looked at each other 
 anxiously ; not a sound, not a murmur, 
 for the wind outside had fallen, and we 
 could have heard the least noise ; noth-
 
 86 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 ing, save the deep, continued growl, 
 which seemed to come from deep down 
 in the dog's chest. Suddenly the ani- 
 mal 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. Lieverle, with his 
 head low down, seemed to see through 
 the granite, and his teeth, bared to their 
 roots, glistened like snow. He still 
 growled, pausing now and then for a 
 moment to sniff along the bottom of 
 the wall ; then he sprang up again an- 
 grily, and seemed trying to tear away 
 the stone with his fore-paws. 
 
 We were watching him, unable to 
 understand the cause of his excitement, 
 when a second howl, more fearful than 
 the first, brought us to our feet.
 
 IN HUGH'S TOWER. 87 
 
 " Lieverle," cried Sperver, springing 
 towards him, " for heaven's sake, what 
 ails you ? Are you going mad ? " 
 
 He seized a log, and began to sound 
 the wall, which, however, gave forth 
 only a dull, dense sound. There was 
 apparently no hollow in it, but still the 
 dog maintained the same posture. 
 
 " Decidedly, Lieverle," said the hunts- 
 man, " you have had a nightmare. 
 Come, lie down, and don't set our 
 nerves on edge any more." 
 
 At the same moment we heard a 
 sound outside. The door opened, and 
 the big, fat face of honest Tobias Offen- 
 loch, with his round lantern in one 
 hand and his stick in the other, and his 
 three-cornered hat on one side of his 
 head, appeared smiling and genial in 
 the doorway.
 
 88 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Greeting, worthy company ! " he ex- 
 claimed ; " what the devil are you doing 
 here ? " 
 
 " It was this foolish Lieverle who 
 made all the racket," said Sperver ; " he 
 sprang against the wall and wouldn't 
 be quieted. Can you tell us the reason 
 of it?" 
 
 " He probably heard the stumping of 
 my wooden leg as I came up the tower 
 stairs," replied the good-natured fellow 
 with a laugh. Then setting his lantern 
 on the table : " 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 a 
 moment ago, as I was coming along 
 the gallery, I met your Blitz ; he 
 snapped at my leg, see, there are the
 
 IN HUGH'S TOWER. 89 
 
 marks of his teeth. A new leg, too, 
 confound the cur ! " 
 
 " Tie up my dogs ? What an idea ! " 
 replied Sperver. " Dogs that are tied 
 up are good for nothing; it makes 
 them savage. Moreover, Lieverle was 
 fastened, and he has what was left of 
 the cord around his neck still." 
 
 " It is not on my account that I am 
 speaking, for whenever I see them com- 
 ing, I always raise my stick and put my 
 wooden leg first. It is only for disci- 
 pline. The 'dogs ought to be in the 
 kennels, the cats on the gutters, and 
 the people in the Castle, according to 
 my way of thinking." 
 
 Tobie sat down as he finished his 
 sentence, and with his elbows resting 
 on the table and his eyes beaming with 
 satisfaction, he said in a confidential 
 tone:
 
 9O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " You should know, gentlemen, that 
 I am a bachelor this evening." 
 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " Marie Anne is sitting up with Ger- 
 trude in the Count's antechamber." 
 
 " Then you are in no hurry." 
 
 " Not the least bit." 
 
 " How unlucky you should have 
 come so late," observed Sperver ; " all 
 the bottles are empty." 
 
 The discomfited expression of the 
 good fellow made me feel positively 
 sorry. He would gladly have profited 
 by his widowhood. In spite of my 
 efforts to repress it, however, my 
 mouth parted in a wide yawn. 
 
 " We will put it over till another 
 day," he said, getting up ; " what is 
 postponed is not lost." 
 
 He took up his lantern.
 
 IN HUGHS TOWER. 9! 
 
 " Good night, gentlemen." 
 
 " Wait a minute," said Gideon ; " I 
 see the doctor is sleepy ; we will go 
 down together." 
 
 " Gladly, Sperver ! We will have a 
 word with Trumpf as we pass. He is 
 down-stairs with the others, and Knap- 
 wurst is telling them stories." 
 
 " Well, good night, Gaston." 
 
 " Good night, Sperver. Don't forget 
 to call me if the Count grows worse." 
 
 " Never fear. Lieverle, come here." 
 
 They went out, and as they were 
 crossing the platform, I could hear the 
 old Nideck clock striking eleven. 
 
 I was completely exhausted with the 
 day's experiences. Soon I threw my- 
 self on the bed, and straightway fell 
 into a deep slumber, where all night 
 long I was wandering beside a radiant
 
 92 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 creature with a halo of golden hair 
 about her face, amid flower-strewn 
 paths, and the song of birds, and 
 above our heads the fairest of summer 
 skies.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 KNAPWURST ACQUAINTS ME WITH THE 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. 
 
 " I "HE dawn was beginning to turn 
 gray the only window of the don- 
 jon-tower, when I was awakened in 
 my granite bed by the distant notes of 
 a hunting-horn. I know of no sound 
 more sad and melancholy than the vi- 
 brations of its tones, just at morning 
 twilight, when all is still, and no breath, 
 no whisper comes to disturb the per- 
 fect quiet of solitude ; it is the final 
 note, especially, that, spreading over the 
 immense plain and awaking the far-off
 
 94 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 echoes of the mountain, stirs us to the 
 heart with its pure, poetic quality. 
 
 Leaning with my elbow on the bear- 
 skin, I listened to this plaintive cry, 
 that seemed to be invoking memories 
 of the Feudal Ages. The aspect of 
 my chamber, with its low, ragged arch, 
 and, further on, the little window with 
 its panes set in lead, midway between 
 the alcove and the corridor, the ceiling 
 more wide than high, and deeply hol- 
 lowed in the wall, in short, every de- 
 tail of this ancient den of the Wolf of 
 Nideck served to realize my fancy. 
 
 I rose quickly and threw the window 
 wide open. There before me lay a 
 spectacle that no mere language can 
 describe, the scene that the Alpine 
 eagle surveys each morning, as the 
 purple curtain of night lifts itself
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. 95 
 
 from the horizon ; range after range 
 of mountains, motionless billows that 
 stretch away and become lost in the dis- 
 tant mists of the Vosges and the Jura, 
 immense forests, lakes, and towering 
 peaks tracing their sharp outlines upon 
 the steel-blue of the snow-clad valleys ; 
 beyond this, the infinite ! What human 
 skill could attain to the sublimity of such 
 a picture ? I stood overwhelmed with 
 wonder and delight. At each glance 
 some new detail was revealed to my 
 eyes ; hamlets, farms, villages, seemed 
 to rise from every fold of the land- 
 scape, and as I gazed, these objects 
 became more numerous. 
 
 I had been standing thus for more 
 than a quarter of an hour, when a hand 
 was laid lightly upon my shoulder; I 
 turned and met the calm face and
 
 96 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 quiet smile of my friend Gideon, who 
 greeted me with : 
 
 " Good morning, Gaston." 
 
 Then he rested his elbows on the 
 window-sill beside me, puffing clouds 
 of smoke from his short pipe. Ex- 
 tending his arm towards the distant 
 mountains, he said at length : 
 
 " Look at that, Gaston ; you should 
 love it, for you are a son of the Black 
 Forest. Look down there, way down ; 
 that is the Roche Creuse. Do you see 
 it? You remember Gertrude? How 
 far off those days seem ! " 
 
 He stopped and cleared his throat; 
 I was at a loss what to reply. We 
 stood for a long time in a contempla- 
 tive mood, mute before the grandeur 
 of the scene that rolled away beneath 
 us. From time to time, the old steward,
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. 97 
 
 seeing my eyes rest on some point of 
 the horizon, would explain : 
 
 "That is the Wald Horn; this is 
 the Tiefenthal. There you see the cas- 
 cade of the Steinbach ; it has stopped 
 running now, and hangs like an ice 
 cloak over the shoulder of the Har- 
 berg, a cold garment for this season 
 of the year. Down there is the path 
 that leads to Tubingen; a fortnight 
 more and we shall have difficulty in 
 tracing it." 
 
 An hour passed thus; I could not 
 tear myself away from the scene. 
 
 A few birds of prey, with gracefully 
 hollowed wings, were sailing about the 
 tower ; a flock of herons flew above 
 them, escaping their claws by reason 
 of their loftier flight. Not a cloud was 
 visible in the sky; all the snow had
 
 98 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 fallen to earth. The hunting-horn salu- 
 ted the mountain for the last time. 
 
 " That is my friend Sebalt mourning 
 down there," said Sperver. " No one 
 is a better judge of horses and dogs 
 than he, and when it comes to sounding 
 the horn, there is not his equal in all 
 Germany. Just hear how mellow those 
 notes are, Gaston. Poor Sebalt ! he is 
 pining away since our master became 
 ill ; he cannot hunt as he used to. His 
 only consolation is to climb the Alten- 
 berg every morning just at daybreak 
 and play the Count's favorite airs. He 
 thinks that may cure him." 
 
 Sperver, with the tact of a man 
 who himself loves beautiful things, had 
 not interrupted my contemplation ; but 
 when, dazzled by the growing light, I 
 turned back into the chamber, he said :
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. 99 
 
 " Gaston, things look more encour- 
 aging ; the Count has had no return of 
 the convulsions." 
 
 These words brought me back to a 
 more practical world. 
 
 " Ah, I am glad to hear it." 
 " And it is your doing, too." 
 " Mine ? I haven't even prescribed 
 anything yet." 
 
 " What of that ? You are here." 
 " You're joking, Gideon ; what could 
 my mere presence accomplish ? " 
 " You bring him good luck." 
 I looked at him closely; he was in 
 earnest. 
 
 "Yes," he repeated seriously; "you 
 are a bringer of good luck. In past 
 years, our master has had a second at- 
 tack the day after the first, and then a 
 third, and fourth ; but you have pre-
 
 IOO THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 vented this and arrested the course of 
 the malady. That is clear enough." 
 
 " Not to my mind, Sperver. On the 
 contrary, I find it exceedingly ob- 
 scure." 
 
 " We are never too old to learn," 
 continued the worthy fellow. " There 
 are forerunners of good fortune and 
 harbingers of ill. Take that rascal 
 Knapwurst, for example ; he is a sure 
 sign of bad luck. If ever I happen to 
 run across him as I am going out 
 hunting, I am sure to meet with some 
 accident; my gun misses fire, I sprain 
 my ankle, or a dog gets ripped open. 
 Knowing this, I always take care to set 
 off just at daybreak, before the scamp, 
 who sleeps like a dormouse, has got his 
 eyes open ; or else I steal through the 
 postern gate."
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. IOI 
 
 " A wise precaution ; but your ideas 
 seem odd to me, Gideon." 
 
 " But you, on the other hand," he 
 continued without noticing my inter- 
 ruption, " are an open-hearted, honest 
 lad. Heaven has bestowed many bless- 
 ings upon you ; just one glance at your 
 good-natured face, your frank gaze, and 
 your kindly smile, is enough to make 
 any one happy. And you bring good 
 luck ; that is certain. Do you want a 
 proof of what I say ? " 
 
 " Why, certainly. I am not sorry to 
 discover that I possess so many hith- 
 erto unknown virtues." 
 
 " Well," said he, seizing my wrist, 
 " look down there ! " 
 
 He pointed to a hillock a couple of 
 gunshots distant from the Castle. 
 
 " Do you see that rock half buried in
 
 IO2 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the snow, with a bush to the left of 
 it?" 
 
 " Distinctly." 
 
 " And you see nothing near it ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Well, that is easily accounted for ; 
 you have driven the Black Plague 
 away. Every year, on the second day 
 of the Count's illness, she was to be 
 seen there, with her arms clasped 
 around her skinny knees. At night, 
 she lighted a fire, warmed herself, and 
 cooked the roots of trees. She was a 
 curse to every living thing. The first 
 thing I did this morning was to climb 
 up to the signal-tower and look around 
 me. The old hag was nowhere to be 
 seen. In vain did I shade my eyes 
 with my hand and gaze to right and 
 left, up and down, across the plain
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. IO3 
 
 and over the mountain, not a sign of 
 her anywhere. She has scented you, 
 sure enough ! " 
 
 Wringing my hand in his enthu- 
 siasm, the good fellow cried excitedly, 
 "Oh, Gaston, Gaston! How lucky it 
 was that I brought you here ! How 
 angry the old hag will be ! " 
 
 I must confess to a feeling of em- 
 barrassment at discovering so much 
 merit in myself, which had hitherto 
 escaped my observation. 
 
 " So the Count has passed a com- 
 fortable night, Sperver ? " I continued. 
 
 " Very comfortable," he replied. 
 
 "That is welcome news. Let's go 
 down-stairs." 
 
 We once more crossed the little 
 courtyard, and I was able to obtain a 
 better view of our means of egress,
 
 IO4 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 whose ramparts attained to a prodig- 
 ious height, continuing along the 
 edge of the rock to the very bottom 
 of the valley. It was a flight of preci- 
 pices, so to speak, shelving one below 
 another into the dizzy depths beneath. 
 On looking down, I became giddy, and 
 recoiling to the middle of the landing, 
 I hastened down the passageway which 
 led to the Castle. 
 
 Sperver and I had already traversed 
 several broad corridors, when a wide- 
 open door blocked our passage. I 
 glanced in and saw, at the top of a 
 double ladder, the little gnome Knap- 
 wurst, whose grotesque physiognomy 
 had struck me the night before. The 
 hall itself attracted my attention by its 
 imposing aspect. It was a storehouse 
 for the archives of Nideck, a high, dark,
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. 
 
 dusty apartment, with long Gothic win- 
 dows reaching from the ceiling to within 
 three feet of the floor. 
 
 There were to be found, ranged along 
 the broad shelves by the careful abbots 
 of olden times, not only all the docu- 
 ments, title-deeds, and genealogical 
 trees of the families of Nideck, estab- 
 lishing their rights, alliances, and rela- 
 tions with the most illustrious nobles 
 of Germany, but also the chronicles of 
 the Black Forest, the collected rem- 
 nants of the old Minnesingers, and the 
 great folios from the presses of Guten- 
 berg and Faust, no less venerable on 
 account of their origin and the en- 
 during solidity of their binding. The 
 deep shadows of the alcoves, draping 
 the cold walls with their grayish gloom, 
 reminded you of the ancient cloisters
 
 IO6 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 of the Middle Ages; and in the midst 
 of it all sat the dwarf at the top of 
 his ladder, with a huge, red-edged vol- 
 ume lying open on his bony knees, 
 his head buried to the ears in a fur 
 cap ; gray-eyed, flat-nosed, the corners 
 of his mouth drawn down by long years 
 of thought, with stooping shoulders and 
 wasted limbs; a fitting famulus the 
 rat, as Sperver called him to this last 
 refuge of the learning of Nideck. 
 
 That which gave to the place a unique 
 interest, however, was the line of family 
 portraits that covered one whole side of 
 the ancient library. There they were, 
 knights and ladies, from Hugh the 
 Wolf down to Count Hermann, the 
 present owner; from the crude daubs 
 of barbarous days to the perfect work 
 of the best painters of our own time.
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. IO7 
 
 My attention was naturally centred 
 upon this part of the room. Hugh I., 
 with a bald head, seemed watching you 
 from his frame as a wolf glares at the 
 traveller whom a sudden turn in the 
 forest path discloses to view. His 
 gray, blood-shot eyes, bristling beard, 
 and large, hairy ears, gave him an air 
 of singular ferocity. 
 
 Next to him, like the lamb next the 
 savage beast, was a young woman, 
 with a gentle, sad expression, her hands 
 clasped on her breast, her long, silken 
 tresses of fair hair parted over the fore- 
 head and falling in thick waves about 
 her face, which they encircled with a 
 golden aureole. I was struck with her 
 resemblance to Odile of Nideck. Noth- 
 ing could have been more delicate and 
 charming than this old painting on
 
 IO8 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 wood, a little stiff in its outline, but 
 charmingly simple and ingenuous. 
 
 I had been studying this portrait for 
 some minutes, when another, hanging 
 beside it, drew my attention in its turn. 
 Here, too, was a woman, but of the true 
 Visigothic type, with a broad, low fore- 
 head, yellow eyes, and prominent cheek- 
 bones, red hair, and nose like an eagle's 
 beak. " That woman must have been 
 to Hugh's liking," I said to myself, and 
 I began to study the costume, which 
 was in perfect keeping with the energy 
 expressed in the face, for the right 
 hand clasped a sword, and the waist 
 was encircled in a steel corselet. 
 
 I know not how to describe the 
 thoughts that succeeded one another 
 in my mind as I gazed upon these 
 three faces. My eye roamed from one
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. IO9 
 
 to another with singular curiosity, and 
 I found it impossible to terminate my 
 study. Sperver, standing on the thresh- 
 old of the library, gave a sharp 
 whistle, seemingly to attract Knap- 
 wurst's attention, who looked down at 
 him from the top of his ladder with- 
 out stirring. 
 
 " Is it me you are whistling to like 
 a dog ? " said the dwarf. 
 " Aye, you imp ! None else." 
 " Listen to me, Sperver," replied the 
 gnome with supreme disdain ; " you can- 
 not spit so high as my shoe ; I defy 
 you ! " and he stuck out his foot. 
 " And if I should come up there ? " 
 " I would squash you flat with this 
 volume." 
 
 Gideon laughed, and replied: 
 "Come, come, Knapwurst! Don't
 
 IIO THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 get angry! I don't wish you any 
 harm ; on the contrary I have the 
 greatest respect for your learning; but 
 what the devil are you doing at this 
 hour, seated over your lamp ? Any one 
 would think you had spent the night 
 here." 
 
 " So I have, reading ! " 
 
 "Aren't the days long enough for 
 you?" 
 
 " No ! I am looking up an impor- 
 tant question, and I shan't sleep till I 
 have settled it." 
 
 "Well, by Jove; what is this inter- 
 esting question ? " 
 
 " It is to find out under what circum- 
 stances Ludwig of Nideck discovered 
 my ancestor, Otto the Dwarf, in the 
 forests of Thuringia. You should 
 know, Sperver, that my ancestor Otto
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. I I I 
 
 was only an arm's length high ; that 
 is, about two feet and a half. He de- 
 lighted the world with his wisdom, and 
 figured honorably in the coronation of 
 the Emperor Rodolph. Count Lud- 
 wig had him enclosed in a cold roast 
 peacock, served up with all its plumage. 
 During the feast, Otto spread out the 
 peacock's tail, and all the nobles, cour- 
 tiers, and great ladies were astonished 
 at this ingenious piece of mechanism. 
 At last Otto emerged, sword in hand, 
 and cried in a thundering voice, ' Long 
 live the Emperor, Rodolph of Haps- 
 burg ! ' which was repeated on all sides 
 with shouts and rejoicings. Bernard 
 Hertzog mentions this circumstance, but 
 fails to inform us as to the family origin 
 of the dwarf, whether he was of noble 
 descent, or of base extraction ; the latter
 
 112 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 hypothesis being highly improbable, as 
 the common herd are rarely possessed 
 of so much wit." 
 
 I was amazed at the conceit of this 
 little creature, my curiosity, however, 
 leading me to dissemble my feelings; 
 for he alone could furnish me with the 
 facts concerning the two portraits that 
 hung on the right of Hugh the Wolf. 
 
 " Monsieur Knapwurst," I said, in a 
 tone of profound respect, " would you 
 have the kindness to enlighten me 
 upon a certain subject ? " 
 
 Flattered by these words, the little 
 fellow replied : 
 
 " Speak, monsieur ; if it is a ques- 
 tion of family history, I shall be glad 
 to inform you. In other subjects I 
 take but little interest." 
 
 " It is precisely that. I should
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. I 1 3 
 
 to learn something about the noble 
 ladies whose pictures hang on the wall 
 yonder." 
 
 " Aha ! " cried Knapwurst, his face 
 lighting up ; " you mean Elfreda and 
 Huldine, the two wives of Hugh, the 
 founder of Nideck." 
 
 Laying down his volume, he de- 
 scended the ladder to talk more at his 
 ease. His eyes glistened, and an air of 
 gratification at this opportunity of dis- 
 playing his learning shone out all over 
 him. 
 
 Having reached my side, he saluted 
 me with a grave bow. Sperver stood 
 behind us, seemingly well satisfied to 
 see me admiring the dwarf of Nideck. 
 In spite of the ill luck which he averred 
 attached to the presence of the pigmy, 
 he admired and boasted of his great 
 learning.
 
 114 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Monsieur," said Knapwurst, pointing 
 with his long, yellow hand towards the 
 portraits, " Hugh of Nideck, the founder 
 of his race, married in 832 Elfreda of 
 Lutzelbourg, who brought to him as 
 dowry the counties of Giromani and 
 Haut Barr, the Castles of Geroldsdeck 
 and Teufelshorn, and others. Hugh 
 had no children by his first wife, who 
 died young in the year of our Lord 837. 
 Thereupon, Hugh, now lord and mas- 
 ter of the dowry, refused to yield pos- 
 session of it, and there followed terrible 
 battles between himself and his broth- 
 ers-in-law. His second wife, Huldine, 
 whom you see in the steel breastplate, 
 aided him by her wise counsels. She 
 was a woman of indomitable courage, 
 but her origin remains a mystery. One 
 thing is certain, however : she rescued
 
 "IN THE PORTRAIT GALLERY."
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. 117 
 
 her husband, who had been taken pris- 
 oner by Frantz of Lutzelbourg. He 
 was to have been hanged that very day, 
 and the iron bar had already been 
 stretched across the battlements in 
 preparation for the execution, when 
 Huldine, at the head of a band of the 
 Count's vassals whom she had inspired 
 by her brave example, burst into the 
 courtyard by a rear entrance, rescued 
 Hugh, and had Frantz hung in his 
 place. Hugh the Wolf married his 
 second wife in 842, and by her he had 
 three children." 
 
 " So," I resumed meditatively, " the 
 first of these wives was called Elfreda, 
 and the descendants of Nideck are not 
 related to her ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Are you sure of this ? "
 
 Il8 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " I can show you our genealogical 
 tree. Elfreda had no children ; Hul- 
 dine, the second wife, had three." 
 
 " That is very surprising ! " 
 
 " Why so ? " 
 
 " I thought I noticed a resemblance." 
 
 " Ha, ha ! resemblances ! " exclaimed 
 the dwarf with a harsh laugh ; " wait a 
 moment. Just look at this wooden 
 snuff-box that lies beside the plaster 
 greyhound ! It represents my ancestor, 
 Hanswurst. He has a nose like an ex- 
 tinguisher, and a sharp chin, while I 
 have a flat nose and an agreeable 
 mouth ; and yet this does not prevent 
 my being his great-great-grandson." 
 
 " No, certainly not." 
 
 " Well, it is the same with the Ni- 
 decks. They may have certain charac- 
 teristics in common with Elfreda, but
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE NIDECKS. IIQ 
 
 Huldine is the head of the line. Look 
 at this genealogical tree, monsieur. 
 Have I not informed you correctly ? " 
 Then we separated, Knapwurst 
 and I, the best of friends.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 
 
 " TVTEVERTHELESS," I said to my- 
 self, " the resemblance is there ! 
 Is it chance ? Nonsense ! What is 
 chance, anyway, save that for which we 
 fail to grasp the reason ? No ; there 
 must be some other explanation of it ! " 
 Buried in these reflections, I followed 
 my friend Sperver, who had resumed 
 his walk down the corridor. The por- 
 trait of Elfreda, that pure, artless face, 
 blended in my fancy with that of the 
 young Countess. Suddenly Gideon 
 stopped. I looked up ; we were stand- 
 ing before the Count's room.
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 121 
 
 " Go in, Gaston," he said ; " I will see, 
 meanwhile, if breakfast is ready, and be 
 with you again in a minute." 
 
 I entered noiselessly, and made out, 
 in the dim light, the broad figure of 
 Becker, the forester, sprawled out lei- 
 surely in his armchair beside the bed 
 and drowsing over his vigil. 
 
 The Count was sleeping quietly, with 
 every indication that this desirable state 
 of things would continue. Seeing no 
 reason for remaining longer, I directed 
 Becker to let me know at once if the 
 master should wake, and I withdrew to 
 the hall, where I met Sperver returning 
 to get me. 
 
 " The Countess is waiting for you in 
 the dining-room. She is overjoyed at 
 the news of her father. Poor woman ! 
 It has been a hard strain upon her, for
 
 122 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 she insists on remaining close beside 
 the Count, and her strength is not equal 
 to the task." 
 
 " So it seemed to me," I replied ; and 
 I secretly regretted that I saw no way 
 in which I could properly suggest to 
 the Countess that she should share her 
 watchfulness more with others. 
 
 We reached the dining-room. Sper- 
 ver announced me and departed. 
 
 My eyes fell first upon Odile, seated 
 at the head of the table in a high- 
 backed oaken chair. She was dressed 
 in a gown of gray stuff, simply fash- 
 ioned, with a bodice of white velvet 
 worked in gold. Her superb figure 
 was perfectly set off by the almost 
 severe outlines of the dress. 
 
 " It is she," I thought: " Hugh's first 
 wife. There is the noble forehead ;
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 123 
 
 there are the long lashes, the somewhat 
 languid bearing, and the indescribable 
 smile." 
 
 And as I gazed, the dream of last 
 night recurred to me in all its charm- 
 ing vividness, and I felt that, far from 
 entering upon her world but a few 
 hours since, I had known her aye, 
 and loved her, too ! for years. 
 
 " Good morning, monsieur ! " she said 
 in answer to my salutation, as she rose 
 and rested one hand on the chair-back. 
 " It seems that your presence here has 
 already worked a change for the better. 
 Our good Sperver tells me that my 
 father's condition is improved." 
 
 " I am delighted to be able to assure 
 you that it is so, mademoiselle. We 
 must endeavor to confirm these bet- 
 tered conditions."
 
 124 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " I am so thankful ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Who knows but it was Providence 
 that brought you here ? " and she indi- 
 cated my seat at the end of the table 
 opposite her. 
 
 Bowing to the housekeeper, who sat 
 before the broad fireplace, with her 
 spectacles thrust back on her fore- 
 head, plying her busy needles, her lap 
 filled with knitting-work which momen- 
 tarily grew as she rocked back and 
 forth in time to the ticking of the tall 
 clock, I took the seat which Odile des- 
 ignated, experiencing a sense of rare 
 contentment as I reflected upon my 
 surroundings. Decidedly, my present 
 employment combined pleasure with 
 the exactions of duty. 
 
 No further mention of the Count's 
 condition was made during the repast,
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 125 
 
 Odile preferring apparently to confine 
 herself to other subjects. 
 
 " Sperver," she said presently, " has 
 often spoken of you to us with much 
 pride and affection. Your relationship 
 with the old steward is a romantic one, 
 is it not ? " 
 
 " Rather," I replied. " It began some 
 twenty years ago with his pulling me 
 out of a swamp into which I got my- 
 self, through my desire to imitate his 
 custom of roaming the forest." 
 
 Then, as Odile smiled and seemed to 
 be waiting for me to continue, I re- 
 sumed : 
 
 " I distinctly remember how, one 
 morning, I escaped the vigilance of my 
 old nurse, Gideon's wife Gertrude, and 
 arming myself with my father's old 
 sabre, I sallied into the forest with a
 
 126 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 vague notion of performing some sim- 
 ilar exploits to those which Gideon was 
 never tired of telling me. I had not 
 gone far when, finding the forest very 
 dark and lonely, and quite unlike what 
 I had fancied it, I began to repent 
 of my resolution and to wish I was 
 safely at home again. The sabre, too, 
 had grown very heavy, and everything 
 about the undertaking having fallen 
 far short of my anticipation, I turned 
 around and began to retrace my steps. 
 Having only such knowledge of direc- 
 tion as a boy of eight would be likely 
 to have, I soon lost my way, and in 
 attempting to cross the swamp of the 
 Losser by picking my path along the 
 tufts of grass above its surface, I lost 
 my footing and slipped into the mud. 
 Fortunately Sperver happened to be
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 1 27 
 
 passing in the neighborhood. He 
 heard my cries, and promptly coming 
 to my aid, he pulled me out and carried 
 me to safer ground. Meanwhile my 
 absence from home had been discov- 
 ered, and the men servants had been 
 sent in all directions to search for me. 
 My father was so delighted at seeing 
 me again, unharmed, in Sperver's arms, 
 that he rewarded his ranger with a 
 brand-new carbine and a brace of his 
 favorite hounds." 
 
 I laughed as I recalled this incident, 
 and the Countess joined me in it, con- 
 tinuing after a little : 
 
 " And your old home ? " 
 
 " It has passed into other hands. On 
 the death of both my parents, which 
 occurred within a few years, I was left 
 entirely without resources, save such as
 
 128 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I could create for myself, and it became 
 necessary to dispose of the estate in or- 
 der to get the means which I required 
 to pursue my studies." 
 
 It seemed the most natural thing 
 in the world to be thus confiding to 
 Odile my intimate affairs, though or- 
 dinarily I guarded such matters with 
 jealous care ; but I felt, I know not why, 
 that her expression of interest was more 
 a wish to learn the real facts of my 
 condition than merely to evince a civil 
 concern in my interests. Such feel- 
 ings are intangible ; they cannot be 
 explained. 
 
 " You are living now in Tubingen ? " 
 " Yes ; after six years' study in Ger- 
 many and France, I have returned to 
 the scenes of earlier times to try what 
 fortune may have in store for me. I
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 1 29 
 
 feel that I never should be contented 
 anywhere else ; and I am better satis- 
 fied to remain here with a modest suc- 
 cess than in the cities with, maybe, a 
 more considerable one." 
 
 " How well I can understand that 
 feeling," replied the Countess musingly. 
 " Long ago, when we used to visit the 
 court each year, I remember that, in 
 spite of all its gaieties and pleasures, so 
 well calculated to charm young minds, 
 I was always glad when the time came 
 to return to the Casde ; and that for a 
 girl of eighteen is unusual, I think." 
 
 I was silently musing upon the fair 
 face opposite me, and the charming 
 personality of my noble hostess, which 
 piqued my curiosity and aroused in 
 me a singular desire to learn more of 
 it. The young Countess conducted
 
 I3O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the affairs of the table with captivating 
 grace, and the ready Offenloch was 
 ever on the watch for her slightest 
 nod or glance. Truly, I felt myself 
 under a spell no less potent than the 
 companions of Ulysses of old. 
 
 Rousing myself at length from these 
 agreeable reflections, I resumed : 
 
 " You too, mademoiselle, are fond of 
 the hunt, I suppose? for the Count's 
 devotion to it is proverbial." 
 
 " Yes ! " she replied, " when it is not 
 a deer or fox that is being hunted. 
 Somehow . the wild boar claims less of 
 my sympathy, for it is often a ques- 
 tion which comes off the better, the 
 man or the beast." 
 
 The truth of this remark it was 
 reserved for me to learn at a later 
 day.
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 
 
 "As for me, I have never had any 
 experience in the chase, as the years 
 which I might have spent so were 
 passed in foreign cities, but some time 
 I hope to give it a thorough trial." 
 
 A pause succeeded, during which 
 Odile prepared the coffee. From time 
 to time I glanced at Marie, whose ad- 
 miration for my person expressed the 
 evening before seemed in no way to 
 have decreased, judging from the senile 
 simper which invariably appeared on 
 her face when she caught my eye. 
 
 " This Castle has an indescribable 
 charm for me," I continued after a 
 little ; " it has such a delightfully ancient 
 air, and -its old stones seem so full of 
 romance ; " and my eyes wandered to the 
 two suits of armor at the further end of 
 the room, which from their shadowy
 
 132 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 corners nodded at each other, gaunt 
 and sightless, in the uncertain fire- 
 light. 
 
 " I am fond of it," replied Odile ; " in- 
 deed, I feel that I could never be happy 
 anywhere else ; but at times it is lonely, 
 nevertheless." 
 
 Then I began to reflect upon the sin- 
 gular vow which this charming young 
 creature, so eminently lovable in every 
 trait of character and person, had taken, 
 it seemed almost wantonly and in a 
 spirit of perversity ; and yet I was satis- 
 fied that no such explanation could be 
 sufficient, for I felt instinctively that no 
 small or trivial thought could gain ad- 
 mittance to Odile's mind. 
 
 " Perhaps," I thought, " some day 
 the wanderer will come to implant the 
 magic kiss, and she, like others of her
 
 I BREAKFAST WITH ODILE. 133 
 
 sisters, will be obliged to obey the inex- 
 orable laws of the little god." 
 
 So I thought. It seemed to me that 
 one might be happy here, could he con- 
 tinue forever, as I was then, in Odile's 
 companionship, amid gay companies 
 and festivals, hunting-parties and the 
 like, which I felt would become imme- 
 diately inaugurated, were the Count's 
 recovery to become an established fact. 
 Then my thoughts reverted once more 
 to my patient, and, speculating for the 
 fiftieth time on all that Sperver had told 
 me of his master, I was recalled to a 
 less alluring train of reflections, and I 
 became grave as I realized the burden 
 of duty which rested upon me. 
 
 An hour passed, the breakfast was 
 finished. I rose and took leave of the 
 Countess, who inclined her head with a
 
 134 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 friendly smile. As I stepped into the 
 hallway, I descried Sperver in the dis- 
 tance. 
 
 " The Count has waked, and he 
 wishes to see you," he said, as he 
 reached me. 
 
 "He is no worse ? " I asked. 
 
 " Apparently not ; he seems quiet 
 enough." 
 
 Still engrossed with the experience 
 of the last hour passed in the dining- 
 room, I moved along with Sperver 
 down the corridor.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE COUNT UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 
 
 T ENTERED the Count's chamber. 
 What was my surprise to perceive 
 'di the half-light of the alcove, the master 
 of Nideck raised upon his elbow and 
 studying me with profound attention. 
 I had so little anticipated such a re- 
 ception, that I paused in surprise. 
 
 " Come here, doctor," he said in a 
 faint but steady voice, reaching out his 
 hand. " My good Sperver has often 
 spoken to me of you, and I have been 
 anxious to make your acquaintance." 
 
 " Let us hope, monsieur," I replied, 
 " that it may be continued under more
 
 136 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 auspicious circumstances; a little pa- 
 tience, and all will be well ! " 
 
 " I fear not," he replied ; " I feel that 
 the end is drawing near." 
 
 " You are mistaken, monsieur." 
 
 " No ! Nature grants us, as a last 
 favor, a presentiment of our approach- 
 ing end." 
 
 " How often have I seen such presen- 
 timents disproved ! " I returned, smiling. 
 
 He gazed fixedly at me, as sick people 
 are wont to do when they are in doubt 
 as to their true condition. It is a try- 
 ing moment for the doctor; upon his 
 expression depends the moral strength 
 of the sufferer; if the sick man detect 
 the suspicion of a doubt, all is lost; 
 dissolution begins, the soul prepares to 
 quit the body, and the malady holds 
 full sway. I passed firmly through the
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 137 
 
 ordeal; the Count seemed reassured; 
 he pressed my hand again, and re- 
 leased it, calmer and more confident. 
 
 During the pause which followed, 
 Odile and Marie Lagoutte entered the 
 room. They must have followed close 
 behind us. They seated themselves in 
 the two chairs which occupied the em- 
 brasure of the window, and Marie re- 
 sumed her knitting, while Odile spread 
 open a portfolio on her lap and seemed 
 to be studying it. 
 
 Soon the Count's glance wandered 
 from my face to that of his daughter, 
 whom he continued to regard fixedly 
 for a long time in silence. 
 
 This somewhat oppressive quiet con- 
 tinued, broken only by the jarring of 
 the casements, the monotone of the 
 wind, and the sound of the snow as
 
 138 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 it swirled and whispered against the 
 panes. 
 
 After a half hour of this, the Count 
 suddenly began to speak : 
 
 " If my beloved child Odile would 
 but grant my request, if she would 
 only consent to let me hope that one 
 day she would fulfil the desire of my 
 heart, I believe that alone would ac- 
 complish my recovery!" I glanced 
 quickly at Odile; she had closed her 
 book, and her eyes were fastened on 
 the floor. I noticed that she had be- 
 come deathly pale. 
 
 " Yes," continued the sick man, " I 
 should return to life and happiness ! 
 The prospect of seeing myself sur- 
 rounded by a new branch of our fam- 
 ily, of embracing my grandchildren, 
 and of seeing the perpetuation of our
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 139 
 
 house ensured, would suffice to cure 
 me." 
 
 I felt moved at the mild and gentle 
 pleading of the sufferer. The young 
 woman made no reply. After a minute 
 or two, the Count, who looked entreat- 
 ingly at her, pursued : 
 
 " Odile, you refuse to make your 
 father happy. My God ! I only ask 
 for hope ; I fix no time ! I do not seek 
 to control your choice ! We will go 
 to court, and choose from a hundred 
 noble suitors. Who would not be 
 proud to win my daughter's hand? 
 You shall be free to decide for your- 
 self." 
 
 He paused. Nothing is more pain- 
 ful to a stranger than these family 
 discussions. There are so many con- 
 flicting interests, deep emotions, and
 
 I4O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 sacred feelings involved, that our innate 
 delicacy demands that we hold aloof 
 from such scenes. I was pained, and 
 would gladly have withdrawn, but the 
 circumstances did not permit of it. 
 
 " Father," said Odile, as if to evade 
 further insistence on the sick man's 
 part, "you will recover. Heaven will 
 not take you from us who love you so 
 dearly. If you only knew with what 
 loving fervor I pray for you ! " 
 
 " That is not answering my ques- 
 tion," said the Count drily. " What 
 objection have you to my proposal ? 
 Is it not just and natural ? Must I 
 be deprived of the consolations ac- 
 corded the most wretched ? Have I 
 made use of force or trickery ? " 
 
 " No, father ! " 
 
 " Then why do you refuse me ? "
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 
 
 " My resolution is taken ; I have con- 
 secrated myself to God." 
 
 So much firmness in so frail a be- 
 ing astonished me. She stood there 
 like the sculptured Madonna in Hugh's 
 Tower, fragile, calm, impassive. 
 
 The eyes of the Count glowed with 
 feverish brightness. I endeavored to 
 prevail upon the Countess, as best I 
 could by signs, to give him a grain of 
 hope, that his growing agitation might 
 be calmed; but she did not appear to 
 see me. 
 
 " So," he cried in a voice choked with 
 emotion, " you will see your father per- 
 ish ! A single word would save his life, 
 a word from your lips, and you will 
 not pronounce it." 
 
 " Life is not within the gift of man, 
 but of God alone," she murmured;
 
 142 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 "a word from me could be of no 
 avail." 
 
 " These are nothing but pious max- 
 ims," cried the Count bitterly, "to ease 
 your conscience in refusing to do 
 your duty ! Has not God commanded, 
 ' Honor thy father and thy mother ' ? " 
 
 " I do honor you, my father," she re- 
 plied gently ; " but it is my duty not to 
 marry." 
 
 I could hear the Count grind his 
 teeth. He lay for a few moments, 
 apparently calm, then he suddenly 
 sprang up. 
 
 "Out of my sight!" he screamed; 
 " your presence is hideous to me ! " 
 
 Then turning to me : 
 
 " Doctor," he cried with a savage 
 smile, " have you a poison about you, 
 a poison that slays with the quick-
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 143 
 
 ness of a lightning flash ? It is only 
 merciful to give it to me ! Ah, God ! 
 If you knew how I suffer ! " 
 
 His features worked convulsively ; 
 he became livid. Odile had risen and 
 moved towards the door. 
 
 " Stay ! " he howled ; " I have not 
 cursed you yet ! " 
 
 Up to this point, I had restrained 
 myself, not daring to interfere between 
 the father and his child ; but I could 
 endure it no longer. 
 
 " Monsieur," I exclaimed ; " in the 
 name of your own health, in the name 
 of reason, calm yourself! Your life 
 depends upon it ! " 
 
 " What matters my life ? What 
 matters the future? Oh, if I were 
 only done with it all ! " 
 
 His excitement increased with every
 
 144 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 moment. I feared lest, crazed with 
 passion, he might spring from the bed 
 and destroy his own child. She, still 
 calm, but with cheeks as pale as his, 
 fell on her knees before the threshold. 
 At this moment, I succeeded in getting 
 the Count to swallow a few drops of lau- 
 danum. He fell back with a long sigh, 
 and soon his irregular breathing gave 
 way to deep and leaden slumber. 
 
 Odile arose, and her old governess, 
 who had remained silent throughout, 
 left the room with her. Sperver and 
 I watched them as they slowly with- 
 drew. There was a calm grandeur in 
 the step of the Countess that bespoke 
 a consciousness of duty fulfilled. 
 
 When she had disappeared in the 
 shadows of the corridor, Gideon turned 
 to me : " Well, Gaston," he said gravely ;
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 147 
 
 " what do you think of this ? " I bowed 
 my head without replying. The unac- 
 countable firmness of the young woman 
 dumbfounded me. 
 
 " Come Gaston ! " exclaimed Sperver 
 indignantly, " let's get a breath of fresh 
 air ! I'm strangling here ! " and he 
 pulled me out of the chamber. 
 
 " That is the happiness of high-born 
 people ! " he exclaimed, as we stepped 
 into the hall. " What is the use of be- 
 ing master of Nideck, with its fine 
 Castle, forests, and game-preserves, and 
 all else, if your own daughter can blight 
 your life, even cause your death, per- 
 haps, by a nod of her head or a mincing 
 refusal to obey your will ? It would be 
 a thousand times better to come into 
 the world the son of a humble wood- 
 cutter, and live in the quiet accomplish-
 
 148 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 ment of your labor. Come down to my 
 den, and we will drink a glass and have 
 a pipe. I know nothing better to put 
 care to flight than a good stiff glass." 
 
 It was then about nine o'clock. The 
 sky, so clear at daybreak, had become 
 overcast ; the north wind was whirling 
 the flakes against the window-panes, 
 and I could hardly distinguish the 
 peaks of the neighboring mountains. 
 We were descending the staircase 
 which led to the main courtyard, when, 
 at a turn of the corridor, we came face 
 to face with Tobias Offenloch. The 
 worthy majordomo was puffing like a 
 porpoise. 
 
 " Hullo !" said Gideon ; " where are 
 you going in such a hurry ? " 
 
 "To tell the Countess that the Baron 
 Zimmer begs the privilege of paying
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 149 
 
 his respects to her before quitting the 
 Castle." 
 
 " Baron Zimmer ? " 
 
 " Yes, the stranger who came in last 
 night at midnight." 
 
 " To be sure," replied Sperver ; " I 
 was forgetting." 
 
 We went along. A moment later we 
 reached our destination. My compan- 
 ion pushed open the door and we went 
 in. 
 
 We sat down before the hearth. 
 Gideon possessed himself of a cork- 
 screw and two bottles, and soon our 
 glasses were filled and pipes aglow. 
 We were about to begin a discussion of 
 the singular scene of a few moments 
 before, when Offenloch appeared, but 
 not alone, for to our astonishment we 
 saw the Baron Zimmer and his valet
 
 I5O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 following at his heels. We rose. The 
 young Baron approached to greet us 
 with uncovered head, and I studied 
 with interest his handsome face, pale 
 and haughty, with long, black locks 
 falling about it. He paused before 
 Sperver. 
 
 " Monsieur," he said, with that pure 
 Saxon accent that no dialect can imi- 
 tate, " I come to ask you about the 
 country hereabouts. Mademoiselle the 
 Countess of Nideck assures me that no 
 one can inform me as well as yourself 
 in regard to the passes of the Wald 
 Horn." 
 
 " I believe that is true, monsieur," 
 replied Sperver with a low bow ; " and 
 I am entirely at your service." 
 
 " Imperative reasons compel me to 
 set out in the midst of this storm," re-
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 151 
 
 sumed the Baron, pointing to the eddy- 
 ing flakes outside ; " I must reach the 
 Wald Horn, six leagues from here, 
 before nightfall." 
 
 " That will be a difficult matter, mon- 
 sieur, for all the roads are blocked 
 with snow." 
 
 " I know it, but it must be done." 
 
 " A guide will be indispensable in 
 that case. I will go with you if you 
 like, monsieur, or Sebalt Kraft, the 
 master of the hounds; he knows every 
 inch of the mountain from Unterwal- 
 den to the Hunsdruck." 
 
 " Thank you for your obliging offer ; 
 I appreciate it most fully, but I can- 
 not accept it ; your instructions will be 
 sufficient." 
 
 Sperver bowed again, and going over 
 to a window, threw it wide open. A
 
 152 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 quick gust of wind whirled the snow 
 clear across the room and closed the 
 door with a crash. I remained stand- 
 ing with one hand resting on the back 
 of my chair; Tobias took refuge from 
 the cold draught in a corner of the 
 chamber. The Baron and his servant 
 approached the window. 
 
 " Messieurs," said Sperver, trying to 
 make himself heard above the noise of 
 the storm, and pointing towards the 
 horizon, " this is the lay of the country. 
 If the day were clear, I would take you 
 up to the signal-tower, where we could 
 see the whole of the Black Forest, until 
 it becomes lost to view in the distance ; 
 but as it is, I will do my best from here. 
 Yonder you see the peak of the Alten- 
 berg, and further off, in the same line, 
 just back of that white ridge, the Wald
 
 .. 
 
 "'YONDER YOU SEE THE PEAK OF THE ALTENBERG. 1 "
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 155 
 
 Horn, swept by the tempest. You 
 must go straight towards the Wald 
 Horn. There, if the snow permits, you 
 will see from the top of the mitre- 
 shaped rock that is called the Roche 
 Fendue, three peaks : the Behrenkopf, 
 the Geierstein, and the Triefels. It is 
 by the last one, the furthest to the 
 right, that you must make your way. 
 A torrent divides the valley of the 
 Rhethal, but it must be frozen over 
 now. However, if it is impossible to 
 proceed further, you will find on your 
 left, as you climb the summit, a cavern 
 half-way to the top, known as the Roche 
 Creuse. You can pass the night there, 
 and to-morrow, in all probability, when 
 the wind has fallen, you will see the 
 Wald Horn." 
 
 " Many thanks for your kindness."
 
 156 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " If you are fortunate enough to 
 meet with a charcoal burner," contin- 
 ued Sperver, " he may be able to show 
 you where the torrent can be forded, 
 but I doubt if there is any such place 
 at this season. Have a special care to 
 keep around the base of the Behren- 
 kopf, for if you get much to either side 
 of it, the descent is impossible ; there 
 are precipices everywhere." 
 
 During these observations, I was 
 watching Sperver, whose clear, ready 
 speech accentuated each sentence with 
 great precision, and I glanced occasion- 
 ally at the Baron, who was listening 
 with singular attention. No obstacle 
 seemed to daunt him. His old servant 
 appeared no less resolute than he. 
 
 Just as they were leaving the win- 
 dow, a ray of light broke through the
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 157 
 
 clouds as the tempest seized the 
 masses of snow and whirled them for 
 an instant back upon each other like a 
 floating drapery, and during this in- 
 stant the three peaks behind the Alten- 
 berg were disclosed to view, serving to 
 illustrate the details which Sperver had 
 just given. Then the blizzard once 
 more closed in. 
 
 " Good ! " said the Baron ; " I have 
 seen my destination, and thanks to 
 your instructions, I hope to reach it." 
 
 Sperver bowed without replying, and 
 the young man and his servant, to- 
 gether with Offenloch, having saluted 
 us, silently withdrew. 
 
 Gideon closed the window, and ad- 
 dressing himself to me : " The Old 
 Nick must possess a man," he said, 
 laughing, " to set out in such weather !
 
 158 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I shouldn't have the heart to turn a 
 wolf outdoors. I believe I have seen 
 the young man's face before, and the 
 old one's, too, if I could only think 
 where. Let us drink! Your health, 
 Gaston ! " 
 
 I had gone over to the window, and 
 as the Baron Zimmer and his servant 
 climbed into their saddles in the mid- 
 dle of the courtyard, I saw, in spite of 
 the snow that filled the air, a curtain 
 slightly raised in the tower opposite, 
 and the pale face of the Countess ap- 
 pear, glancing long and furtively at the 
 young man. 
 
 "Ha, Gaston, what are you doing?" 
 cried Sperver. 
 
 " Nothing. I am only looking at the 
 strangers' horses." 
 
 " Oh, yes, the Wallachians ! I saw
 
 UNSHEATHES HIS CLAWS. 159 
 
 them in the stable this morning. They 
 are fine creatures." 
 
 The horsemen departed at full speed. 
 The curtain in the tower window 
 dropped.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE RELATES HER 
 EXPERIENCE. 
 
 I again saw Odile her 
 expression was one of complete 
 wretchedness ; her swollen eyes told me 
 that she had been weeping long, and 
 her extreme pallor and weariness cut 
 me to the heart. 
 
 " My dear mademoiselle," I said to 
 her, with forced cheerfulness, " we must 
 not be despondent. The turning-point 
 of the malady must soon arrive, and this 
 crisis safely passed, we may expect to 
 see the Count in as good health as 
 before."
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. l6l 
 
 She looked at me with an expression 
 of gratitude for my wish to console her, 
 but underlying it, I felt there was a 
 quiet conviction to the contrary, and I 
 realized the weakness of my position 
 when I reflected that she might very 
 probably be possessed of facts, unknown 
 to me, which entirely disproved my 
 words. 
 
 " At all events," she replied, after a 
 pause of some moments, " it is grateful 
 to know that there is some one who 
 shares our anxieties and has the desire 
 really at heart to mitigate them." 
 
 " You speak truly, mademoiselle," I 
 returned. " I desire nothing so much 
 as to see peace and contentment re- 
 stored to this house, and I only wish 
 that I possessed a thousandfold more 
 power to accomplish it than I do. But
 
 1 62 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 whatever my skill is, it shall be devoted 
 to this one end ; and I shall not despair 
 of success until all my efforts have 
 proved unavailing." 
 
 I was surprised at my own warmth a 
 moment after ; but Odile's glance satis- 
 fied me that I had not transgressed 
 the limits of that reserve with which 
 she surrounded herself. 
 
 " And furthermore," I continued, en- 
 couraged by this fact to speak what 
 I had for some time meditated, " if I 
 might add the advice of a friend to 
 that of the doctor, I should beg of you 
 to spare yourself as much as possible in 
 the matter of night watches and too un- 
 remitting a care of the Count, for a 
 true woman's strength is exhausted 
 long before her will, and you owe it 
 to your friends as well as to yourself
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 163 
 
 to preserve the life which God has 
 entrusted to you." 
 
 Odile lowered her eyes, then raised 
 them; and as I approached and lifted 
 to my lips the hand which she gave 
 me, I surprised there a look which 
 opened up to me a world of specula- 
 tion. 
 
 I returned to my chamber, where I 
 found an hour none too long to calm 
 in a measure the exuberance of feeling 
 to which my moments with Odile in- 
 variably gave rise. 
 
 Inclination made me quite as much 
 concerned to spare Odile the suffering 
 which her father's revolting harshness 
 in his moments of delirium caused her, 
 as to restore the Count to health, for 
 after the morning's experience I felt 
 that my pity for the sick man had, in
 
 164 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 spite of myself, largely given place to 
 loathing; and I felt too, with Sperver, 
 that I could throttle him as he contin- 
 ued to heap injuries upon his daughter's 
 defenceless head. 
 
 However, there was but one way to 
 alter the present condition of things 
 and to establish a better one; namely, 
 to effect the Count's cure, and I re- 
 solved that the best effort of my life 
 should be expended here. Meanwhile 
 I knew not where to begin. Medicines 
 used otherwise than as opiates seemed 
 lacking in the smallest efficacy. I saw 
 nothing for it but to await develop- 
 ments. 
 
 To remonstrate with Odile in the 
 matter of the vow which she had taken 
 was clearly out of the question, though 
 I was curious to see if any yielding on
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 165 
 
 her part would effect the change in her 
 father's condition which he averred it 
 would. 
 
 And the reason of her absolute re- 
 fusal to entertain even the thought of 
 marriage ? What could it be ? She 
 was not without feeling, a fact suffi- 
 ciently demonstrated by her unswerv- 
 ing devotion to the Count. Nor did it 
 seem to me that she could regard with 
 disdain the fulfilment of that position 
 which is the noblest aim and achieve- 
 ment of womankind, and which she 
 was so eminently fitted by every cir- 
 cumstance of fortune to occupy and 
 adorn. It could not be that there 
 was any lack of understanding; for at 
 times, when I surprised her glance rest- 
 ing upon me, I read in it a depth of 
 sensibility that seemed almost unfath-
 
 1 66 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 omable ; and that its possessor was all 
 kindness, in the strongest and best 
 sense of the term, I was convinced. 
 Of the answer to this riddle, it seemed 
 then, I must forever remain in igno- 
 rance ; but while any chance remained 
 to solve it, I was determined to do so 
 at all costs. 
 
 Meanwhile the Count's illness con- 
 tinued its course. All that Sperver 
 had told me verified itself. Sometimes 
 the Count, starting up and leaning on 
 his elbow with outstretched neck and 
 staring eyes, would mutter, " She is 
 coming ! She is coming ! " Then Gid- 
 eon would shake his head and climb 
 the signal-tower; but in vain did he 
 look to right and left : the Black Plague 
 was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 After long reflection upon this strange
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 167 
 
 malady, I had finally persuaded myself 
 that the Count was deranged. The 
 singular influence which the old crea- 
 ture exerted upon his mind, his alter- 
 nate periods of delirium and calm, all 
 served to strengthen me in this opinion. 
 " Unknown chains unite his fate with 
 that of the Black Plague," I said to my- 
 self. " That woman may have been 
 young and beautiful in the past; who 
 knows ? " and my imagination, once 
 launched in this direction, soon built up 
 a romance ; but I was careful to men- 
 tion nothing of my thoughts, Sperver 
 would never have forgiven me for en- 
 tertaining suspicions of a relationship 
 between his master and the hag. 
 
 During these anxious days, the one 
 bright thing in my life was Odile's 
 presence. Had it not been for this, I
 
 1 68 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 doubt if I should longer have preserved 
 any degree of hope. 
 
 I know not if I myself quite realized 
 the extent of my growing affection for 
 Odile, but certain it is that with each 
 day her image became more and more 
 identified with all that I held dearest in 
 the world, and as I moved about the old 
 Castle halls and chambers, the library, 
 the drawing-room, the chapel, her fair 
 figure and light step accompanied me 
 in fancy, and I likened her to the deli- 
 cate, fragrant rose, which in summer 
 blossomed and waved from the rough 
 interstices of the Castle's battlements. 
 
 Things were in this pass when one 
 morning, at about eight o'clock, I 
 was walking up and down in Hugh's 
 Tower thinking of the Count's malady, 
 the outcome of which I could foresee
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 169 
 
 no more clearly than before, and cudg- 
 elling my wits to determine what was 
 next to be done. Suddenly I was roused 
 from these cheerless reflections by three 
 discreet taps on my door. 
 
 " Come in ! " 
 
 The door opened, and Marie Lagoutte 
 entered, dropping a low courtesy. The 
 worthy woman's arrival annoyed me a 
 good deal ; I was on the point of asking 
 her to leave me for the present, when 
 an expression of unusual seriousness 
 on her face aroused my curiosity. She 
 had thrown a large red-and-green shawl 
 over her shoulders, and stood with her 
 lips pursed up and her eyes on the floor. 
 It surprised me not a little to see her, 
 after a moment, approach the door and 
 open it again, apparently to make sure 
 that no one had followed her.
 
 I7O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " What does she want of me ? " I 
 asked myself. " What do all these 
 precautions mean ? " I was puzzled. 
 
 " Monsieur," she said at length, draw- 
 ing nearer me, " I beg your pardon for 
 disturbing you so early in the morning, 
 but I have something important to tell 
 you." 
 
 " Pray go on ! What is it about ? " 
 
 " It is about the Count." 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 " Yes, monsieur ; you probably know 
 that I sat up with him last night. " 
 
 " I know you did. Pray sit down ! " 
 
 She seated herself in a chair opposite 
 me, a big, leather-covered armchair, and 
 I remarked with interest the energetic 
 character of the face which had seemed 
 to me only grotesque on the evening of 
 my arrival at the Castle.
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. I "Jl 
 
 " Monsieur," she went on after a brief 
 pause, fixing her dark eyes on me, " I 
 must tell you first of all that I am not a 
 timid woman. I have seen many things 
 in my life, things so terrible that noth- 
 ing astonishes me any more. When 
 any one has passed through Rossbach, 
 Leuthen, and Zorndorf, he has left fear 
 behind him on the road." 
 
 " You speak truly, madame ! " 
 
 " I don't tell you this from a desire to 
 boast, but only to convince you that I 
 don't lose my wits at nothing, and 
 that you may depend upon what I 
 say when I tell you I have seen some- 
 thing." 
 
 " What the deuce can she have to tell 
 me ? " I said to myself. 
 
 " Well ! " she continued ; " last night, 
 between nine and ten, just as I was
 
 172 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 starting up to bed, Offenloch came in 
 and said to me : 
 
 " ' Marie, you must sit up with the 
 Count to-night.' 
 
 " I was surprised at this, and re- 
 plied : 
 
 " ' What ! sit up with the Count ! Isn't 
 madame going to sit up with him her- 
 self?' 
 
 " ' No ; our mistress is ill, and you 
 must take her place.' 
 
 " 111, poor child ! I was sure it 
 would end that way, and I told her so 
 a hundred times ; but what can you 
 do, monsieur? Young people never 
 have any thought for the future, 
 and then, it was her own father, too. 
 So I took my knitting, said good night 
 to Toby, and went to the master's room. 
 Sperver, who was waiting for me, went
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 173 
 
 off to bed as soon as I came in, and I 
 was left all alone." 
 
 Here the good woman paused, slowly 
 breathed up a pinch of snuff, and 
 seemed to be brushing up her memory. 
 I had become attentive. 
 
 "At about half past ten," she con- 
 tinued, " I was knitting away beside 
 the bed, and every now and then I 
 raised the curtain to see how the Count 
 was doing ; he never stirred ; he was 
 sleeping like a child. All went well up 
 to eleven o'clock ; then I began to feel 
 tired ; when you are old, monsieur, do 
 what you will, you fall asleep in spite of 
 yourself; and then, too, I didn't think 
 anything was going to happen. I said 
 to myself, ' He will sleep like a top till 
 morning ! ' 
 
 " Towards midnight the wind died
 
 174 TH E COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 down, and the big windows that had 
 been rattling all the evening were 
 quiet. I got up to see if anything 
 was going on outside. The night was 
 as black as a bottle of ink, and I went 
 back to my armchair. I took another 
 look at the sick man and I saw that he 
 hadn't stirred ; then I went on knitting. 
 After a few minutes, I fell slowly, slowly 
 to sleep. My chair was as soft as down 
 and the room was very warm ; I couldn't 
 keep awake. 
 
 " I had been asleep about an hour, 
 when a draught of cold air woke me. 
 I opened my eyes, and what did I see ? 
 The long, middle window was wide 
 open, the curtains were drawn, and 
 the Count was standing upright on 
 the window-sill ! " 
 
 "The Count?"
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 175 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Impossible ! He cannot move ! " 
 
 " I couldn't believe my eyes ; but, nev- 
 ertheless, I saw him as plainly as I see 
 you this minute. He held a torch in 
 his hand, and the air was so still that its 
 flame never wavered." 
 
 I stared at Marie Lagoutte, stupefied. 
 
 " At first," she went on, " when I saw 
 the master in this extraordinary posi- 
 tion, it made such an effect on me that 
 I wanted to scream ; but then I thought, 
 ' Perhaps he is walking in his sleep ; 
 if you cry out and wake him he will 
 fall and be dashed to pieces.' So I 
 kept still and watched him, as you can 
 fancy. He raised his torch slowly, and 
 then he lowered it, and he did this three 
 times, like a man making signals to 
 some one; then he threw it down on
 
 176 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 to the ramparts, closed the window, and 
 drew the curtains; he passed before 
 me without appearing to see me, and 
 got into bed again muttering Heaven 
 knows what." 
 
 " Are you certain you saw all this, 
 madame ? " 
 
 " Perfectly ! " 
 
 " It is strange ! " 
 
 " Yes, I know it, but it is true ! Good- 
 ness, how astonished I was for a mo- 
 ment ! Then, when I saw him go back 
 to bed again and cross his hands over 
 his breast as if nothing had happened, 
 I said to myself, ' Marie Anne, you have 
 had a bad dream ; that is the only expla- 
 nation of it ! ' and I went over to the 
 window. But the torch was still burn- 
 ing ; it had fallen into a bush a little to 
 the left of the third gate, and you could
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 177 
 
 see it glowing like a spark. There was 
 no denying it ! " 
 
 Marie Lagoutte looked at me for 
 some minutes without speaking. 
 
 " You can imagine, monsieur, that 
 there was no more sleep for me that 
 night. I was on tenter-hooks ; every 
 moment I thought I heard something 
 behind my chair. I wasn't afraid, but 
 I was uneasy; it worried me. This 
 morning, at the first signs of day, I ran 
 to wake up Offenloch, and I sent him 
 to the Count's bedside. As I went 
 along the corridor I noticed that the 
 first torch on the right was missing from 
 its ring. I went down the stairs, and 
 I found it in the little path that leads 
 to the Black Forest. See ! here it is ! " 
 
 And she took from under her apron 
 the end of a torch, which she laid
 
 178 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 on the table. I was thunderstruck. 
 How could this man, whom but the 
 night before I had seen so weak and 
 exhausted, have risen from his bed, 
 walked to the window, and opened and 
 closed the heavy sash ? What did this 
 midnight signal mean ? Wide awake 
 as I was, it seemed to me as if I, too, 
 had witnessed the strange scene, and 
 my thoughts reverted involuntarily to 
 the Black Plague. I roused myself at 
 last from introspection, and I saw Marie 
 Lagoutte had risen and was about to 
 depart. 
 
 " Madame," I said, as I moved with 
 her to the door, " you have acted wisely 
 in telling me this, and I thank you 
 heartily for doing so. You have told 
 no one else of this adventure ? " 
 
 " No one, monsieur. Such things
 
 MARIE LAGOUTTE. 179 
 
 are only to be confided to the priest 
 and doctor." 
 
 " Ah ! I see you are a very sensible 
 person." 
 
 These words were exchanged on my 
 threshold. At this moment, Sperver 
 appeared at the end of the gallery, fol- 
 lowed by his friend Sebalt. 
 
 " Ho, Gaston ! " he cried, hurrying 
 up ; "I have news for you ! " 
 
 " Well, well ! " I exclaimed ; " more 
 news. The Old Harry is most cer- 
 tainly taking a hand in our affairs." 
 
 Marie Lagoutte had disappeared. 
 The steward and his comrade entered 
 the Tower.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 
 
 OPERVER'S face wore a look of 
 supreme indignation ; Sebalt's one 
 of bitter irony. The master of the 
 hounds, whose melancholy appearance 
 had struck me during my first days 
 at Nideck, was as thin as a rail ; he 
 wore a leather jacket fastened at the 
 waist by a belt, from which hung a 
 hunting-knife with a bone handle ; long 
 leather gaiters reached above his knees, 
 and his horn hung at his elbow from a 
 shoulder belt that went from right to 
 left across his chest. On his head was 
 a broad-brimmed hat with a heron's
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. l8l 
 
 plume in the band, and his profile, ter- 
 minating in a yellowish beard, sug- 
 gested that of a goat. 
 
 "Yes," continued Sperver ; " I have 
 some news for you ! " 
 
 He threw himself into a chair, bury- 
 ing his face in his hands, while Sebalt 
 quietly drew his trumpet over his head 
 and laid it on the table. 
 
 " Come, Sebalt," cried Gideon, " speak 
 out!" 
 
 " The witch is roaming about the 
 Castle." 
 
 This information would have failed 
 to interest me had it not been for the 
 interview with Marie Lagoutte; but 
 now it made a deep impression upon 
 me. There was some mysterious con- 
 nection between the Lord of Nideck 
 and this horrid creature, the nature of
 
 1 82 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 which was an enigma to me. I felt that 
 I must solve it at all costs. 
 
 " One moment, gentlemen ! one mo- 
 ment ! " I said to Sperver and his com- 
 rade ; " first of all, I want to know where 
 this Black Plague comes from." 
 
 Sperver stared at me in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Heaven only knows ! " he cried. 
 
 " At precisely what time does she 
 come within sight of Nideck? " 
 
 " I told you before ! Just a week 
 before Christmas every year." 
 
 " And she stays ? " 
 
 " From a fortnight to three weeks." 
 
 " Is she ever seen except at that time, 
 either going or coming ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then we shall have to catch her ! " 
 I exclaimed. " This is not natural ! We
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 183 
 
 must find out what she wants, who she 
 is, and where she comes from." 
 
 " Catch her ! " said the master of the 
 hounds, with an odd smile. " Catch 
 her, indeed ! " and he shook his head 
 meaningly. 
 
 " My dear Gaston," began Sperver, 
 " your suggestion is all well enough, but 
 it is easier said than done. If I could 
 send a bullet after her, that would be 
 another matter, for I can always come 
 within gunshot of her, but this the 
 Count forbids; and as to taking her 
 otherwise, you might as well try to 
 catch a squirrel by the tail. Listen to 
 Sebalt's story, and you shall see for 
 yourself." 
 
 The person thus addressed, sitting 
 on the end of the table with his legs 
 crossed, looked at me and began :
 
 184 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " This morning, as I was coming 
 down the Altenberg, I followed the 
 hollow Nideck road. The snow was on 
 a level with its edges. I was going 
 along, thinking of nothing in particular, 
 when a foot-track caught my eye ; it 
 was deep, and went straight across the 
 path ; the creature had come down one 
 side of the bank and gone up on the 
 other. It wasn't a hare's foot, for that 
 makes hardly any mark in the snow; 
 nor the cloven hoof of the wild boar, nor 
 a wolf's paw either ; it was a deep hole. 
 I stopped and brushed away the snow 
 that was collecting round it. It was 
 the Black Plague's track ! " 
 
 " How do you know that? " 
 
 " How do I know it ? I know the 
 old hag's footprint better than her fig- 
 ure, for I always go along with my eyes
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 185 
 
 on the ground. I can recognize any 
 one in the country around by his foot- 
 tracks, and a child couldn't have mis- 
 taken this one." 
 
 " What was there about it so very 
 different from any other ? " 
 
 " It is no larger than your hand ; it 
 is finely shaped, the heel a trifle long, 
 the outline clean, and the great toe lies 
 close to the others, as if they were 
 pressed into a slipper. It is a beauti- 
 ful foot. Twenty years ago, monsieur, 
 I should have fallen in love with such 
 a foot ! Every time I come across one 
 like it, it makes a great impression on 
 me. Heavens ! how can such a foot 
 belong to the Black Plague?" And 
 the good fellow fixed his eyes on the 
 floor with a dismal air. 
 
 " Well, Sebalt, go on ! " said Sperver 
 impatiently.
 
 1 86 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " To be sure ! Well, I recognized 
 the track, and I set out to follow it. 
 I was in hopes of catching the witch in 
 her den, but you shall hear what a dance 
 she led me. I climbed up the roadside, 
 only two gunshots from Nideck, and 
 struck off into the bushes, keeping the 
 trail always on my right; it ran along 
 the edge of the Rhethal. Suddenly it 
 jumped over the ditch into the woods. 
 I kept on, but happening to glance a 
 little to the left of it, I discovered an- 
 other track that had been following the 
 Black Plague's. I stopped; 'Could it 
 be Sperver's ? or Kasper Trumpf's ? or 
 any of the other people's ? ' I asked my- 
 self. I stooped over and examined it 
 closely, and you can fancy my surprise 
 when I saw that it belonged to nobody 
 in this part of the country. I know
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 187 
 
 every footprint from here to Tubingen, 
 and it was none of these. The owner 
 must have come from a distance. The 
 boot for it was a kind of soft, well- 
 made boot, with a spur that left a little 
 rowelled line in the snow behind it 
 instead of being rounded at the end, 
 was square; the sole, thin and without 
 nails, bent at every step. The pace 
 was short and hurried, like that of a 
 man from twenty to twenty-five. I no- 
 ticed the stitches in the leather at this 
 glance, and I have never seen finer." 
 
 " Who could it have been ? " 
 
 Sperver shrugged his shoulders and 
 remained silent. 
 
 " Who can have any object in follow- 
 ing the old woman ? " I asked, turning 
 to Sperver. 
 
 " The devil himself, perhaps," he re- 
 plied.
 
 1 88 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 We sat for some minutes, each one 
 busied with his own reflections. 
 
 " I started on again," pursued Sebalt 
 finally; "the tracks led up the moun- 
 tain side amongst the fir-trees, and then 
 turned off around the base of the Roche 
 Fendue. When I saw this, I said to 
 myself, ' Ah ! you old hag ! If there 
 was much game of your sort, the sport 
 of hunting would go to the dogs. It 
 would be better to work as a galley 
 slave ! ' We came the two tracks and 
 I to the top of the Schneeberg. The 
 wind had swept here and the snow was 
 up to my waist, but I must get on ! I 
 reached the banks of the Steinbach tor- 
 rent and there the Black Plague's foot- 
 prints ceased. I stopped, and saw that 
 after having tried up and down, the 
 gentleman's boots had taken the direc-
 
 SEE ALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 189 
 
 tion of the Tiefenbach. This was a 
 bad sign. I looked at the opposite 
 bank, but there was no sign of a track 
 there. The witch had waded either up 
 or down the stream, to break the scent. 
 Where should I go ? To right or left ? 
 In my uncertainty, by Jove, I came 
 back to Nideck." 
 
 " You have forgotten to tell the doc- 
 tor about her breakfast." 
 
 " To be sure, monsieur ! At the foot 
 of the Roche Fendue, I saw she had 
 lighted a fire ; the snow was black 
 around it ; and I laid my hand on the 
 spot, thinking that if it were still warm 
 the Plague could not be far away, but 
 it was as cold as ice. I noticed a snare 
 in the bushes close by." 
 
 " A snare ? " 
 
 "Yes; it seems the old creature
 
 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 knows how to manage traps. A hare 
 had been caught in it ; the impression 
 of his body was still there where he 
 had lain stretched out. The witch had 
 lighted the fire to cook him ; she knows 
 a thing or two, you see ! " 
 
 " Just to think," cried Sperver angrily, 
 " that this old wretch should find meat 
 to feed on, when so many honest peo- 
 ple of our villages are starving for 
 the want of a bit of bread ! It infu- 
 riates me ! If I only had her in my 
 clutches ! " 
 
 He had no time to finish his sen- 
 tence. The next moment, we were 
 staring into each other's ashy faces, 
 speechless and immovable. A howl 
 the howl of a wolf on a bitter winter's 
 night a cry that you must have heard 
 to comprehend in the least, the agonized
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 
 
 plaint of the savage beast, was echo- 
 ing through the Castle, and seemed not 
 far from us. It rose from below, so fear- 
 fully distinct that we fancied the wild 
 animal just outside our door. 
 
 We often hear quoted, as the most 
 terrible of sounds, the roar of the lion, 
 as he rends the silence of approaching 
 night in the immensity of the desert. 
 But if the parched and burning sands 
 of Africa have their voice, like the sound 
 of the autumn tempest growling among 
 the crags of the forest, so, too, have the 
 vast, snowy plains of the North their 
 characteristic cry, that accords so well 
 with the dreary winter landscape, where 
 all is sleeping, and not even a dead leaf 
 rustles to disturb the perfect stillness ; 
 and this cry, it is the howl of the 
 wolf!
 
 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Rousing himself with difficulty, Sper- 
 ver sprang from his chair, rushed to the 
 window, and stared down at the foot of 
 the Tower. 
 
 " Can a wolf have fallen into the 
 moat ? " he cried. 
 
 But the howls came from within the 
 Castle. Then turning to us : 
 
 " Gaston ! Sebalt ! " he cried, " come 
 on!" 
 
 We flew down the stairs four steps at 
 a time, and rushed into the armory. 
 Sperver drew his hunting-knife, and 
 Sebalt followed his example ; they pre- 
 ceded me along the gallery. The cries 
 were guiding us towards the chamber 
 of the sick man. Sperver spoke no 
 more, and hurried his steps. I felt a 
 shudder pass over me ; something fore- 
 warned us that an abominable scene
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 193 
 
 was about to transpire before our 
 eyes. 
 
 As we approached the Count's apart- 
 ment, we found the whole household 
 afoot hunters, kennel-keepers, and 
 scullions, running this way and that, 
 and asking each other, " What is the 
 matter? where are the cries coming 
 from ? " Without waiting for anything, 
 we dashed into the corridor which led 
 to the Count's chamber, and in the 
 vestibule we encountered the good 
 Marie Lagoutte, who alone had had 
 the courage to proceed there before us. 
 She was holding in her arms the young 
 Countess, who had fainted, and was hur- 
 rying her away as rapidly as she could. 
 So agitated was I at this pathetic sight 
 that for the moment I forgot the Count, 
 and I sprang forward to Odile's aid ;
 
 194 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 but Marie Lagoutte begged me to hurry 
 to the Count, as her mistress was only 
 in a faint and would soon revive, when 
 she would be terribly distressed if I 
 were not at her father's bedside. Real- 
 izing that in spite of my preferences 
 my first duty was to my patient, I reluc- 
 tantly quitted them, and hastened to 
 overtake my companions. 
 
 We reached the Count's room. The 
 howls were coming from within. 
 
 We stared at one another, trying in 
 vain to explain the presence of such a 
 guest. Our ideas were in utter confu- 
 sion. Sperver threw open the door, 
 and with his hunting-knife tightly 
 grasped, started to enter the room ; but 
 he paused on the threshold, motion- 
 less as a stone. I glanced over his 
 shoulder, and the sight that presented
 
 "THEN UK WOULD RESUME HIS FRIGHTFUL CRIKS.
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 197 
 
 itself to my gaze froze the blood in my 
 veins. The Count of Nideck, crouch- 
 ing on all-fours on the bed, his head 
 bent forward and his eyes glowing 
 fiercely, was uttering these terrible 
 howls. He was the wolf! That low 
 forehead, that long, pointed face, that 
 bristling beard, that long, thin body, 
 and those wasted limbs, the expres- 
 sion, the cry, the attitude, all bespoke 
 the savage beast beneath a human mask. 
 At times he would stop for a second to 
 listen, and the tall curtains of the bed 
 would tremble like leaves. Then he 
 would resume his frightful cries. 
 
 Sperver, Sebalt, and I stood nailed to 
 the floor; we held our breath. Sud- 
 denly the Count stopped; like the 
 hunted animal that sniffs the breeze, 
 he raised his head and listened. Far,
 
 198 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 far away beneath the lofty arches of the 
 snow-clad pines, a cry was heard ; feeble 
 at first, it seemed to grow louder as it 
 was prolonged, and soon it rose clear 
 and strong above the roaring of the 
 storm. It was the she-wolf answering 
 its mate. 
 
 Sperver, turning towards me with 
 livid face, his arm pointing to the 
 mountain, cried : 
 
 " Listen, it is the witch ! " 
 
 The Count, motionless, with raised 
 head and extended neck, his mouth 
 wide open, and eyeballs glowing like 
 coals, seemed to understand the mean- 
 ing of the distant voice, lost in the 
 midst of the deserted gorges of the 
 Black Forest, and a certain savage joy 
 gleamed in his face. At this moment 
 Sperver cried in a broken voice :
 
 SEBALT TRACKS THE PLAGUE. 199 
 
 " Count of Nideck ! What are you 
 doing?" 
 
 The Count fell backwards as if thun- 
 derstruck. We rushed into the room 
 to his assistance. The third attack had 
 begun, and it was terrible to witness.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. THE 
 
 MIDNIGHT SCENE ON THE ALTENBERG. 
 
 " I ^HE Count of Nideck was in a 
 dying condition. All that art 
 might accomplish I had tried without 
 avail, and at that moment, when life and 
 death were struggling for the mastery, 
 I was compelled to stand idly by and 
 watch the sands of Time's hour-glass 
 run out. Towards midnight, the Count 
 seemed almost gone; his pulse beat 
 feebly, and at times seemed to stop. 
 Sometimes I thought the end was but 
 the question of a few moments. At 
 length, worn out with exhaustion and 
 anxiety, I bid the weeping Sperver re-
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 2OI 
 
 main with his master while I repaired 
 to the Tower to snatch a few moments' 
 sleep. 
 
 A bright fire was burning in my 
 chamber. I threw myself on the bed 
 without removing my clothes, and soon 
 fell into a heavy, troubled slumber. I 
 slept thus, with my face turned towards 
 the fire, whose rays danced upon the 
 polished flag-stones. After an hour, 
 the fire suddenly started up, and as it 
 often happens, the flame, rising and fall- 
 ing momentarily, beat upon the walls 
 its great red wings and tired my eyelids. 
 Lost in a vague slumber, I half opened 
 my eyes to see whence came these 
 alternate lights and shadows, when I 
 was brought wide awake by an appall- 
 ing sight. 
 
 At the further end of the hearth,
 
 2O2 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 hardly revealed by the light of a few 
 glowing embers, a dark profile was 
 dimly visible, the profile of the Black 
 Plague. At first, I thought it an hallu- 
 cination, the natural offspring of my 
 feverish thoughts. I raised myself on 
 my elbow, and stared fearfully in the 
 direction, real or fancied, of the image. 
 It was she indeed ! Calm and motion- 
 less she sat, her hands clasped about 
 her knees, just as I had seen her in the 
 snow, with her long, thin neck, sharp, 
 hooked nose, and thin lips tightly closed, 
 and she was warming herself before 
 the fire. 
 
 I was horrified. How could the crea- 
 ture have got into my room ? How 
 could she have climbed the Tower, be- 
 neath which precipices yawned on every 
 side ? Everything that Sperver had
 
 "I RAISED MYSELF ON MY ELBOW AND STARED 
 FEARFULLY IN THE DIRECTION."
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 2O5 
 
 told me concerning her mysterious 
 power seemed no whit exaggerated. 
 The vision of Lieverle growling against 
 the wall passed before me like a flash. 
 I huddled close in the alcove, hardly 
 daring to breathe, and watching this im- 
 movable silhouette as a mouse watches 
 a cat from the bottom of its hole. The 
 old woman stirred no more than the 
 chimney-breast cut in the solid rock, 
 and her lips moved as she mumbled 
 inarticulate words. 
 
 My heart beat painfully fast, and my 
 fear increased from moment to moment, 
 as I gazed on the motionless figure 
 amid the perfect silence. This lasted 
 perhaps a quarter of an hour, when the 
 fire catching a pine splinter, the flame 
 leaped up and a few rays penetrated to 
 the end of the room. This flash sufficed
 
 2O6 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 to show me the aged woman dressed in 
 an old gown of purple brocade that 
 shimmered violet and red in different 
 lights, with a heavy bracelet on her left 
 wrist and a gold arrow stuck through 
 her thick, gray hair, which was coiled 
 up on the back of her head. It was 
 like an apparition of past ages. 
 
 Still, the Plague could have no hos- 
 tile designs upon me, or she would have 
 profited by my slumber to execute them. 
 This thought was beginning to reassure 
 me, when she suddenly got up and 
 moved slowly towards my bed, holding 
 in her hand a torch which she had just 
 lighted at the fire. I now observed that 
 her eyes were fixed and haggard. I 
 made an effort to rise and cry out, but 
 not a muscle of my body would obey 
 my will, not a sound passed my lips,
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 2O7 
 
 and the old witch, bending over me be- 
 tween the parted curtains, fixed her 
 eyes on me with a strange smile. I 
 tried to spring upon her and cry for 
 help, but her glance paralyzed me as 
 the snake's look charms the tiny bird. 
 During this dumb contemplation, each 
 second seemed to me an eternity. What 
 was she about to do ? I was prepared 
 for anything. Suddenly she turned 
 her head, listened, and then crossing 
 the room with a rapid step, she opened 
 the door. At last I had recovered a 
 little courage ; an effort of the will 
 brought me to my feet, as if acted upon 
 by an invisible spring, and I followed 
 on the heels of the old woman, who 
 with one hand was holding her torch 
 above her head, and with the other kept 
 the hall-door wide open.
 
 2O8 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I was about to seize her by the hair 
 when, at the end of the long gallery, 
 beneath the oval archway that opened 
 upon the ramparts, I saw the Count 
 of Nideck! The Count of Nideck, 
 whom I thought dying, clad in a huge 
 wolf-skin, with its upper jaw projecting 
 like a visor over his eyebrows, the claws 
 resting on his shoulders, and the tail 
 dragging behind him over the flag- 
 stones. He wore heavy boots, a silver 
 clasp fastened the wolf-skin at his 
 throat, and his expression, except for 
 the dull, icy look in his eyes, bespoke 
 the strong man born to command, the 
 master. 
 
 In the presence of such a person- 
 age my ideas became vague and 
 confused. Flight was impossible. I 
 had presence of mind enough left, how-
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 2OQ 
 
 ever, to throw myself into an embra- 
 sure of the window. 
 
 The Count entered the chamber and 
 fixed upon the old woman a rigid stare. 
 They held a whispered conversation, of 
 which I was able to hear nothing, but 
 their gestures were full of meaning. 
 The old hag pointed to the bed. They 
 moved to the fireplace on tiptoe, and 
 there in the shadow of the triforium the 
 Black Plague unrolled a large bundle, 
 grinning hideously meanwhile. Hardly 
 had the Count caught sight of the sack, 
 before he sprang to the bedside and 
 disappeared between the curtains, which 
 stirred in a strange fashion. I could 
 only see one leg still resting on the 
 floor, and the wolf's tail moving back 
 and forth. They seemed to be enact- 
 ing a mock murder scene.
 
 2IO THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Nothing could have been more hor- 
 rible than this mute representation of 
 such an act. The old creature ap- 
 proached the bed in turn, and spread 
 out her sack on the floor beside it. The 
 curtains still moved, and their shadows 
 danced upon the walls. Then a great 
 movement succeeded. The old crea- 
 ture and the Count together crowded 
 the bed clothes into the sack, stamping 
 them down with the haste of a dog 
 scratching a hole in the earth, and the 
 Lord of Nideck, throwing the shapeless 
 bundle over his shoulder, started for the 
 door. A sheet dragged behind him, 
 and the old woman followed him with 
 her torch. They crossed the court. 
 
 My knees trembled and almost re- 
 fused to support my weight; a prayer 
 rose involuntarily to my lips. Two
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 2 1 I 
 
 minutes had not passed before I was on 
 their footsteps, dragged along by a 
 subtle, irresistible curiosity. I crossed 
 the court at a run, and was about to 
 enter the Gothic Tower, when I per- 
 ceived a deep, narrow pit at my feet, 
 and into its depths wound a staircase, 
 down which I saw the hag's torch turn- 
 ing, turning about the stone baluster 
 like a firefly, until it became lost in the 
 distance. 
 
 I descended in turn the first steps of 
 the staircase, guiding my course by the 
 distant glimmer, when it suddenly dis- 
 appeared. The old woman and the 
 Count had reached the bottom of the 
 precipice. Soon the steps ceased. I 
 looked around me and discovered on 
 my left hand a ray of moonlight that 
 found its way into the pit through a
 
 212 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 low door, across the nettles and bram- 
 bles laden with hoar-frost. I put aside 
 these bushes, clearing away the snow 
 with my feet, and found myself at the 
 foot of Hugh's donjon-tower. Who 
 would have supposed that such a hole 
 led up to the Castle ? Who had shown 
 it to the old woman? I did not stop 
 to answer these questions. The vast 
 plain lay before me, flooded with a light 
 almost equal to that of day. To the 
 right stretched the dark extent of the 
 Black Forest, with its perpendicular 
 rocks, its gorges and ravines. The 
 night air was still and bitter cold ; I 
 felt exalted by the keen atmosphere. 
 My first glance was to discover the 
 direction which the old woman and the 
 Count had taken. Their tall, dark 
 forms were moving slowly up the moun-
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 213 
 
 tain side some two hundred paces in 
 advance of me, and stood out against 
 the background of the heavens studded 
 with innumerable stars. I came close 
 up to them at the bottom of the next 
 ravine. The Count moved slowly on, 
 the winding-sheet still dragging behind 
 him. His attitude and movements, like 
 those of his companion, were automatic 
 in their precision. 
 
 On they went, some twenty paces 
 before me, following the hollow road to 
 the Altenberg, now in the shadow, now 
 in the full light, for the moon was shin- 
 ing with surprising brilliancy. A few 
 clouds followed her, and seemed as if 
 stretching out their great arms to seize 
 her; but she evaded them, and her rays, 
 cold as a blade of steel, cut me to the 
 heart.
 
 214 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I would gladly have turned back, but 
 an invisible power impelled me to fol- 
 low this funeral procession. Even to 
 this hour, I still see in fancy the path 
 that winds beneath the colonnades of 
 the Black Forest, I hear the snow 
 crunching beneath my step, and the 
 fallen leaves rustling in the gently stir- 
 ring north wind. I still see myself fol- 
 lowing those two silent figures, and I 
 try in vain to explain to myself the mys- 
 terious impulse which caused me to 
 dog their footsteps. 
 
 At last we reached the forest and 
 proceeded amongst the naked beeches, 
 the dark shadows of whose higher 
 boughs intersected the lower branches 
 and traced their outlines on the snow- 
 covered path. Sometimes I fancied I 
 heard some one behind me; I would
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 215 
 
 turn quickly around, but could see 
 nothing. 
 
 We gained at length the line of crags 
 on the summit of the Altenberg, be- 
 hind which the torrent of the Schnee- 
 berg rushes earlier in the year, but now 
 there was only a mere thread of water 
 slowly trickling beneath its thick cov- 
 ering of ice. The vast solitude no 
 longer had its murmurs, its warblings, 
 and its thunder ; its oppressive stillness 
 inspired fear. The Count and the old 
 woman found a gap in the rocks, up 
 which they mounted quickly and appar- 
 ently without effort, while I was obliged 
 to scramble up, clinging to the bushes 
 in order to follow them. 
 
 Scarcely had I reached the top of the 
 rock which forms a corner of the preci- 
 pice, when I found myself within three
 
 2l6 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 yards of them, and before me I saw a 
 bottomless abyss. On the left hung 
 the falls of the Schneeberg in sheets of 
 ice. This resemblance to a wave leap- 
 ing into the precipice, and bearing with 
 it the neighboring trees, sucking up the 
 underbrush and cleaving the ivys that 
 follow on its crest without becoming 
 uprooted; this appearance of mighty 
 movement in the immovableness of 
 death, and those two silent forms pro- 
 ceeding with their sinister work, all in- 
 spired me with indescribable terror. 
 Nature herself seemed to share in my 
 feelings. 
 
 The Count had laid down his burden ; 
 the old woman and he swung it for a 
 moment above the precipice, then the 
 long shroud floated over the edge, and 
 the actors in this awful drama bent over
 
 THE PLAGUE IN MY CHAMBER. 217 
 
 to watch it as it fell. The long, white 
 sheet, swelling upwards as it met the 
 rising breath of the chasm, and then 
 falling slowly and disappearing from 
 sight, still floats before my eyes. I see 
 it sinking like the swan shot far up in 
 the sky, her wings spread out and head 
 thrown back, falling to earth in the 
 agony of death. 
 
 At this moment a cloud which had 
 long been approaching the moon slowly 
 veiled her in its bluish folds ; complete 
 darkness succeeded. After a little the 
 moon appeared again through a rift in 
 the clouds, and I saw the old woman 
 seize the Count's hand and drag him 
 along with dangerous speed down the 
 mountain side. Then it became dark 
 again, and I dared not risk a step lest 
 I should fall headlong into an abyss.
 
 2l8 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Once more the clouds parted. I looked 
 about me and found myself alone on 
 the high rock, knee-deep in snow. 
 Seized with horror, I made my way 
 cautiously down the steep declivity, 
 and once on the plain I started to run 
 towards the Castle, as much stunned 
 as if I had shared in some dark crime. 
 
 As for the Lord of Nideck and the 
 old woman, I had lost sight of them.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 I LOSE MY WAY AND PASS THE NIGHT 
 IN THE DWARF'S LODGE. 
 
 T WANDERED around the Castle, 
 unable to find the opening through 
 which I had come out on to the plain. 
 So much anxiety and emotion began to 
 tell upon my mind ; I moved aimlessly 
 along, asking myself with dread if mad- 
 ness were not playing a part in my 
 fancies, unable to believe what I had 
 seen, and yet alarmed at the clearness 
 of my perceptions. The image of the 
 master of Nideck waving his torch in 
 the darkness, howling like a wolf, coolly 
 accomplishing an imaginary crime, with-
 
 220 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 out omitting a gesture, a circumstance, 
 not even the smallest detail, then escap- 
 ing and committing to the abyss the 
 secret of the murder, harassed my mind 
 and hung over me like a nightmare. 
 I ran breathless and distracted through 
 the snow, not knowing in what direc- 
 tion to guide my steps. 
 
 As day approached, the cold became 
 more intense. At last, exhausted, my 
 legs feeling like lead, and my ears half 
 frozen, I succeeded in discovering the 
 iron grating, and I rang the bell with 
 all my might. It was then about four 
 o'clock in the morning. Knapwurst 
 kept me waiting a terribly long time. 
 His little lodge, built against the rock, 
 just within the principal gate, remained 
 quite silent ; it seemed to me that the 
 dwarf would never finish dressing, for
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 221 
 
 I had fancied him in bed and soundly 
 sleeping. 
 
 I rang again, and this time his gro- 
 tesque figure emerged abruptly from 
 his doorway, and he cried furiously : 
 
 "Who's there?" 
 
 " I ! The Doctor ! " 
 
 "Ah! that is another matter! I'll 
 see whether you are telling the truth." 
 
 He went back into his lodge to get a 
 lantern, crossed the outer court with 
 the snow up to his middle, and staring 
 at me through the grating : 
 
 " I beg your pardon, monsieur the 
 doctor," he said ; " I thought you were 
 asleep up-stairs in Hugh's Tower. It 
 was you ringing! Now I see why 
 Sperver came to me at midnight to ask 
 if any one had gone out. I said no, 
 for I never saw you go out."
 
 222 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " But for Heaven's sake, Knapwurst, 
 open the door ! You can tell me all 
 this later." 
 
 " Be patient for a moment, mon- 
 sieur." 
 
 And the dwarf deliberately turned 
 the lock and drew back the bolts, while 
 I stood with my teeth chattering, and 
 shivering from head to foot. 
 
 " You are cold, Doctor," observed the 
 diminutive porter, " and you cannot get 
 into the Castle. Sperver has fastened 
 the inside door, I don't know why ; 
 he doesn't ordinarily ; the grating is 
 enough. Come into the lodge and 
 warm yourself. You won't find my 
 room much to boast of ; properly speak- 
 ing, it is nothing but a sty, but when 
 you are cold you don't spend much 
 time in looking about."
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 223 
 
 Without replying to his chatter I fol- 
 lowed him as rapidly as possible, burn- 
 ing with impatience to learn what 
 things were passing in the Castle, but 
 seeing nothing for it but to wait till 
 dawn. 
 
 We entered the lodge, and in spite 
 of my state of complete frigidity, I could 
 not help admiring the picturesque dis- 
 order of this species of nest. The slate 
 roof leaned against the rock on one 
 side, and on the other against a wall 
 six to seven feet high, disclosing to 
 view the blackened beams propped up 
 against each other. The lodge con- 
 sisted of a single room, furnished with 
 a bed which the gnome did not take 
 the trouble to make up very often, and 
 two small dusty windows with hexag- 
 onal panes which the moon turned to
 
 224 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 mother-of-pearl with its pale rays. A 
 large, square table occupied the middle 
 of the room . How this massive oak 
 table had ever been brought through 
 the narrow doorway, it would have been 
 difficult to explain. Upon a few shelves 
 were arranged some old volumes and 
 rolls of parchment, and on the table lay 
 open an enormous tome with illumin- 
 ated initial letters, bound in vellum, 
 with a silver clasp and corners ; it 
 looked to me like a collection of old 
 chronicles. Lastly, two armchairs, one 
 covered with red leather and the other 
 upholstered with a down cushion, and 
 bearing the unmistakable impression of 
 the dwarf's body, completed the furni- 
 ture of the place. 
 
 I will not stop to describe the desk 
 with its five or six pens, the tobacco
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 225 
 
 jar, the pipes scattered variously about, 
 the little, low, iron stove in one corner 
 of the room, with its door standing open, 
 red hot, and sending a shower of sparks 
 from time to time on to the stone floor, 
 and the spitting cat with her back 
 arched and her paw lifted in defiance 
 of me. 
 
 All these objects were veiled in that 
 smoky amber light which rests the eye, 
 and of which the old Flemish masters 
 alone possessed the secret. 
 
 " So you went out last night, mon- 
 sieur the doctor," Knapwurst said to 
 me when we were comfortably seated, 
 he before his volume and I with my 
 hands stretched out before the fire. 
 
 " Yes, rather early. A woodcutter of 
 the Black Forest needed my services ; he 
 had cut his left foot with an axe stroke."
 
 226 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 This explanation appeared to satisfy 
 the dwarf; he lighted his black pipe, 
 which hung down over his chin. 
 
 " You don't smoke, monsieur ? " 
 
 " Indeed I do ! " 
 
 " Well, help yourself to a pipe ! I 
 was just here," he said, stretching his 
 long, yellow hand over the page, " read- 
 ing the chronicles of Hertzog when you 
 rang." 
 
 I now understood why he had kept 
 me standing so long in the cold. 
 
 " You waited to finish your chapter," 
 I said smiling. 
 
 "Yes, monsieur," he admitted; and 
 we laughed together. 
 
 " However, if I had known it was 
 you, I should have put it off till another 
 time," he added. 
 
 A silence of some minutes followed,
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 22 7 
 
 during which I studied the truly re- 
 markable physiognomy of the dwarf: 
 those deep wrinkles at the corners of 
 his mouth, those little squinting eyes, 
 the broad, unshapely nose rounded at 
 the end, and especially his swelling, 
 double-storied forehead. I noticed in 
 his face something of the expression of 
 Socrates, and as I warmed myself be- 
 fore the crackling blaze, I reflected 
 upon the strange fortunes of certain of 
 us. 
 
 " Here is this dwarf," I said to my- 
 self, " this unsightly, stunted creature, 
 exiled into a corner of Nideck like the 
 cricket that sings beneath the hearth- 
 stone; this Knapwurst, who, in the 
 midst of all these excitements, hunting- 
 parties and gay cavalcades going and 
 coming, the baying of hounds, stamping
 
 228 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 of horses, and winding of the hunters' 
 horn, lives quietly alone, buried in his 
 books, and thinking only of times long 
 past, indifferent whether all is in 
 songs or tears around him, whether it is 
 spring, summer, or autumn that comes 
 to peep in at him through his little 
 dusty window panes, reanimating, warm- 
 ing or chilling the breast of Nature out- 
 side. While others are living, blessed 
 with the hope and magic of love, striv- 
 ing to gratify ambition or avarice, plot- 
 ting, coveting, and longing, he hopes 
 for nothing, covets nothing, wishes 
 nothing. He sits and smokes his pipe, 
 and with his eyes fixed on the old parch- 
 ment before him, he dreams and revels 
 in things that no longer exist, perhaps 
 never had any existence what mat- 
 ters it to him ' Hertzog says this,'
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 2 29 
 
 'such a one has it differently,' and 
 he is happy. His parchment skin gets 
 more and more wrinkled, his sharp 
 elbows dig holes in the table, while his 
 long ringers bury themselves in his 
 cheeks, and his little gray eyes roam 
 over Latin, Greek, and Etruscan char- 
 acters. He goes into ecstasies, he licks 
 his lips like a cat who has just lapped 
 up a saucer of cream, and then he lies 
 down on his cot, with his knees drawn 
 up under the coverlid, and thinks he 
 has passed the best possible kind of a 
 day. O God of Heaven ! Is it at the 
 top or at the bottom of the ladder that 
 we find the true application of your 
 laws, and the accomplishment of the 
 duties you have imposed ? " 
 
 Meanwhile the snow was melting 
 from my legs, and the grateful warmth
 
 230 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 of the stove restored my spirits. I felt 
 reanimated in this atmosphere of to- 
 bacco smoke and resinous pine. Knap- 
 wurst laid his pipe on the table, and 
 passing his hand once more across the 
 folio : 
 
 " Monsieur de la Roche," he said in 
 a grave tone that seemed to come from 
 the bottom of his conscience, or if you 
 prefer, from the depths of a twenty-five 
 gallon cask, " here is the law and the 
 prophets." 
 
 " How do you mean, Knapwurst ? " 
 " Parchment, old parchment, is what 
 I love. These old yellow leaves, eaten 
 by worms, are all that is left us of times 
 long gone by, from Charlemagne to our 
 own day. The ancient families have 
 disappeared, but the old parchments 
 remain. Where would be the glory of
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 23! 
 
 the Hohenstauferns, the Liningens, the 
 Nidecks, and so many other noble fami- 
 lies, were it not for these? Where 
 would be the fame of their title-rights, 
 their deeds of arms, their heroic ac- 
 tions, their distant expeditions to the 
 Holy Land, their ancient alliances and 
 claims, and their conquests, did they 
 not stand in these chronicles ? These 
 lofty barons, dukes, and princes would 
 be as if they never existed they and 
 everything relating to them far and 
 near. 
 
 " Their great castles, fortunes, and 
 palaces crumble and fall, and their ruins 
 serve as vague reminders. Of all this 
 a single memorial remains, the chroni- 
 cles, the history, the songs of bards and 
 minnesingers, parchment alone is left 
 to us!"
 
 232 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 A brief silence followed, then Knap- 
 wurst resumed : 
 
 " And in those distant times, when 
 brave knights went forth to war, disput- 
 ing and fighting over a bit of forest, 
 title, or a lesser matter yet, with what 
 contempt did they look upon this 
 wretched little scribe, this man of let- 
 ters and mystery, clad in ratteen, his 
 only weapon an ink bottle dangling at 
 his belt, and the handle of his pen for 
 a plume. How often they jeered him, 
 crying, ' That fellow is an atom, a flea ; 
 he is good for nothing; he cannot even 
 collect our taxes or manage our estates, 
 while we fine chaps go out on our 
 mounts with lance in hand, ready for 
 anything that comes in our way ! ' 
 Thus they talked when they saw the 
 poor devil dragging along behind them,
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 233 
 
 shivering in winter, sweating in sum- 
 mer, and growing feeble in his old age. 
 Ah, well! this atom, this flea, has 
 caused them to survive long after their 
 castles have turned to dust and their 
 arms have rusted away, and for my 
 part I love these old parchments; I 
 respect and revere them. Like ivy, 
 they clothe the ruins and prevent the 
 old walls from crumbling away and 
 becoming entirely effaced." 
 
 Having given such expression to his 
 thoughts, Knapwurst seemed grave, and 
 reflecting upon these things his eyes 
 filled with the tears of affectionate re- 
 membrance. The dwarf loved those 
 who had tolerated and protected his 
 ancestors. After all, he spoke the truth ; 
 there was profound good sense in his 
 words. His warmth surprised me.
 
 234 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Have you learned Latin, Knap- 
 wurst ? " I asked him. 
 
 " Yes, monsieur," he replied, " I taught 
 myself Latin and Greek. Old gram- 
 mars were enough, some of the 
 Count's thrown into the ash-barrel; 
 they fell into my hands and I devoured 
 them. Some time after, the Lord of 
 Nideck having chanced to hear me 
 make some Latin quotation was sur- 
 prised. 
 
 " ' Who taught you Latin, Knap- 
 wurst ? ' he asked. 
 
 " ' I taught myself, monseigneur.' 
 
 " He asked me some questions, which 
 I answered pretty well. 
 
 " ' By Jove ! ' he cried, * Knapwurst 
 knows more than I do ! He shall keep 
 my archives.' 
 
 "And he gave me the key to the
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 235 
 
 archive chamber. During the thirty 
 years since then, I have read every page. 
 Sometimes the Count, seeing me on my 
 ladder, stops a minute and says to me : 
 
 " ' Ha ! ha ! What are you doing up 
 there, Knapwurst ? ' 
 
 " ' I am reading the family records, 
 monseigneur.' 
 
 " ' And you enjoy it ? ' 
 " ' Very much, monseigneur.' 
 "'Well, well! I am glad to hear 
 it; if it wern't for you, Knapwurst, 
 who would know of the glory of the 
 Nidecks ? ' and he goes off laughing. I 
 do as I please here I " 
 
 " He is a good master then ? " 
 " Oh, monsieur, what a heart, and 
 what kindness ! " exclaimed the dwarf, 
 clasping his hands. " He has but one 
 fault."
 
 236 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " And what is that ? " 
 
 " He has no ambition." 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 " Why, he could have attained to 
 anything. A Nideck ! One of the 
 most illustrious families of Germany! 
 Think of that, monsieur ! He had only 
 to choose ; he might have been a minis- 
 ter or a field-marshal. But no ! In his 
 youth he retired from political life. 
 With the exception of a campaign that 
 he conducted in France, at the head of 
 a regiment which he raised by his own 
 exertions with this exception, he has 
 always lived far from noise and strife, 
 simple and almost unknown, only inter- 
 esting himself in his hunting." 
 
 These details were of the greatest in- 
 terest to me. The conversation was 
 taking, of its own accord, the direction
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 237 
 
 that I most wished, and I resolved to 
 profit by my opportunity. 
 
 " The Count has never had any great 
 passions in his life, then ? " I asked. 
 
 " None, monsieur ; and that is the 
 pity, for noble passions make the re- 
 nown of great families. It is a misfor- 
 tune for the member of a noble race to 
 be devoid of ambition. He allows his 
 family to degenerate. I could cite many 
 examples in proof of what I say. That 
 which would be the pride of the trades- 
 man's family, would be the ruin of the 
 illustrious." 
 
 I was amazed ; all my speculations 
 regarding the Count's past life were fast 
 being disproved. 
 
 " However, the Count has met with 
 many reverses, has he not? " 
 
 " Of what nature ? "
 
 238 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " He has lost his wife ? " 
 
 "Yes, you are right; his wife was an 
 angel. He married her for love; she 
 was a daughter of one of the oldest and 
 noblest families of Alsace, but ruined 
 by the Austrian war. The Countess 
 Odette was her husband's sole happi- 
 ness. She died of a lingering illness 
 that lasted over the space of five years ; 
 every means was resorted to to save her 
 life. They travelled together in Italy, 
 but she returned worse than she went, 
 and succumbed some three weeks after 
 their return. The Count came near 
 dying himself of a broken heart. For 
 two years he shut himself up and would 
 see nobody. His dogs and horses were 
 neglected. Time at length calmed his 
 grief, but there has ever been some- 
 thing here." (The dwarf laid his finger
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 239 
 
 on his heart.) " You understand ; it is 
 a bleeding wound. Old wounds pain 
 us in change of weather, and old griefs, 
 too, when the flowers spring up above 
 the tomb, and in autumn when the dead 
 leaves cover the ground. The Count 
 has never wished to marry again; his 
 daughter is the sole object of his affec- 
 tion." 
 
 "So this marriage was always a 
 happy one ? " 
 
 " Happy ? It was a blessing for 
 everybody ! " 
 
 I was silent. Evidently the Count 
 had not committed, could not have 
 committed, a crime. I was obliged to 
 yield to the weight of evidence; but 
 then that nocturnal scene, these strange 
 relations with the Black Plague, that 
 horrible pantomime and the remorse in
 
 240 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 a dream which forced the couple to be- 
 tray their past what did it all mean ? 
 I became lost in thought. 
 
 Knapwurst relighted his pipe and 
 reached me one, which I accepted. The 
 chill which had seized me had by this 
 time passed away. I was experiencing 
 that delicious period of inaction which 
 follows the fatigue caused by unusual 
 exertions, when, sprawled out in a big 
 armchair in the chimney-corner and 
 enveloped in a cloud of smoke, you 
 abandon yourself to the pleasure of 
 repose and listen to the blending of the 
 cricket's chant with the weird sing- 
 ing of the green log on the hearth. We 
 sat thus for a quarter of an hour. 
 
 "The Count sometimes gets angry 
 with his daughter," I ventured to re- 
 mark. Knapwurst started, and fixing
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 24! 
 
 on me a suspicious, almost hostile look, 
 replied : 
 
 " I know, I know ! " 
 
 I watched him with a sidelong glance, 
 thinking that I might learn something 
 new, but he added ironically : 
 
 " The towers of Nideck are high, and 
 slander flies too low to reach them ! " 
 
 " Undoubtedly ; but it is a fact, never- 
 theless, is it not ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but this is a mere crotchet, an 
 effect of his malady. Once the crisis 
 is passed, all his affection for the Coun- 
 tess Odile returns. It is curious, mon- 
 sieur, a lover of twenty years could not 
 be more devoted, more affectionate than 
 he. This young woman is his one joy 
 and pride. Only fancy, no less than a 
 dozen times I have seen him ride off to 
 get her a dress, or flowers, or some like
 
 242 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 trifle. He would not entrust this com- 
 mission to any one, not even to his 
 faithful Sperver. The Countess does 
 not even dare to express a wish in his 
 presence, lest he should commit some 
 new extravagance. In a word, mon- 
 sieur, I assure you that the Count of 
 Nideck is the worthiest of men, the ten- 
 derest of fathers, and the best of mas- 
 ters. As for the poachers who ravaged 
 his forests, the old Count Ludwig would 
 have hanged them without mercy; but 
 our Count tolerates them ; he even 
 makes them his gamekeepers. Take 
 Sperver, for instance ! If Count Lud- 
 wig was still alive, Sperver's bones 
 would be clicking together like casta- 
 nets, at the end of a rope, while as it is, 
 he is the steward and man-of-affairs at 
 the Castle."
 
 I LOSE MY WAY. 243 
 
 My theories were fast falling to the 
 ground. I rested my head between my 
 hands and thought for a long time. 
 Knapwurst, supposing that I was asleep, 
 had resumed his reading. The gray 
 dawn appeared through the tiny panes ; 
 the lamplight paled, and vague mur- 
 murs arose within the Castle. Suddenly 
 footsteps sounded outside, some one 
 passed before the window, the door 
 opened abruptly, and Gideon appeared 
 on the threshold.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I AM SUMMONED TO THE COUNTESS'S 
 CHAMBER, AND MAKE A CONFESSION. 
 
 OPERVER'S pale face and rapid 
 glance intimated that something un- 
 usual was happening; nevertheless, he 
 was calm and did not appear surprised 
 at my presence in Knapwurst's room. 
 
 " Gaston," he said briefly, " I have 
 come to get you ! " 
 
 I rose without replying and followed 
 him. No sooner had we left the lodge 
 than he seized me by the arm and drew 
 me hastily towards the Castle. 
 
 " The Countess Odile wants to speak 
 to you," he whispered. 
 
 " The Countess ! Is she ill ? "
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 245 
 
 " No, she is quite recovered, but some- 
 thing unusual is going on. This morn- 
 ing at about one o'clock, thinking that 
 the Count was about to breathe his last, 
 I went to wake the Countess, but as I 
 was on the point of ringing, my heart 
 failed me. ' Why should I fill her with 
 despair ?' I asked myself. ' She will 
 learn of her misfortune soon enough ; 
 and then to wake her up in the middle 
 of the night, when she is so frail and 
 broken by so much sorrow, might prove 
 her own death-blow.' I stood some 
 minutes reflecting what course to pur- 
 sue, and at last I decided to take the 
 responsibility upon myself, and I re- 
 turned to the Count's room. I looked 
 about; no one was there. Impossible! 
 the man was in his last agonies ! I ran 
 along the corridor like a madman; no
 
 246 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 one was to be seen ! I entered the 
 gallery ; no one there ! Then I lost 
 my head and rushed again to the Coun- 
 tess Odile's chamber. This time I rang. 
 She appeared in tears. 
 
 " ' My father is dead ? ' 
 
 " ' No, madame ! ' 
 
 " ' He has disappeared ? " 
 
 " ' Yes ; I left the room for a moment, 
 and when I returned ' 
 
 " And Monsieur de la Roche ; where 
 is he ? ' 
 
 " ' In Hugh's Tower.' 
 
 "'In the Tower!' 
 
 " She threw on a dressing-gown, 
 seized a lamp and hurried out. I 
 remained behind. A quarter of an 
 hour afterwards she returned, her feet 
 covered with snow, and very pale ; it 
 was pitiful to see. She set the lamp
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 247 
 
 on the mantelpiece, and looking steadily 
 at me, she said : 
 
 " ' Was it you who put the doctor in 
 the Tower? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, madame.' 
 
 " ' Unhappy man ! you will never know 
 the harm that you have done ! ' 
 
 " I wanted to reply, but she stopped 
 me. 
 
 " * That is enough ! Go and fasten all 
 the doors and lie down. I will sit up 
 myself. To-morrow morning you will 
 go and find the doctor in Knapwurst's 
 lodge, and you will bring him to me. 
 Breathe no word of this to anybody ! 
 Remember you have seen nothing and 
 know nothing ! ' ' 
 
 "Is that all, Sperver?" 
 
 He nodded gravely, 
 
 "And the Count?"
 
 248 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " He has come back again ; he seems 
 better." 
 
 We had reached the antechamber. 
 Gideon knocked gently on the door, 
 then opened it, announcing, " Monsieur 
 the doctor." 
 
 I stepped forward and found myself 
 in the presence of Odile. Sperver with- 
 drew, closing the door behind him. 
 
 A strange impression was produced 
 upon my mind by the appearance of the 
 young Countess, robed in a long gown 
 of black velvet, and standing pale and 
 firm with her hand resting on the back 
 of an armchair, her eyes glistening with 
 a feverish light. 
 
 " Monsieur," she said, pointing to a 
 chair; "pray be seated. I wish to 
 speak with you upon a very grave sub- 
 ject."
 
 "I STEPPED FORWARD AND FOUND MYSELF IN 
 THE PRESENCE OF ODILE."
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 251 
 
 I obeyed silently. She seated herself 
 in turn, and seemed trying to arrange 
 her thoughts. 
 
 " Chance, monsieur," she continued 
 after a moment, fixing her large blue 
 eyes upon me " chance or Providence, 
 I know not which to call it has made 
 you the witness of a mystery in which 
 is involved the honor of our family." 
 
 She knew everything, then. I was 
 astonished. 
 
 " Let us call it Providence ! " I cried. 
 " Who knows but that through me the 
 spell that has so long overhung the 
 Castle is destined to be broken ? " 
 
 " All this is frightful ! " she continued ; 
 then in a despairing tone, " My father 
 is not guilty of this crime ! " 
 
 I sprang up, and stretching out my 
 hands deprecatingly, I exclaimed :
 
 252 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " I know it, mademoiselle ; I know of 
 the Count's past life, and it is one of 
 the purest that it would be possible 
 to conceive! " 
 
 Odile half rose from her chair as if to 
 protest against any harsh judgment of 
 her father, but seeing me myself under- 
 take his defence, she sank back, and 
 covering her face with her hands, burst 
 into tears. 
 
 " God bless you, monsieur," she mur- 
 mured ; " had you entertained a suspi- 
 cion of my father, it would have killed 
 me!" 
 
 " Why, mademoiselle ! Who could 
 mistake for realities the unreasoning 
 actions of the somnambulist ? " 
 
 " That is true, monsieur. I had re- 
 flected upon this myself but appear- 
 ances I feared pardon me but I
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 253 
 
 should have remembered that you are 
 a man of honor." 
 
 " Pray, dear Countess, calm yourself ! " 
 I exclaimed, feeling myself on the verge 
 of losing my composure, so deeply was 
 I moved by the grief of my beloved 
 mistress. 
 
 " No," she cried ; " let me weep. These 
 tears are a relief. I have suffered so 
 for the past ten years! This secret, so 
 long locked in my breast, was killing 
 me, and I should have died at last like 
 my dear mother! God has taken pity 
 on me, and he has sent you to share 
 the burden with me. Let me tell you 
 all, monsieur, let me " She could not 
 continue ; her voice was stifled in sobs. 
 Her proud and high-strung nature, after 
 having conquered grief so long, had 
 succumbed to the fateful happening of
 
 254 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the night before ; the seal once broken 
 and her secret betrayed, her vanquished 
 nature, still struggling to shield its 
 sacred trust, sought a grateful relief in 
 unrestrained tears. 
 
 My one sentiment of love and sym- 
 pathy, repressed until that moment, now 
 demanded expression with a power 
 which I was unable to gainsay. I cast 
 all prudence to the winds, and dropping 
 on one knee beside Odile, I seized the 
 delicate hands that covered her face 
 and drew them gently away until her 
 sorrowing glance rested on my face. 
 
 " Odile ! " I said, as her name rose 
 naturally to my lips, in a voice so 
 choked with emotion as to be hardly 
 more than a whisper, " forgive my rash- 
 ness, but it no longer rests with me to 
 speak or not as I choose ! I might never
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 255 
 
 have said anything of this, at least not 
 now, but your suffering affects me so 
 powerfully that to be silent longer is 
 not within my power. It must have 
 been evident to you, had you cared to 
 read it, that I love you and have loved 
 you, far, far dearer than life itself, ever 
 since my eyes first rested upon you in 
 the Count's chamber, that first night 
 when I came to the Castle. I cannot 
 ask pardon for it ! No ! For I am 
 convinced that no man could be near 
 you for even this brief time and expe- 
 rience the wonderful charm of your be- 
 ing, to say nothing of witnessing your 
 present sorrow, without feeling himself 
 moved to the depths of his own nature. 
 Odile, I love you! I see no goal in 
 life but you, no future but one passed 
 in your divine companionship; and
 
 256 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 though you might well reproach me 
 for choosing such a moment to tell you 
 so, believe me, it is through no wish to 
 take advantage of your confidence. Did 
 I feel myself guilty of such baseness, I 
 should despise myself more than you 
 could possibly do. Odile, my darling, 
 I could not choose but speak. I must 
 tell you this, even though it should be 
 at the cost of your further favor ! " 
 
 As I spoke, Odile's eyes were fastened 
 on my face with an expression of sur- 
 prise, indeed, but in it there was no 
 trace of disfavor, and her hands were 
 not withdrawn from mine. A bright 
 flush that, for the first time since 
 I knew her, had succeeded to her 
 usual pallor, mounted to her cheeks 
 and served to increase her matchless 
 beauty.
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 257 
 
 She remained silent for some mo- 
 ments still, and I could perceive the 
 agitation which my words had caused 
 her, by the slight tremor of her frame 
 and her quickened breathing. 
 
 At length she began, with her clear, 
 frank gaze fastened on my face : 
 
 " I am deeply sensible of the honor 
 you do me in expressing yourself as 
 you have done, and I am convinced 
 that no woman can do otherwise than 
 feel a sense of the greatest satisfaction 
 in knowing that she is so regarded by 
 an honorable man. I must confess," 
 she continued after a moment of hesita- 
 tion, " that your words are far from be- 
 ing indifferent or unwelcome to me ! 
 Oh, how strange are the circumstances 
 of my life ! I know not how to reply 
 to you ! I know not "
 
 258 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 And she paused, at a loss how to 
 continue. 
 
 I was happy. Odile had confessed 
 enough to make me feel that I could 
 bide my time for the present without 
 endangering my future hopes; indeed, 
 I felt that it might be wisdom to grant 
 her time more fully to determine her 
 sentiments, before pursuing the victory 
 already won. I was now about to share 
 in the secret of her life at her own re- 
 quest ; and I resolved, if the reason of her 
 vow should be explained, as I felt it must, 
 to controvert it by any honorable means. 
 
 " You have said enough to make me 
 supremely happy ! " I exclaimed. " You 
 have not denied me the happiness of 
 hope, and I shall not despair ! Mean- 
 while, whatever I may win is fairly 
 mine, is it not ? "
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 259 
 
 " Yes," murmured Odile, with just 
 the slightest smile, in which I fancied 
 there was less sorrow than before. 
 
 " And now, dear one, I fear I have 
 been selfish in intruding my own feel- 
 ings where so much grief is present! 
 Pray forgive me, and continue your 
 story." 
 
 I pressed her hands once more, and 
 as she gently disengaged them I re- 
 sumed my chair. 
 
 Odile dried her tear-stained cheeks, 
 and resting her face on her fair hand 
 she began : 
 
 " When I go back into the past, and 
 return to my earliest dreams, I see again 
 my mother. She was a stately woman, 
 pale and silent, and still young at the 
 time of which I am now speaking. She 
 was scarcely thirty years, and you would
 
 26O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 have thought her at least fifty. White 
 locks veiled her thoughtful forehead ; her 
 thin cheeks and severe profile, and her 
 lips ever firmly closed with an expression 
 of pain, gave to her features a strange 
 character, in which grief and pride 
 were blended. There was nothing that 
 suggested youth in this old woman 
 of thirty; nothing but her upright, 
 haughty bearing, her brilliant eyes, and 
 her voice, pure and sweet as the dreams 
 of childhood. She often walked up and 
 down for hours together in this very 
 chamber, with her head bowed down, 
 and I ran happily along by her side, 
 little knowing that my mother was deep 
 in sorrow, too young to comprehend 
 the grief that was preying upon her 
 heart. I knew nothing of the past ; the 
 present alone possessed any reality for
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 26l 
 
 me; this was happiness, and the future 
 was but to-morrow's play." Odile smiled 
 sadly, and resumed : 
 
 " Sometimes it happened that in the 
 midst of my dancing about her, I would 
 interrupt my mother's walk, and she 
 would stop, and seeing me at her feet, 
 bend down and kiss me on the forehead 
 with a far-off smile ; then she would 
 resume her interrupted walk. Since 
 then, when I have wished to search my 
 memory for remembrances of those 
 early days, this tall, pale woman has 
 appeared before me like the image of 
 melancholy itself. There she is," she 
 exclaimed, pointing to a picture on the 
 wall ; " not such as illness made her, as 
 my father believed, but that terrible and 
 fatal secret. Look!" 
 
 I turned, and my glance falling sud-
 
 262 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 denly upon the portrait which the young 
 girl indicated, I shuddered. It was a 
 long, thin, pale face, stamped with the 
 cold rigidity of death, and with dark 
 hollows under the eyes, which looked 
 at you with a fixed, burning gaze of 
 terrible intensity. There was a mo- 
 ment's silence. 
 
 " How she must have suffered ! " I 
 exclaimed, with a sinking of the heart. 
 
 " I know not how my mother made 
 this frightful discovery," continued 
 Odile ; " but she knew of the mysteri- 
 ous attraction of the Black Plague, and 
 of their meetings in Hugh's Tower, 
 all, in short, but she never suspected 
 my father. No ! only she slowly pined 
 away, as I am doing now." 
 
 I hid my face in my hands, and the 
 tears started involuntarily.
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 263 
 
 " One winter night," she went on, 
 " when I was only ten years old, my 
 mother, whose energy alone sustained 
 her, for she was in the last stages of a 
 decline, came to my room. I was sleep- 
 ing, when suddenly a cold, nervous hand 
 seized my wrist. I opened my eyes, and 
 opposite me stood a woman ; with one 
 hand she held a torch, and with the 
 other she held my arm, which felt as if 
 clasped in a chill vise. Her dress was 
 covered with snow, a convulsive trem- 
 bling agitated her limbs, and her eyes 
 burned with a dark fire through the 
 white, disordered locks that hung about 
 her face. It was my mother. 
 
 " ' Odile, my child, rise and come 
 with me! You must know every- 
 thing!' she said. 
 
 " I dressed myself tremblingly, and
 
 264 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 leading me along the lonely corridors 
 to Hugh's Tower, she showed me the 
 staircase that led down to the chasm. 
 
 " ' Your father will come out this 
 way,' she said, pointing to the tower; 
 ' he will come out with the she-wolf. 
 Fear nothing ! He cannot see you.' 
 
 " Hardly had she finished speaking, 
 when my father appeared with the old 
 woman, carrying his funereal burden. 
 Taking me in her arms, my mother fol- 
 lowed them, and I witnessed the scene 
 on the Altenberg. 
 
 " ' Look, child ! ' she cried ; ' you must, 
 for I am going to die, and you shall keep 
 the secret ! You shall watch over your 
 father alone all alone ! The honor of 
 our family depends upon it ! ' 
 
 " We returned. A fortnight later my 
 mother died, leaving to me the accom-
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 265 
 
 plishment of her vow and the lesson of 
 her example. I have faithfully dis- 
 charged my trust, but oh, at what a 
 cost ! You have seen it ! I have been 
 obliged to disobey my father and make 
 him wretched. My marriage could have 
 accomplished nothing, though he does 
 not know it, and to marry would have 
 been to bring a stranger into our midst 
 and betray the family secret. I resisted. 
 No one in the Castle knows the nature 
 of my father's malady, and had it not 
 been for yesterday's crisis, which broke 
 down my strength and prevented me 
 from watching by my father, I should 
 still have been the sole depositary of 
 the secret. God has willed otherwise; 
 he has placed in your keeping the 
 honor of our family. 
 
 "Such is my story, and in view of
 
 266 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 what you told me a few moments ago 
 (and she colored charmingly), I feel that 
 I need hardly ask you if you will share 
 with me my burden, for my strength is 
 unequal to it I am bending beneath 
 its weight." 
 
 She had risen as she finished speak- 
 ing. For all answer, I sprang forward, 
 and throwing my arms about her I drew 
 her close to me and covered her up- 
 turned face and forehead with passion- 
 ate kisses, while she rested, a delicious 
 burden in my arms. 
 
 " Odile," I cried, " I will be all this 
 and a thousand times more, if you will 
 only consent to let me. I am the peti- 
 tioner, not you; and in allowing me 
 to share with you even the least of your 
 trials, you make me forever your debtor. 
 You have told me the reason of your
 
 I MAKE A CONFESSION. 267 
 
 vow, and in doing so you have removed 
 the necessity for its further existence. 
 Oh, Odile, may I hope may I hope, I 
 say, that if I can raise the spell which 
 overhangs the Castle, and restore your 
 father's health, as the price of it, I 
 may have your love ? " 
 
 After a moment, she replied softly, as 
 she gently disengaged herself from my 
 arms : 
 
 " You may ; " and she added, " until 
 then my first duty is ever to my father." 
 
 I pressed the hand which she yielded 
 to me to my lips, exclaiming with a 
 smile, " This seals the promise ! " 
 
 Then I continued : 
 
 " And one thing more. We must 
 seize this creature known as the Black 
 Plague, and find out what she is, whence 
 she comes, and what she wants here."
 
 268 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Oh," she exclaimed, with a motion 
 of her beautiful head, " I fear that is 
 impossible ! " 
 
 " Who can say that ? " I replied. " I 
 want only your permission, and I will 
 undertake to seize the Plague at once." 
 
 " Do as your judgment dictates. I 
 consent to everything beforehand." 
 
 I took a long and reluctant leave of 
 Odile, and hurried jubilantly to Sperver's 
 room.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. HER DEATH. 
 
 A N hour after my conversation with 
 Odile, Sperver and I were galloping 
 hard over the plain from Nideck. The 
 huntsman, bending over his horse's neck, 
 set spurs to her from time to time, and 
 the tall Mecklenberg, with flying mane 
 and foaming lips, literally cleaved the 
 air in her flight. As for my mount, I 
 believe he took the bit in his teeth, 
 and ran away with me. Lieverle ac- 
 companied us, bounding along beside 
 us like an arrow. We seemed to be 
 borne along on the wings of the wind. 
 The towers of Nideck were far be-
 
 270 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 hind us, and Sperver was leading the 
 way, as usual, when I shouted to him : 
 
 " Hallo, comrade ! Pull up ! Before 
 we go any further, let us deliberate a 
 little." 
 
 He wheeled about. 
 
 " Only tell me, Gaston, is it to right 
 or left?" 
 
 " No, no ! Come here. You must 
 first know why I have started off this 
 morning. In a word, we are going to 
 catch the hag ! " 
 
 An expression of supreme satisfaction 
 lighted up the long, bronzed face of 
 the old steward ; his eyes sparkled. 
 
 " Ha, ha ! " he exclaimed ; " I knew it 
 would come to that sooner or later." 
 
 With a movement of his shoulder, 
 he slipped his rifle into his hand. This 
 significant movement opened my eyes.
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 271 
 
 " One moment, Sperver. We are not 
 going to kill the Black Plague ; we are 
 going to take her alive." 
 
 " Alive ! " 
 
 " Precisely ; and to spare you future 
 regrets, I warn you that the destiny of 
 the old creature is identified with our 
 master's. The ball that strikes her 
 down kills the Count." 
 
 Sperver sat open-mouthed with amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Is this really so ? " 
 
 " Positively." 
 
 There was a long silence ; our horses 
 tossing their heads at each other as 
 if in salute, pawed the snow impa- 
 tiently. Lieverle yawned expectantly 
 and stretched out his long, snake-like 
 body, and Sperver sat motionless, with 
 his hand resting on his rifle.
 
 272 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Well, then, we will try to take her 
 living," he said at length ; " we will 
 handle her with kid gloves, since it 
 must needs be so; but it is not such 
 an easy matter as you think, Gaston." 
 
 Pointing with his extended hand to 
 the mountains which lay unrolled about 
 us in the form of a great amphitheatre, 
 he added : 
 
 "You see before us the Altenberg, 
 the Birkenwald, the Schneeberg, the 
 Oxenhorn, the Rhethal, and the Behr- 
 enkopf, and if we were up a little 
 higher, we could see fifty other peaks, 
 extending clear into the plain of -the 
 Palatinate. Within this distance are 
 rocks, ravines, defiles, torrents, and end- 
 less forests, and the old woman wanders 
 everywhere through this wilderness. She 
 has a sure foot and a good eye, and can
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 273 
 
 scent you a good league away; so you 
 see we shall have a pretty chase before 
 us." 
 
 " If it were an easy thing to do, I 
 shouldn't have chosen you out of all 
 the people of the Castle." 
 
 " That sounds all very well. Still, 
 if we can once get on her trail, I 
 don't deny that with courage and 
 patience " 
 
 "As for her trail, don't worry about 
 that; I will put you on it myself." 
 
 "You?" 
 
 " Exactly." 
 
 " You, able to follow up a trail ? " 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Ah, well, since you are so confident 
 and know so much more about it than 
 I do, that's another thing; go ahead. 
 I'll follow."
 
 274 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 It was easy to see that the old hunts- 
 man was vexed at my venturing to 
 encroach upon his particular field of 
 operations. Therefore, laughing in- 
 wardly, I waited for no second invita- 
 tion and turned to the left, sure of 
 coming upon the traces of the old 
 woman, who, after having left the 
 Count in the subterranean passage, 
 must have recrossed the plain to gain 
 the mountain. 
 
 Sperver followed on behind me whis- 
 tling with assumed indifference, and I 
 could hear him muttering: 
 
 "The idea of looking for the she- 
 wolf's tracks in the middle of the plain. 
 Any one should know that she would 
 follow along the edge of the forest, as 
 she always does ; but it seems she 
 walks about now with her hands in
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 275 
 
 her pockets, like a well-to-do citizen 
 of Tubingen." 
 
 I turned a deaf ear to all this, and 
 kept on my way. Suddenly he gave 
 an exclamation of surprise, and looking 
 at me sharply: 
 
 " Gaston," he said, " you know more 
 than you are willing to admit." 
 
 " How do you mean, Gideon ? " 
 
 " The track that it would have taken 
 me a week to find, you have got at 
 once. There is something behind 
 this." 
 
 " Where do you see it, then ? " 
 
 "Come, don't pretend to be looking 
 at your feet," and pointing to a scarcely 
 perceptible white streak at some dis- 
 tance ahead of us, he said : 
 
 " There it is." 
 
 He started off at a gallop. I followed
 
 276 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 him, and a moment later we leaped from 
 our saddles. It was indeed the Black 
 Plague's track. 
 
 " I should like to know," said Sperver, 
 folding his arms, " how the devil that 
 trace came to be here ! " 
 
 "Don't let that trouble you." 
 
 " You're right, Gaston. Don't mind 
 what I say. I talk nonsense some- 
 times. The principal thing now is to 
 find out where this track leads." 
 
 The huntsman knelt on the snow. I 
 was all ears, he all attention. 
 
 "It is a fresh track," he said at the 
 first glance ; " last night's. As I thought, 
 Gaston, during the Count's last attack 
 the hag was prowling about the Castle." 
 
 Then examining it more carefully : 
 
 " She passed here at about four 
 o'clock this morning."
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 277 
 
 " How do you know that ? " 
 
 " The track is fresh, but there is sleet 
 around it. Last night at twelve o'clock 
 I went out to lock the doors, and sleet 
 was falling then ; there is none on this 
 footprint, and therefore it must have 
 been made since then." 
 
 " That is true, Sperver ; but it may 
 have been made later, at nine or ten 
 o'clock for instance." 
 
 " No ; look ! It is covered with frost. 
 There is no mist to freeze except at 
 daybreak; the old woman passed here 
 after the sleet and before the frost; 
 that is to say, between three and four 
 this morning." 
 
 I was astonished at the accuracy of 
 Sperver's reasoning. He got up, slap- 
 ping his hands together to shake off 
 the snow, and looking at me thought-
 
 278 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 fully, he added, as if speaking to him- 
 self: 
 
 " Let us call it, at the latest, five 
 o'clock ! It is now twelve, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Quarter to twelve." 
 
 " Very good ; the hag has seven 
 hours' start of us. We must follow her 
 step by step wherever she may lead us. 
 On horseback we can come up with her 
 in from one hour to two, and if she is 
 still moving, by seven or eight this 
 evening she ought to be in our clutches. 
 Come on, Gaston ; there is no time to 
 lose ! " 
 
 We started on again, following the 
 traces which led us straight towards the 
 mountain. As we galloped along, Sper- 
 ver called out : 
 
 " If good luck would have it that this 
 cursed Plague had gone into a hole in
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 279 
 
 the rocks somewhere to lie down for an 
 hour or two, we might catch her before 
 nightfall." 
 
 " Let's hope so, Gideon." 
 
 " Don't fool yourself that way. The 
 old she-wolf is always moving; she 
 never grows tired ; she roams through 
 all the hollow roads of the Black Forest. 
 We mustn't indulge vain hopes. If she 
 should happen to have stopped some- 
 where along the road, so much the better 
 for us, and if she is still going, we have 
 no reason to be discouraged. Come ! 
 hurry along ! " 
 
 It was a strange occupation; that of 
 a man engaged in hunting down one 
 of his own kind; for, after all, this un- 
 fortunate woman was a fellow creature, 
 endowed like us with an immortal soul, 
 and feeling, thinking, and reflecting like
 
 280 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 ourselves. It is true that perverted 
 instincts had brought her near the level 
 of the wolf, and that some great mys- 
 tery overhung her destiny. Her prowl- 
 ing life had doubtless obliterated her 
 moral being, and even effaced her hu- 
 man character; but granted all this, 
 it is, nevertheless, an incontrovertible 
 truth that nothing in God's universe 
 gave us the right to exercise over her 
 the despotism of man over the brute 
 creation. 
 
 Notwithstanding, a savage ardor hur- 
 ried us on in pursuit ; for my part, my 
 blood boiled, and I was determined to 
 stop at nothing which would enable me 
 to get this strange being into my power. 
 The wide waste of snow flew past us, 
 and the fragments of crust, thrown up by 
 our horses' hoofs, whizzed past our ears.
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 28 1 
 
 Sperver, sometimes with his head 
 thrown back, and his long mustache 
 blowing in the wind, and always with 
 his gray eye on the trail, reminded me 
 of the famous horsemen of the steppes, 
 whom I had seen passing through 
 Germany in my childhood ; his tall, 
 sinewy horse, with full mane and body 
 tapering like a greyhound's, completed 
 the illusion. Lieverle, in his enthusi- 
 asm, bounded sometimes as high as our 
 horses' backs, and I could not help 
 trembling at the thought that, should he 
 come upon the Black Plague, he might 
 tear her to pieces before we could make 
 a movement to prevent him. 
 
 The old woman led us a terrible 
 chase ; on every hill she had doubled, 
 and at every hillock we found a false 
 scent.
 
 282 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " It is easy enough along here," said 
 Sperver, " for you can see a long dis- 
 tance ahead, but when we get into the 
 woods, it will be another matter ; we 
 shall have to keep our eyes open there. 
 Do you see how the cursed beast has 
 confused her tracks ? There she has 
 amused herself sweeping the trail, and 
 from that rising ground that is exposed 
 to the wind she has slipped down to 
 the stream and crept through the cres- 
 ses to reach the thicket yonder. If it 
 weren't for these two foot-prints, she 
 would have tricked us completely." 
 
 We had just reached the border of a 
 fir forest. In these forests, the snow 
 never penetrates between the branches 
 of a tree. It was a difficult way. Sper- 
 ver dismounted to watch the tracks 
 closer, and placed me on the left, that
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 283 
 
 my shadow might not come between 
 him and the ground. There were large 
 open spots covered with dead leaves 
 and pine-needles, which take no im- 
 print. Thus it was only in the unshel- 
 tered places, where the snow lay on the 
 ground, that Sperver could recover the 
 trail. 
 
 It took us an hour to get through 
 this patch of woods. The old poacher 
 gnawed his mustache with vexation, 
 and his long nose almost touched his 
 chin. When I tried to speak, he inter- 
 rupted me shortly, crying : 
 " Don't talk ; it bothers me ! " 
 At last we descended into a valley 
 to the left, and Gideon, pointing to 
 the she-wolf's steps, running parallel 
 with the edge of the undergrowth, re- 
 marked :
 
 284 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " This is no false sortie ; we can fol- 
 low it confidently. 
 
 " How do you know ? " 
 
 " Because the Black Plague has a 
 habit, whenever she doubles on her 
 tracks, of going three steps to one side, 
 then, retracing them, taking four, five 
 or six in the other direction, and finally 
 jumping into a clear space. But when 
 she thinks she has covered the trail, she 
 strikes out without troubling herself 
 about false scents. Look! what did I 
 tell you ? She is burrowing now into 
 the brushwood like a wild boar ; it will 
 be easy enough to follow her here. So 
 much for that ; and now, let's keep the 
 tracks between us and light a pipe! " 
 
 We halted, and the good fellow, 
 whose face was beginning to brighten up, 
 looked at me with enthusiasm, crying :
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 285 
 
 " Gaston, this promises to be one of 
 the finest days in my life. If we take 
 the old creature, I will fasten her to the 
 saddle behind me like a bundle of old 
 rags. Only one thing troubles me." 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 " Having forgot my horn. I should 
 like to have sounded the return as we 
 were approaching Nideck. Ha! Ha! 
 Ha!" 
 
 He lighted his stub of a pipe, and we 
 started on again. The track of the 
 she-wolf now led up a wooded slope 
 so steep that we were obliged many 
 times to dismount and lead our horses 
 by the bridle. 
 
 " There it goes to the right," said 
 Sperver ; " in this direction the moun- 
 tains go up like the side of a house. 
 One of us may have to lead both
 
 286 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 horses while the other scrambles along 
 after the trail, and as the devil will have 
 it, it's getting so dark we can't see any- 
 thing much longer." 
 
 The landscape was at this point as- 
 suming a grander aspect. Enormous 
 boulders, covered with icicles, raised 
 one beyond another their angular peaks, 
 like breakers in a sea of snow. 
 
 There is nothing that imparts a more 
 melancholy sense to the beholder than 
 a winter scene among these mountains. 
 The irregular line of crests, the dark 
 ravines, the denuded trees and bushes 
 sparkling with a tracery of hoar frost, 
 all assume before your eyes a look of 
 indescribable desolation and still sad- 
 ness ; and the silence, so profound that 
 you can hear a dead leaf rustle on the 
 snow-crust, or a pine-needle swirl from
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 287 
 
 its branch, this silence oppresses you ; 
 it forces upon you the realization of 
 man's littleness in the scale of Nature's 
 vast economy. 
 
 Sometimes we felt a need of speak- 
 ing, if only to break the stillness : 
 
 " Ah, we are getting nearer the end 
 of this business! How beastly cold it 
 is ! Lieverle, what have you got there ? " 
 or some like insignificant phrase. 
 
 Unfortunately, our horses were be- 
 ginning to tire; they sank up to their 
 bellies in the snow, and no longer whin- 
 nied as they did on setting out. The 
 inextricable defiles of the Black Forest 
 stretched out indefinitely. The old 
 woman loved these solitudes ; here she 
 had passed around a deserted charcoal- 
 burner's hut; further on she had torn 
 up the tender roots which overspread
 
 288 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the surface of the rocks ; and here again 
 she had sat down at the foot of a tree 
 to rest, and that recently, at most two 
 hours before, for the marks in the snow 
 were fresh. At sight of this, our hopes 
 and enthusiasm were redoubled ; but the 
 daylight was fast fading out. Strangely 
 enough, ever since our departure from 
 Nideck, we had met neither woodcut- 
 ters, charcoal-burners, nor log-haulers; 
 the solitude was as complete as in the 
 Siberian steppes. At five o'clock the 
 night had so far closed in that Sperver 
 halted and said to me : 
 
 " Gaston, we have started a couple 
 of hours too late. The Plague has got 
 too long a start of us. In ten minutes 
 the woods will be as dark as an oven. 
 Our best plan will be to reach the Roche 
 Creuse, twenty minutes from here, light
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 289 
 
 a good fire, and eat our provisions and 
 empty our goat-skins. When the moon 
 comes up we will take up the trail again, 
 and if the old hag is not the devil him- 
 self, ten to one we shall come upon her 
 frozen stiff at the foot of some tree, for 
 no human creature could live through 
 such a tramp in such weather as this. 
 Sebalt himself, who is the best walker 
 in all the Black Forest, could not have 
 stood it. What do you say, my boy? " 
 
 " I should be mad to think otherwise, 
 and, moreover, I am perishing with 
 hunger ! " 
 
 "Well, let's be off!" 
 
 He took the lead, and we pressed 
 into a narrow gorge between two walls 
 of precipitous rock. The fir-trees formed 
 an arch above our heads; beneath our 
 feet trickled what the frost had left of
 
 2QO THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 a mighty torrent, and from time to time 
 a wandering ray penetrated the obscur- 
 ity, and reflected the dull, lead-colored 
 ice mantle. The darkness had become 
 such that I deemed it wise to let my 
 bridle fall on the horse's neck. The 
 steps of our horses on the slippery peb- 
 bles reechoed with an odd noise like 
 the laughing and chattering of monkeys 
 through the narrow glen. The rocks 
 took up and repeated every sound, and 
 in the distance a blue point seemed to 
 grow as we advanced. It was the out- 
 let of the gorge. 
 
 " Gaston," said Sperver, " we are now 
 in the bed of the Tunkelbach. It is 
 the wildest pass in all the Black Forest, 
 and it terminates in a cave called La 
 Marmite du Grand Guelard. In the 
 spring, when the snow is melting, the
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 29! 
 
 Tunkelbach pours all its torrents into 
 it to a depth of two hundred feet. It 
 makes a tremendous roar; the waters 
 leap over the edge, and their spray falls 
 upon the neighboring mountains. Some- 
 times they even flood the cavern of the 
 Roche Creuse, but just now it must be 
 as dry as a powder-flask, and we can 
 build a big fire there." 
 
 As I listened to Sperver's observa- 
 tions, I was at the same time consider- 
 ing this ominous defile, and reflecting 
 that the instinct of the savage beasts, 
 which seek such retreats far from the 
 light of day and from all that gladdens 
 the soul, must be akin to remorse. The 
 creatures that live in the sunshine, the 
 goat on the open crag, the horse run 
 ning free on the plain, the dog frisking 
 about his master, the bird basking in
 
 2Q2 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the sunshine, all breathe in joy and 
 happiness with their gambols and their 
 songs. The kid, browsing in the shade 
 of the great trees on the green hillside, 
 is as poetic an object as the retreat 
 that he prefers ; the wild boar, as fierce 
 and savage as the trackless brakes 
 through which he roams ; the eagle as 
 proud and lofty as the towering peaks 
 where he rests in his sweeping flight; 
 the lion as majestic as the mighty 
 arches of his den, but the wolf, the 
 fox, and the ferret seek the darkness, 
 with fear their only companion ; aye, 
 this instinct is closely related to re- 
 morse. 
 
 I was still reflecting upon these things 
 and already felt the keen air blowing 
 against my face for we were ap- 
 proaching the opening of the gorge
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 293 
 
 when suddenly we perceived a reddish 
 reflection dancing upon the rock a hun- 
 dred feet above us, turning to purple 
 the dark green of the firs, and making 
 the frost wreaths on the tree trunks 
 glitter. 
 
 " Ha ! " whispered Sperver hoarsely, 
 " we've got the witch ! " 
 
 My heart leaped; we moved along 
 pressed close against each other. The 
 dog growled warningly. 
 
 "Can't she escape us?" 
 
 " No ; she is caught like a rat in a 
 trap. La Marmite du Grand Guelard 
 has but one outlet, and we are barring 
 it. Everywhere else the rocks rise 
 sheer two hundred feet. Ha ! you Satan's 
 hag, I've got you! " 
 
 He sprang from his horse into the 
 ice-cold water of the Tunkelbach, hand-
 
 294 TIIE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 ing me his bridle. I shivered. The 
 click of his rifle as he cocked it sounded 
 with fearful distinctness, and the sound 
 sent a nervous wave clear to my finger- 
 tips. 
 
 " Sperver, what are you doing ? " 
 " Never fear ; it is only to frighten 
 her." 
 
 " Very good ; but no blood ! Re- 
 member what I have already told you. 
 The ball that strikes the Plague kills 
 the Count ! " 
 
 " Rest easy on that score ! " 
 He moved forward, without stopping 
 further to listen to me. I could hear 
 the splash of his feet in the water ; then 
 I saw his tall figure appear at the out- 
 let of the glen, black against the bluish 
 background. He stood full five minutes 
 motionless. Meanwhile, I was slowly
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 295 
 
 approaching him, and when he at last 
 turned around, I was within three paces 
 of him. 
 
 " Sh ! " he said mysteriously ; " look 
 there ! " 
 
 At the end of the open gorge, now 
 revealed to us, which was dug out like 
 a quarry in the mountainside, I saw a 
 bright fire unrolling its golden spires 
 before the mouth of a cave, and in front 
 of the fire sat a man with his hands 
 clasped about his knees, whom I recog- 
 nized by his clothing as the Baron Zim- 
 mer. He sat motionless, with his eyes 
 fixed on the fire, and seemed lost in 
 thought. Behind him a dark form lay 
 stretched upon the ground, and further 
 in the distance, his horse, half lost in the 
 shadows, gazed upon us with fixed eyes, 
 ears pricked up, and distended nostrils.
 
 296 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I stood stupefied. How came the 
 Baron Zimmer to be in this dense, ter- 
 rifying wilderness at such an hour and 
 such a time, what was he doing here ? 
 Had he lost his way ? The most con- 
 tradictory conjectures succeeded each 
 other in my brain, and I knew not 
 where to pause, when the Baron's 
 horse began to neigh. At the sound, 
 the master raised his head : 
 " Well, Rappel, what now ? " 
 Then, in his turn, he gazed in our 
 direction, straining his eyes to make us 
 out in the darkness. That pale face, 
 with its clear-cut features, delicate lips, 
 and heavy black eyebrows, gathered in 
 a frown, would have struck me with 
 admiration under any other circum- 
 stances, but now an indefinable feeling 
 of apprehension took possession of me,
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 297 
 
 and I was filled with vague anxiety. 
 Suddenly, the young man cried : 
 
 " Who goes there ? " 
 
 " I, monsieur," replied Sperver quick- 
 ly, at the same time advancing towards 
 him ; " I, Sperver, steward of the Count 
 of Nideck!" 
 
 A strange expression passed across 
 the Baron's features, but not a muscle 
 of his face quivered. He rose to his 
 feet, gathering the folds of his cloak 
 more closely about him. I drew 
 towards me the horses and the hound, 
 who suddenly began to howl as he had 
 done on the night of my arrival at the 
 Castle. 
 
 Who of us is not subject in some 
 degree to superstitious fears ? At the 
 sound of Lieverle's menacing growls, I 
 felt a dread of I know not what, and
 
 298 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 I shuddered instinctively. Sperver and 
 the Baron stood at a distance of fifty 
 yards from each other ; the first immov- 
 able in the middle of the gorge, with 
 his rifle resting against his shoulder; 
 the other, standing erect before the 
 entrance of the cave, holding his head 
 high, and surveying us with a haughty 
 glance. 
 
 " What do you want here ? " he asked 
 defiantly. 
 
 " We are looking for a woman," re- 
 plied the huntsman ; " a woman who 
 comes each year prowling about the 
 Castle of Nideck, and we have orders 
 to seize her." 
 
 " Has she robbed ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Has she committed murder ? " 
 
 " No, monsieur."
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 299 
 
 " Then what do you want of her ? 
 What right have you to pursue her ? " 
 
 Sperver straightened up, and fixing 
 his gray eye on the Baron : 
 
 "And you? What right have you 
 over her ? " he asked with a strange 
 smile ; " for she is there. I can see her 
 at the back of the cavern. By whose 
 authority do you meddle with our af- 
 fairs ? Do you not know that we are 
 at this moment within the domains of 
 Nideck, and that we administer all forms 
 of justice at our pleasure ? " 
 
 The young man grew paler yet, and 
 replied shortly: 
 
 " I am not accountable to you for 
 any act of mine." 
 
 " Take care," replied Sperver ; " I am 
 acting in the name of my master, the 
 Count of Nideck, and am but doing
 
 3OO THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 my duty. You will have to answer 
 for any interference on your part." 
 
 "Your duty!" exclaimed the young 
 man, with a bitter smile ; " if you speak 
 of your duty, you may force me to tell 
 you mine." 
 
 " Let us hear it," cried the old steward, 
 whose face was becoming discomposed 
 with anger. 
 
 " No," returned the Baron, " I will 
 tell you nothing, nor shall you set foot 
 inside this cave." 
 
 " We will see about that," said Sper- 
 ver, advancing towards the cavern. 
 
 The young man drew his hunting- 
 knife. Seeing this, I tried to spring 
 between them, when the hound, which 
 I was holding by a leash, shook himself 
 free, throwing me to the ground with 
 the force of the shock. I thought that
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 30! 
 
 the Baron was lost; but at the same 
 moment a savage cry rose from the 
 back of the cavern, and as I rose to 
 my feet, I saw the old woman standing 
 upright before the fire, her clothing in 
 rags, her head run forward, and her 
 gray locks scattered about her shoul- 
 ders, with her long, skinny arms raised 
 towards heaven, and uttering dismal 
 howls, like the cries of the wolf in the 
 cold winter nights, when hunger is 
 gnawing at his entrails. 
 
 Never in my life had I witnessed 
 such a frightful spectacle. Sperver, 
 motionless, with his eyes fixed on the 
 strange scene before him, seemed turned 
 to stone. The dog, surprised himself 
 at this unexpected apparition, stood still 
 for a moment, then suddenly arching 
 his bristling back, he flew at the hag
 
 3O2 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 with a low growl of fury that made me 
 shudder. The entrance to the cavern 
 was some eight or ten feet above the 
 spot where we stood, or he would have 
 reached it with a single bound. I can 
 hear him still, as he crashes through 
 the frost -laden bushes, and see the 
 Baron fling himself before the old 
 woman with the heart-rending cry : 
 
 " My mother ! " 
 
 Then, as the dog takes his final spring, 
 Sperver, quick as lightning, raises his 
 rifle, and brings down the noble ani- 
 mal dead at the young man's feet. All 
 this was the work of an instant. The 
 gorge was momentarily lighted by the 
 rifle flash, and the echoes, taking up 
 the noise of the explosion, carried it 
 roaring and tumbling to the infinite 
 depths of the neighboring crags.
 
 WE CHASE THE PLAGUE. 303 
 
 When the smoke cleared away, I saw 
 Lieverle lying stretched out at the foot 
 of the rock, and the old woman faint- 
 ing in the arms of the young man. 
 Sperver eyed the Baron gloomily, as 
 he dropped the butt of his rifle to the 
 ground, his features working with rage 
 and grief. 
 
 " Baron," he said, pointing to the 
 cave, " I have killed my best friend to 
 save the woman whom you call your 
 mother. You may thank God that her 
 destiny was bound up with that of my 
 master. Take her away from here. 
 Take her far away, and let her never re- 
 turn ; for, if she does, I cannot answer 
 for myself." 
 
 Then, glancing at his dog: 
 
 " My poor Lieverle ! " he cried ; " was 
 this to be the outcome of our long years
 
 304 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 of friendship? Come, Gaston, let us 
 hurry away from this accursed spot. I 
 might do something I should regret 
 afterwards." 
 
 Seizing his horse's mane, he started 
 to throw himself into his saddle, but 
 suddenly his heart swelled to bursting, 
 and dropping his head on his horse's 
 neck, he wept like a child.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BARON'S STORY. HE DISAPPEARS. 
 
 OPERVER set out, carrying the body 
 of Lieverle in his cloak. I had 
 refused to follow him, for I felt that 
 duty compelled me to remain near this 
 unhappy woman, and I could not have 
 abandoned her without violating my 
 conscience. Moreover, I am obliged to 
 confess I was curious to examine more 
 closely this mysterious being, and hardly 
 had Sperver disappeared in the dark- 
 ness of the defile before I began climb- 
 ing the path to the cavern. A strange 
 sight awaited me there. Upon a large 
 fur cloak with green facings lay the old 
 woman in a long purple robe, with a 
 305
 
 306 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 golden arrow stuck through her gray 
 hair, her withered hands clutching her 
 breast. 
 
 Time will never efface the image of 
 this woman from my mind. Her vul- 
 ture-like face, distorted by the last ago- 
 nies of death, her staring eyes and 
 half-opened mouth, were appalling to 
 look upon. Such might have been the 
 last hour of the terrible Queen Frede- 
 gonde. The Baron, on his knees beside 
 her, tried to restore her to animation, 
 but at the first glance it was evident to 
 me that the unfortunate creature was 
 dying, and it was not without a senti- 
 ment of profound pity that I kneeled to 
 raise her arm. 
 
 " Leave her alone ! How dare you 
 touch her ? " cried the young man bit- 
 terly.
 
 THE BARONS STORY. 307 
 
 " I am a doctor, monsieur." 
 
 " Ah, pardon me ! " 
 
 He was deathly pale, and his lips 
 trembled nervously. After a moment, 
 he asked : 
 
 " What is your opinion, monsieur ? " 
 
 " It is over. She is dead." 
 
 Without replying, he leaned back 
 against the wall of the cavern, his fore- 
 head resting in his hands, and staring 
 straight before him, motionless as mar- 
 ble. I sat near the fire, watching the 
 flames as they climbed to the arched 
 top of the cave, casting their vivid re- 
 flections upon the rigid features of the 
 Black Plague. 
 
 We had been sitting thus for a full 
 hour without stirring, when suddenly 
 lifting his head, the Baron said to 
 me:
 
 3O8 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Monsieur, all this confounds me. 
 Here is my mother, for twenty-six 
 years I thought I knew her, and now 
 a whole world of mystery and horror 
 opens itself before my eyes. You are 
 a doctor ; tell me if you have ever known 
 anything like it before." 
 
 " Monsieur," I replied, " the Count of 
 Nideck is afflicted with a malady that 
 bears a striking resemblance to that of 
 which your mother has been the victim. 
 If you have confidence enough in me 
 to relate to me the facts which you 
 yourself must have witnessed, I will 
 gladly tell you what I know of the mat- 
 ter, for this exchange may be the means 
 of saving my patient." 
 
 As I began to speak the Baron started, 
 and exclaimed : 
 
 " What ? the Count of Nideck visited
 
 THE BARON S STORY. 309 
 
 thus? This is more than a coinci- 
 dence ! " 
 
 And without further parley he in- 
 formed me that the Baroness Zimmer, 
 belonging to one of the noblest fami- 
 lies in Saxony, and being a blood rela- 
 tion of the Count of Nideck (to whom 
 he should have made himself known 
 had not circumstances required that he 
 should maintain the strictest secrecy as 
 to his identity), had been accustomed 
 for many years to make a journey into 
 Italy towards Christmas, accompanied 
 by an old man servant, who alone pos- 
 sessed her entire confidence; that this 
 man, being at the point of death, had 
 desired a private interview with her 
 son, and that at the last hour, tormented 
 no doubt by remorse, he had told the 
 young man that his mother's journey
 
 310 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 into Italy was only a pretext to furnish 
 her a means of making an excursion 
 into the Black Forest, of the object of 
 which he himself was in ignorance, but 
 which must have been of some fearful 
 nature, since the Baroness invariably 
 returned haggard, in rags, and almost 
 dead, and that it required weeks of rest 
 to repair the terrible fatigues of these 
 few days. 
 
 This is what the old servant had 
 related to the young Baron, thinking 
 that in so doing he was only fulfill- 
 ing his duty. The son, wishing to learn 
 the truth of his story, whatever the cost 
 to himself, had this very year verified 
 the incomprehensible fact by following 
 his mother first to Baden, and then pur- 
 suing her step by step into the gorges 
 of the Black Forest. The tracks which
 
 THE BARON S STORY. 3 1 1 
 
 Sebalt had discovered on the Altenberg 
 were his. 
 
 When the Baron had finished his 
 confidence, I thought that I ought no 
 longer to conceal from him the singular 
 influence which the advent of the old 
 woman exercised upon the Count's 
 health, nor indeed any of the attendant 
 circumstances, and accordingly, I im- 
 parted to him even the slightest details. 
 
 The Baron was amazed by the coin- 
 cidence of these facts; the mysterious 
 attraction which these two beings exer- 
 cised over one another without knowing 
 it, the ghastly drama which they had 
 enacted without consciousness, the ac- 
 quaintance which the old woman had 
 shown with the Castle and its most 
 secret passages, without ever having 
 seen them before ; the costume which
 
 312 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 she had discovered in which to carry 
 out the murder in pantomime, and 
 which could only have been discov- 
 ered in some mysterious retreat which 
 magnetic clairvoyance had revealed to 
 her. 
 
 When I had ended the recital of my 
 experiences, the Baron relapsed into 
 his former gloomy silence, nor did he 
 again rouse from it while I remained 
 near him. I fancied I could read in 
 his face and attitude the one wish to 
 distance himself forever from the scene 
 of this bitter revelation. 
 
 While we were still sitting, each one 
 buried in his own reflections, the dark- 
 ness of night began to fade. An owl, 
 far off in the shadows, sounded the 
 retreat of darkness with its strange 
 note, like the gurgling of liquid from
 
 THE BARON S STORY. 313 
 
 a bottle. Presently we heard a whin- 
 nying in the depths of the defile, and 
 then, in the first rays of dawn, we saw 
 a sledge approaching, driven by the 
 Baron's servant. It was covered with 
 straw, and upon it rested a litter, on 
 which we laid the body of the old 
 woman. 
 
 I mounted my horse, who did not 
 seem sorry to stretch his legs again, 
 having stood half the night in the snow, 
 and I accompanied the sledge as far as 
 the outlet of the glen. There, having 
 gravely saluted one another for the last 
 time, they proceeded in the direction of 
 Hirschland, and I on my way towards 
 the Castle of Nideck. 
 
 At nine o'clock I was again in Odile's 
 presence. 
 
 " The Plague is dead ! " I cried, " and
 
 314 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 the spell is raised forever from the 
 Castle. Henceforth we may look for 
 the olden days at Nideck." 
 
 And I related the extraordinary ex- 
 periences of the last twenty-four hours, 
 exulting in our victory over the hag. 
 When I had finished, and recalled to 
 my now happy love her promise of the 
 day before, Odile dropped her eyes, 
 flushed charmingly, and returned the 
 pressure of my hand with averted head. 
 
 After some precious moments passed 
 in the indulgence of our new-found 
 happiness, I proceeded to the Count's 
 chamber. I found him in a very satis- 
 factory condition. He was naturally in 
 a state of complete exhaustion after the 
 terrible crises that he had been through, 
 but was entirely himself, and the fever 
 had disappeared the evening before.
 
 "ODILE DROPPED HER EYES."
 
 THE BARONS STORY. 317 
 
 Everything pointed towards a speedy 
 recovery. 
 
 " Monsieur," I said, as he greeted me 
 with a warm grasp of my hand, "your 
 restored health is assured, and it is but 
 the matter of a few days when you will 
 be able to indulge in your favorite pas- 
 time again." 
 
 " I believe you, monsieur ! I feel that 
 myself as I have never done before, and 
 I am bound that you shall remain at 
 Nideck and accompany me on my first 
 boar hunt." 
 
 " Nothing would give me greater pleas- 
 ure, monsieur," I replied. " Though an 
 entire novice in the art, I shall doubt- 
 less gain much by employing my powers 
 of observation." 
 
 " And furthermore," continued the 
 Count, " your reward for this greatest
 
 318 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 of all services which you have per- 
 formed for me shall be whatever you 
 may require that lies within my gift ! " 
 
 " Monsieur," I replied, bowing low, 
 " your generosity overwhelms me. How- 
 ever, we will discuss the matter of com- 
 pensation at a future time, when your 
 strength will better admit of it. At 
 present let me say that the existing 
 state of affairs is an ample reward for 
 anything I may have been able to ac- 
 complish in your behalf." And mean- 
 while I wondered if the Count realized 
 the significance of his promise as I 
 reflected upon the recompense I was 
 presently to seek at his hands. 
 
 As his malady left him, I found the 
 master of Nideck a changed man. His 
 features, which had at first aroused only 
 a sentiment of repugnance in me, slowly
 
 THE BARONS STORY. 319 
 
 resumed their natural expression, and 
 became dignified and even handsome. 
 His generosity and kindness exceeded 
 anything I had before experienced, and 
 everything that Knapwurst had declared 
 in his master's favor was realized to 
 the utmost. From liking I grew to lov- 
 ing him, as I felt indeed I must have 
 done if only as the author of Odile's 
 being. 
 
 The fortnight that followed was one 
 of rejoicing throughout Nideck. The 
 Count gained with wonderful rapidity, 
 and for a week past he had moved about 
 the Castle with a buoyancy and content- 
 ment of demeanor which only Odile 
 and the old steward could recall having 
 seen in him long years before, ere the 
 dead witch had yet entwined him in the 
 meshes of her baneful spell.
 
 32O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Even the grim, melancholy Sebalt 
 had become grotesquely gay, and he 
 discontinued his matinal post on the 
 Altenberg, feeling, no doubt, that he 
 had contributed not a little to his mas- 
 ter's recovery. As for Sperver, he was 
 radiant, and he would come to my 
 chamber late at night, after I had left 
 Odile, and as we sat over our bottles we 
 would discuss for the fiftieth time the 
 circumstances of my stay within the 
 Castle. 
 
 During the earlier stages of the 
 Count's convalescence I repaired each 
 morning to his chamber, where I inva- 
 riably found Odile arrived before me, 
 and as the Count was fond of reading, 
 which served to wear away the period 
 of his enforced inactivity, Odile and I 
 would share for hours together the
 
 THE BARONS STORY. 32! 
 
 reading of " Garin the Lorrainer," which 
 was one of his favorite romances. 
 
 The extent of my contentment may 
 be imagined. Whenever I glanced up 
 from my book as it became necessary 
 to turn a page, I invariably met Odile's 
 eyes fastened upon my face, and speak- 
 ing the whole language of love and 
 contentment, and when she in turn 
 assumed the reading, I found myself 
 lost in a world of reverie and specula- 
 tion as I continued to study her beauti- 
 ful face, which was always a revelation 
 to me, no matter how long it remained 
 before my gaze. 
 
 Oh, the delight of all this ! How I 
 pity you crabbed misanthropes who 
 know not the richness of a loving 
 woman's endearments ! 
 
 I had determined, with Odile's sane-
 
 322 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 tion, to broach the subject of our be- 
 trothal to the Count as soon as his 
 health would permit it. 
 
 Meanwhile, our hours at table were 
 spent in laying plans for our future. 
 I was sanguine of success in my avowal, 
 for added to the Count's desire of seeing 
 his line perpetuated, which lay nearest 
 his heart, I knew that he felt, though 
 how deservedly I leave it to the reader 
 to determine, that I had been instru- 
 mental in restoring him to health. These 
 considerations, combined with his inva- 
 riable desire to secure to his daughter 
 her slightest wish or whim, I believed 
 would be sufficient to ensure the con- 
 summation of my desire. Moreover, 
 with my beloved champion beside me, 
 I felt strong enough to overcome the 
 opposition of the universe.
 
 THE BARON S STORY. 323 
 
 But the future still held something 
 in store, and as it often happens when 
 we fancy ourselves beyond the reach 
 of an adverse Fate, we may in reality 
 be standing within the shadows of the 
 Valley of Darkness.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 
 
 must be ready to start with 
 the Count in an hour," exclaimed 
 Sperver, as he stood on my threshold 
 before the sun had yet risen. " Sebalt 
 and Becker came in late last night, 
 famished, and covered with mud, and 
 they have reported a wild boar's tracks 
 near the Leidenthal. I will lend you 
 whatever clothes you need, but be quick, 
 for there's only breakfast between us and 
 the start." 
 
 I got up, and taking a hasty plunge 
 in the icy water beside my bed, which 
 served to drive the vapors from my
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 325 
 
 brain, I half dressed myself, and fol- 
 lowed Sperver to his room. 
 
 " The beaters found game worthy of 
 our powder," continued Gideon. " They 
 brought back a dried clump of bog-mud 
 with an enormous hoof -print in the mid- 
 dle of it. If the Count's carbine misses 
 fire, we must stand in well beside him 
 this time, though he always grudges 
 the fatal shot to any arm but his own." 
 
 I paid little heed to his words, busied 
 as I was in accommodating myself to 
 my borrowed garments, and I presently 
 emerged from the chamber dressed in 
 a leather hunting-jacket, cap, and long 
 gaiters which reached tb my hips ; a 
 carbine and long hunting-knife com- 
 pleted my outfit. 
 
 " If I only had you for a couple of 
 weeks on the forest patrol, I would
 
 326 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 make a first-class shot out of you," said 
 Sperver with a grin. " As it is, I sup- 
 pose you know as much about a gun 
 as a pike does of mountain climbing." 
 
 " Just about ! " I laughed. " However, 
 I'm fortunately in such good company 
 that it will make little difference whether 
 I can tell the muzzle from the stock, or 
 not." 
 
 " There's something in that," he re- 
 turned ; " and as there are to be ladies 
 in the party you may find other employ- 
 ment as agreeable as the killing of ani- 
 mals," and he looked at me with a dry 
 twitching of his mouth. 
 
 I made no reply to this beyond rather 
 a grim smile, and a moment later we 
 reached the dining-room. I found the 
 Count dressed in hunting-costume, 
 seated at the table, on which Tobias
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 327 
 
 was placing the last dishes for the break- 
 fast. He complimented me on my pro- 
 fessional appearance, and added that, 
 judging from externals, a little practice 
 was all that was necessary to make me 
 an accomplished huntsman. 
 
 I looked in vain for Odile as I entered 
 the room, but she presently appeared in 
 a close-fitting habit which became her 
 marvellously well, sparkling with health 
 and freshness, and bearing in one hand 
 her long skirt, and in the other a pearl- 
 handled crop. A pistol with a heavy 
 barrel was thrust beneath her belt, more 
 for ornament, I fancied, than for service. 
 
 "Ha! Odile!" cried her father, as 
 she greeted us and took her seat at the 
 table, "the mere sight of your rosy 
 cheeks and lithe step puts new life into 
 me ! It's a pleasure to look at you.
 
 328 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 Isn't it so, Monsieur Gaston ? " then, as 
 Odile grew crimson with confusion, the 
 Count perceived his blunder, and began 
 to busy himself with the dishes before 
 him. The next moment I caught 
 Odile's eye, as she stole an amused 
 glance at me, and I nodded a quick 
 affirmative, without violence to my con- 
 science. 
 
 The meal passed with narratives of 
 hunting exploits by the Count, who 
 delighted in recalling his past expe- 
 riences, often discontinuing his meal to 
 illustrate by attitudes and gestures his 
 combats with the different animals of 
 the regions round about. Odile and I 
 proved good listeners, though, perhaps, 
 as one sometimes hearkens to a strain 
 of music, the better to indulge his own 
 reflections.
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 329 
 
 Breakfast finished, we went down into 
 the courtyard. A dozen horses stood 
 saddled just inside the principal gate. 
 Sebalt, in his leather dress, with his 
 double-coiled horn strapped across his 
 back, and a heavy cowhide whip in 
 his hand ready to strike, held a score 
 of dogs in leash, that were baying and 
 tugging at their bonds in excited antici- 
 pation of the part they were to play in 
 the day's sport. Joy gleamed in every 
 line of his goat's face as his long de- 
 ferred desire was now about to be real- 
 ized. Gideon, who held the Count's 
 horse, looked more himself than I had 
 seen him since the death of poor Lie- 
 verle ; he seemed to have recovered 
 much of his wonted good spirits. 
 
 I pushed aside the groom who stood 
 beside Odile's horse, and she sprang
 
 33O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 from my hand into the saddle. Then 
 I, in turn, mounted my horse, and 
 moved abreast of Odile and the Count. 
 
 When all was in readiness, Sebalt 
 raised his horn and sounded the de- 
 parture as, according to Sperver, he 
 alone could sound it. 
 
 The neighboring hillsides took up 
 the sound, and threw it back in tones 
 of purest silver, and all the echoes of 
 the valleys were awakened and fled 
 away towards the rising sun. This 
 warm February sun had done its work, 
 and the snow had disappeared to a 
 level of but a few inches, covered with 
 a hard crust. We started off at a 
 gallop. Sebalt and Sperver rode first, 
 with Odile, the Count, and myself close 
 behind them. Becker and the under- 
 keepers came on in the rear.
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 331 
 
 Sebalt led the pack along the base 
 of the Gaisenberg, and skirting the falls 
 of the Lauterbach, he followed along 
 the defile at its further side, from which 
 point the trail diverged in the direction 
 of the Leidenthal. The weather was 
 superb, not a cloud in the heavens, 
 and the frosty air clear as crystal. The 
 bare oaks creaked their gaunt branches, 
 and the singing pines waved their 
 lofty tops in the fresh south wind. The 
 yelping of the pack could have been 
 heard for a mile around, and Gideon, 
 turning from time to time, called to 
 them : 
 
 " Hold your noise, you rascals ; you'll 
 have reason enough to howl before long, 
 I'll warrant." 
 
 There was little chance for conver- 
 sation at the furious pace which we
 
 332 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 were following, and I contented myself 
 with frequent glances at Odile, whose 
 superb beauty was enhanced by the 
 bright color in her cheeks, which ex- 
 citement, exercise and happiness called 
 forth. As for the Count, I could no 
 longer recognize in him the dying pa- 
 tient of my first night at Nideck. All 
 trace of his terrible illness had vanished, 
 and he rode like a youth of twenty 
 years, vigorous, calm, confident. 
 
 At the end of an hour we emerged 
 from the defile into the dazzling sun- 
 light beyond. The dogs came upon 
 the trail of the boar, and their long, 
 full cries changed to exultant yappings ; 
 they glided along to right and left 
 among the rocks, their noses to the 
 ground, and they ran and leaped along 
 the trail. Not one of them followed
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 333 
 
 the other's lead, until he had verified 
 the scent for himself ; like all true hunt- 
 ing dogs, they relied only upon them- 
 selves. 
 
 Meanwhile, the blast of the horn, the 
 short, savage yelps of the pack, and the 
 noise of our horses' hoofs as they pierced 
 the sparkling snow crust, made music of 
 an exciting, bewildering sort. I galloped 
 on imbued to the finger-tips with the con- 
 tagious anticipation everywhere around 
 me. 
 
 For some little time past the order 
 of the hunt had been broken up. The 
 Count, seemingly lost in the one object 
 of the chase and oblivious to all else, 
 had ridden far ahead, and had almost 
 overtaken Sebalt and Sperver, who were 
 at such a distance from us that the 
 sound of their trumpets grew feebler
 
 334 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 and feebler, and at length were entirely 
 lost, save that at rare intervals they 
 reached our ears like the sigh of the 
 passing breeze. The mounts of Becker 
 and his comrades, though chosen for 
 endurance and strength, were not the 
 equal of ours in speed; and thus it 
 was that Odile and I now found our- 
 selves alone, as it were, midway in the 
 plain. 
 
 On we went. Every now and then 
 Odile would turn her head and smile at 
 me; then she would whisper to her 
 horse, and we bounded along yet faster. 
 From the less frequent pauses of the 
 pack, that glided, no larger than rabbits 
 now, up the distant slopes, and their 
 straight-ahead course, I fancied that the 
 foremost of the party were approaching 
 the whereabouts of the game.
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 335 
 
 It was now that a belt of dense 
 woods became visible on the rising 
 ground before us. The Count had 
 by this time gained so far upon us 
 that we presently saw him disappear, 
 together with his followers, within its 
 borders. 
 
 " We must be in at the death ! " cried 
 Odile breathlessly ; " let's make haste ! " 
 and she urged her horse still further, 
 while I clapped spurs to mine. Twenty 
 minutes later we had covered the inter- 
 vening distance, and dashed into the 
 shadows of the wood. 
 
 We had not proceeded above a mile 
 further, when we found that our road 
 forked, and running over an extensive 
 ledge of rock, swept bare of snow and 
 pine-needles by the wind, we were at a 
 loss which path to follow, for there were
 
 336 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 no tracks of horses nor dogs, and the 
 direction of both paths being apparently 
 the same, the noise of the pack growing 
 momentarily fainter, afforded us no clue 
 to our proper course. 
 
 We reined up, impatient at this vexa- 
 tious occurrence. 
 
 " Which way now ? " I cried to Odile. 
 
 She hesitated for a moment. 
 
 " Let's go to the right ! " she replied. 
 " There's a new blaze on that beech- 
 tree yonder. Perhaps one of the men's 
 guns bruised the bark as he passed it ! " 
 and without waiting for me to reply, 
 she started on again. 
 
 It occurred to me a few moments 
 later that we might now be left entirely 
 alone if, perchance, we had chosen the 
 wrong path, and if our followers, who 
 would inevitably meet with the same
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 337 
 
 question of direction on reaching the 
 fork in the road, should decide upon 
 the one to the left. 
 
 I felt little apprehension in being 
 thus deserted, as it were, but let it not 
 be understood by this that fearlessness 
 formed any part of my character; it 
 was to the more ignoble trait of igno- 
 rance that my present equanimity was 
 due. I did, however, feel that Odile 
 should be reminded of the fact, and I 
 proceeded to communicate it to her; 
 but whether it was that her attention 
 was so much engrossed by the business 
 in hand that she had no thought for 
 anything else, or whether she con- 
 sidered my apprehensions groundless, 
 her only reply was a smile and a motion 
 of her head, as her horse carried her 
 away from me, which I interpreted as
 
 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 meant to reassure me, and I gave my 
 horse his head. 
 
 From time to time we heard, far over 
 on the mountainside, the sound of the 
 woodcutter's axe, falling against the 
 oak with measured stroke, that slow, 
 heavy stroke that is taken up and ex- 
 aggerated by the echoes, then the 
 creaking of the falling tree, the shout of 
 warning, and the thud of the giant as it 
 measured its length upon the earth, 
 crashing among the underbrush. Ow- 
 ing to the frequent windings of the 
 woodland path, and the uncertain char- 
 acter of the ground, we were obliged to 
 moderate our speed, and as we came 
 upon the open land between the hills, 
 the barking of the dogs reached us, loud 
 for a moment, then faint again, as some 
 intervening object came between us.
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 339 
 
 " You hear the dogs ! " cried Odile ; 
 " we are on the right path after all ! " 
 
 And as the sounds became more 
 distinct with each moment, I was sat- 
 isfied that she was right. 
 
 Here and there, as we entered a dark 
 defile, we saw the fire of the charcoal- 
 burner beneath the shadowy boughs, 
 spreading its purple ring over the snow- 
 crust and even to the tops of the sway- 
 ing firs, then drawing its uncertain rays 
 the closer until it was no longer but 
 a spark, only to spread them out again 
 yet wider than before. The outline of 
 the charcoal-burner, stooping over the 
 flame, with his broad-brimmed hat flat- 
 tened on his shoulders, smoking his 
 short, black pipe, and turning potatoes 
 in the embers, reminded me at a dis- 
 tance of the trolls that are said to quarry
 
 340 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 gems of untold value in the centre of 
 the earth. 
 
 The noise of the dogs, forming a 
 discordant, frenzied concert, grew nearer 
 every moment. At length a sharp turn 
 to the left, as we emerged from the deep, 
 narrow glen which we had been travers- 
 ing for some minutes past, brought us, it 
 almost seemed, right upon the game, so 
 startling was the uproar that greeted us. 
 
 I was now convinced that we had 
 happened upon the right path, and I 
 expected momentarily to come upon the 
 Count's party engaged in securing the 
 game. I glanced back to see if Becker 
 and his comrades were near us, but 
 our frequent windings through the for- 
 est would have concealed them com- 
 pletely from our view, even had they 
 followed us.
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 34! 
 
 Up to this point I had been vaguely 
 regretting my inexperience in the hunt, 
 though I still had little realization of 
 the danger that might threaten us. But 
 now, as I heard the loud blare of Sebalt's 
 horn not above a quarter of a mile before 
 us, I felt entirely reassured, and both 
 Odile and I were looking expectantly 
 for the forms of the Count and his 
 huntsmen among the trees. 
 
 A few rods further on we came upon 
 a brake, half swamp, half stubble, be- 
 yond which, as far as the eye could reach, 
 the sun once more shone brightly. We 
 advanced at a walk, which the treacher- 
 ous nature of the ground made necessary. 
 The din of the maddened dogs, and a 
 strange, ominous snarl, the like of which 
 I had never before heard, told us that the 
 beast was run, or nearly run, to earth.
 
 342 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Whose hand will the slaying fall to 
 to-day ? " I exclaimed laughingly to 
 Odile. 
 
 " To my father's, if his aim is true," 
 replied Odile excitedly. 
 
 She had hardly finished these words 
 when a sudden parting of the bushes 
 before us brought us into a crescent- 
 shaped clearing some fifty yards in ex- 
 tent, and entered at its opposite side by 
 the other forest path. Directly in the 
 centre of this clearing, surrounded by 
 a score of dogs that had seized him 
 by the ears and neck, and were vainly 
 endeavoring to bear him down, regard- 
 less of those of their number who had 
 succumbed to his savage tusks, was 
 a huge wild boar! 
 
 I confess to a sensation of horror at 
 the sight. I glanced involuntarily at
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 343 
 
 Odile, whom I would have given any- 
 thing in the gift of man to see removed 
 as far as possible from the spot. She, 
 apparently undaunted still, though with 
 a shade less color in her fair cheeks, 
 turned hastily towards me and motioned 
 me to hand her my rifle. I complied 
 with misgiving, silently cursing my 
 ignorance of the weapon's use, and in 
 another moment Odile was gazing along 
 its glistening barrel. 
 
 There was a report, and though the 
 aim was true it failed of its effect. And 
 now the raging brute, infuriated by the 
 pain of the wound, charged directly upon 
 Odile, heedless of the sharp fangs which 
 lacerated him, unchecked by the com- 
 bined strength of the pack. 
 
 My dismay was complete when, the 
 next moment, the frightened animal
 
 344 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 which Odile rode, rearing up at 
 boar's furious onslaught, lost its foot- 
 ing in the treacherous bog-land and fell 
 on its side, happily upon its right 
 side. 
 
 Leaping to the ground, I had only 
 time to seize my love about the waist 
 and swing her beyond the reach of the 
 horse's flying hoofs, when the boar was 
 upon me. There was no time for re- 
 flection. I fell upon my knees before 
 the brute, my hunting-knife extended 
 straight before me, and held with all the 
 strength of my arm. 
 
 So quickly works the eye sometimes, 
 in moments of danger, that in this in- 
 stant I saw the Count, or rather, per- 
 haps, he came within my range of vision, 
 pale as death, and riding at the highest 
 speed along the opposite path, while
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 347 
 
 close behind him followed Gideon and 
 Kraft. 
 
 The knife in my hand never swerved, 
 for the love I bore Odile steadied my 
 arm as I fancy that alone could have 
 done. The mad rush of the boar was 
 but the means of his surer destruction. 
 He came straight upon the knife, and 
 the momentum of his ponderous body 
 drove the steel deep through his heart. 
 I felt the gush of his life's blood pour 
 over my arm and chest; then I heard 
 a cry from Odile's lips and a shout of 
 wild triumph from the Count and his 
 huntsmen ; then I fell backwards, my 
 consciousness half crushed out by the 
 enormous weight of the brute's body as 
 it struck against me in its swaying fall 
 to the earth. 
 
 A moment later Odile, oblivious to
 
 348 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 all around her, had thrown herself into 
 my arms and burst into uncontrollable 
 tears. The crisis of the moment just 
 passed had completely unnerved her 
 and robbed her of her usual calm 
 control. 
 
 We stood thus when the Count reined 
 up before us. 
 
 " Ha ! is it so ? " he exclaimed, en- 
 deavoring to hide his emotion beneath 
 a joking exterior. " And why not ? Who 
 deserves better of a woman than the 
 lad who has saved her life and her 
 father's too ! " And as Sebalt and 
 Gideon rode up, all three jumped from 
 their saddles and wrung my hands, 
 while good old Sperver beamed with 
 gratified pride, and pulled the brim of 
 his hat down over his eyes to screen 
 them from the glare of the sun.
 
 THE BOAR HUNT. 349 
 
 These words of the Count had filled 
 our cup of happiness to the brim. 
 Though I had dared to hope for little 
 exception on his part when I should 
 determine to impart to him my wishes, 
 yet this complete and cordial acceptance 
 of the relationship existing between 
 Odile and myself filled me with un- 
 wonted exultation. Nor was the Count's 
 satisfaction any less, I believe, as he 
 realized that the fulfilment of that de- 
 sire which lay nearest his heart was 
 now assured him. It seemed, moreover, 
 that he had guessed something of the 
 truth during the hours which we had 
 passed together in his sick-room. 
 
 " Aye," said he, in speaking of it 
 afterwards, "did you think I had not 
 weighed my words, Gaston, when I 
 promised you any reward you should
 
 350 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 require of me? And was I wrong in 
 believing that such a spirited lad as 
 you, and one after my own heart, might 
 find his happiness in Odile ; for she is 
 lovely, is she not, though she is my 
 child?" 
 
 For all answer, I drew Odile closer 
 to me, and kissed the fair face that 
 rested on my shoulder.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BANQUET. THE DWARF EXPLAINS 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF THE NIDECK HOUSE. 
 
 ' I ^HE body of the boar was strapped 
 across the backs of the two horses 
 which the beaters, Wilhelm Molz and 
 Yeri Scharf, relinquished for the pur- 
 pose, themselves returning on foot to 
 the Castle. 
 
 I looked with strange fascination at 
 the shaggy brute that had so nearly 
 put an end to all my cherished pros- 
 pects. The bristling, wiry hair running 
 over head and shoulders and extending 
 half-way to the haunches ; the broad
 
 352 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 yellow tusks that forced up the black, 
 leathery upper lip; the small, savage 
 eyes now glazed and half-closed in 
 death, all inspired me with reluctant 
 curiosity and loathing. 
 
 We retraced our road to the Castle, 
 walking our jaded mounts. The dogs 
 followed close behind us, their tongues 
 lolling from their mouths, and eyeing 
 at intervals their fallen foe, as if not 
 yet sure that he was beyond renewing 
 the combat. 
 
 As we reached the eventful fork 
 in the forest path, the Count drew 
 up: 
 
 " Here's where you went astray," he 
 said ; " you didn't see the bit of red 
 flannel, torn from the lining of Sebalt's 
 jacket, that we pinned to the tree, just 
 here, within the left-hand path? By
 
 THE BANQUET. 353 
 
 Jove, it's gone ! This stiff breeze must 
 have drawn it against the knife's edge 
 and cut it through. Look ! There it 
 is, caught in the thicket." 
 
 Sure enough, a long strip of red flan- 
 nel was fluttering in the twigs of the 
 underbrush a few feet away. 
 
 " I shudder when I think how we 
 might be returning now ! " exclaimed 
 the Count, and a look of gloom set- 
 tled for a moment upon his face. 
 
 Gideon rode up to the tree, and pull- 
 ing out his hunting-knife, restored it 
 to his belt. We looked thoughtfully 
 along the fateful path for several min- 
 utes still. Then we resumed our home- 
 ward course. 
 
 It was towards two o'clock when we 
 trooped into the courtyard. We pre- 
 sented a somewhat less spirited ap-
 
 354 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 pearance than at our setting out at 
 daybreak, but we were victorious and 
 happy, nevertheless. 
 
 While the huntsmen and hostlers 
 were busy in removing the boar and 
 caring for the dogs and horses, the 
 Count continued to the lodge gate, and 
 Odile and I followed him leisurely, 
 along the rugged path. 
 
 As we passed the lodge room, where- 
 in we could descry the dwarf and a 
 half-dozen other figures seated about 
 the fireplace, Offenloch stepped out, 
 and bowing to the Count, he said: 
 
 " Some musicians from the Forest, 
 monsieur ! They ask permission to play 
 in the Castle this evening in return for 
 food and a night's lodging." 
 
 " Good ! " said the Count ; " music is 
 just what we want, and such as these
 
 THE BANQUET. 355 
 
 fellows play ! For- I was just sending 
 for you, Offenloch, to bid you prepare 
 a feast to-night worthy of the triple 
 event to be celebrated. Tell all the 
 people of the Castle to be present in 
 the dining-room at eight o'clock, and 
 see that no one of them all is missing. 
 These players shall furnish us music. 
 Let nothing be wanting to every one's 
 pleasure." 
 
 The delighted butler smiled expect- 
 antly, and withdrew to carry out his 
 master's instructions. 
 
 We continued to the drawing-room, 
 where we took leave of one another to 
 prepare for the evening's festivities. A 
 few minutes later I found myself in my 
 chamber. I was pretty thoroughly used 
 up with the unusual experiences of the 
 morning, and throwing off my borrowed
 
 356 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 clothes, I lay down on my bed, where I 
 presently fell into a leaden slumber. 
 
 I woke some hours later, much re- 
 freshed, to find the sun set and my 
 tower chamber dark. After five min- 
 utes of yawning and stretching, I got 
 up, and striking a light, I set about to 
 prepare myself for the feast. 
 
 Meanwhile I reflected in that state 
 of complete happiness which life can- 
 not offer twice, and which it does not 
 often fall to our lot that first time to 
 embrace upon the circumstances of 
 my present. It seemed like the touch 
 of the genie's hand that I should now 
 find myself installed for all time at 
 Nideck, the accepted lover of its mis- 
 tress, and beloved by its master, the 
 Count. 
 
 I was still reflecting in this wise as I
 
 THE BANQUET. 357 
 
 went down the stairs to the dining- 
 room. I found a gay company as- 
 sembled there. Many of the faces 
 were new to me, as I had never pen- 
 etrated to the remoter parts of the 
 Castle ; but all were gay and laughing, 
 and bespoke impatient expectation of 
 the amusement in store for them. The 
 arrangements for the repast were elab- 
 orate and complete, and worthy of their 
 projector, Offenloch. 
 
 Hardly had the members of the 
 household finished greeting me, when 
 Odile appeared on the Count's arm, 
 her exquisite beauty well set off by a 
 rich gown of black brocade that made 
 her complexion dazzling by contrast, 
 and in her hair a single band of jewels. 
 
 They proceeded to the head of the 
 table, and the Count motioned me to
 
 358 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 him. Then, with Odile on his right 
 hand and I at his left, he addressed the 
 gathering : 
 
 " My friends," said he, " you shall now 
 know the purpose of your being called 
 hither to-night. It is to celebrate the 
 greatest of all events in the lives of three 
 of us ; namely, the saving of your mis- 
 tress's life this morning, as you have 
 doubtless already heard, and the res- 
 toration of your master's health, both 
 the work of Monsieur de la Roche be- 
 side me here " (I experienced much more 
 embarrassment than gratification at this 
 unexpected eulogy), " and lastly, that 
 which is fraught with like significance 
 for us all, the betrothal of your mistress 
 and our benefactor ! " 
 
 At this point the Count was inter- 
 rupted by a chorus of cheers that were
 
 THE BANQUET. 359 
 
 prolonged for several moments. As the 
 noise subsided he went on : 
 
 " It is well known to you all how dear 
 to me the thought has been of feeling 
 that the ancient line of Nideck, which 
 has held an honorable place in the his- 
 tory of Alsace for many centuries, 
 should continue to flourish long after 
 I, Count Hermann, shall have passed 
 away. That time is not far distant, and 
 when it comes it rejoices me to think 
 that I shall hand over to these young 
 people beside me here the future of my 
 race. Your young master has endeared 
 himself already to your hearts, and he 
 will continue to do so during the years 
 which are to come. Your devotion to 
 me in the past has been complete, and 
 the memory of it is one of the proudest 
 of my possessions; and now I ask you to
 
 360 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 extend this devotion to those who shall 
 succeed me when I in turn pass on the 
 Castle and its lands. And now but one 
 more word. This night shall be devoted 
 to revelry, and there should be no down- 
 cast eye among us ! He who rejoices 
 most shall best prove his loyalty to 
 his house. Eat, drink, and be merry! 
 The Count of Nideck requires it of 
 you ! " 
 
 He paused, and a chorus of shouts 
 greeted his message of good-will. The 
 old housekeeper wiped her eyes with a 
 corner of her apron, while some of the 
 younger maids were reduced even to 
 whimpering; the men maintained a 
 sturdy silence, but it was evident that 
 all, especially the old steward, the dwarf, 
 and the master of the hounds, were no 
 less affected than the women.
 
 THE BANQUET. 361 
 
 Ere we resumed our seats, the ancient 
 wassail-bowl of the Nidecks, blackened 
 by centuries past, was filled to over- 
 flowing with sparkling wine from the 
 Drachenfels, and went the round of 
 the table, each one draining all he could 
 at a breath. The generous draught 
 served to increase the already growing 
 hilarity. The happy eyes and faces 
 sparkled more brightly under its magic 
 spell. Then, in response to a signal 
 from the Count, we seated ourselves 
 about the board. 
 
 The table fairly groaned beneath its 
 burden of dishes ranged everywhere 
 with lavish profusion. Bottles of all 
 shapes and sizes, cobwebbed and redo- 
 lent of the Castle's earthen vaults, were 
 dotted all about, with glasses of as vari- 
 ous patterns beside them, and long-
 
 362 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 stemmed pipes lay beside the plate of 
 each smoker, while an army of small 
 dishes, the contents of which I could 
 not even guess, were ranged the length 
 of the board. Directly in the centre of 
 it all, in an enormous platter of flowered 
 china, rested the head of the ill-favored 
 boar, swimming in a lake of white wine 
 sauce. 
 
 The meal progressed ; the merriment 
 increased. To-night there was license 
 everywhere, and each one enjoyed him- 
 self after his own manner. Healths 
 were emptied with marvellous rapidity 
 till I felt my head reeling with the 
 fumes of the wine and the intoxication 
 of happiness. 
 
 An hour passed. The Count, Odile, 
 and I, were toasted at intervals of every 
 few minutes. I wondered how long this
 
 THE BANQUET. 363 
 
 state of things could continue success- 
 fully. I looked about me. 
 
 There was Sperver, a little distance 
 down the table, with his thin forehead 
 and bristling gray head, his eyes shin- 
 ing and his mustache wet with wine; 
 at his right sat Knapwurst and on his 
 left Marie Lagoutte. His cheeks were 
 a good deal flushed, and on his breast 
 sparkled the badge of his office ; it was 
 a pleasure to see his honest, happy face. 
 Marie Lagoutte was even more loqua- 
 cious than was her wont; her large, 
 cotton cap was pushed very much to 
 one side, and she drank first with one 
 and then with another with the greatest 
 impartiality. 
 
 Knapwurst, squatting in his armchair, 
 his head on a level with Sperver's elbow, 
 looked like an enormous cabbage. Then
 
 364 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 came Tobias Offenloch, so red that he 
 looked as though he had dipped his 
 face in the wine before him. His wig 
 rested against the chair-back, and his 
 wooden leg was stuck straight out 
 before him under the table. Further 
 on, Sebalt's long, melancholy face stood 
 out in grotesque relief, smiling faintly 
 into his glass. 
 
 There were, besides the musicians, 
 the serving-men and women, domes- 
 tics and hangers-on, all that little 
 world, in short, which lives and flour- 
 ishes around great families as the moss, 
 the ivy, and the convolvulus cling about 
 the forest oak. Their eyes were moist 
 with wine-begotten tears. The Vine of 
 Bacchus wept freely everywhere. The 
 light of the great bronze lamp shed over 
 all its beautiful amber tint and left in the
 
 THE BANQUET. 365 
 
 shadows the old gray walls where hung 
 in wreaths the trumpets, bugles, and 
 horns of the former lords of the Castle. 
 The scene was like a glimpse from ages 
 past. 
 
 The roof rang with songs and shouts, 
 and ballads long lain dormant in the 
 minds of the singers now came forth 
 and woke the startled echoes of the 
 Castle. 
 
 For my part, I did little else but listen 
 and occupy myself with the faces about 
 me; for thanks to the exercise of the 
 morning and my long inhaling of the 
 old wine, smelling of vervain and cy- 
 press, that mounted to my brain, and 
 clothed all things for me in vague, 
 unreal beauty, I was in that wholly 
 receptive mood which disaffects even 
 the semblance of effort.
 
 366 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 So I listened with entire complacency 
 to the singularly successful efforts of 
 the entertainers, who were elated to an 
 unusual degree by every circumstance 
 of the occasion. 
 
 The evening wore on. The boar's 
 head had disappeared ; the array of 
 small dishes was reduced to a mass of 
 indistinguishable debris ; one set of bot- 
 tles had been emptied and replaced 
 by another, and our pipe-bowls were 
 aglow. 
 
 At this point the Count suggested 
 that we should have music. The musi- 
 cians, having enjoyed their fill of food 
 and wine, and burned out a generous 
 pipe, hastened to comply. 
 
 Taking up their instruments, they 
 moved over before the hearth, where 
 seats had been arranged for them in
 
 THE BANQUET. 367 
 
 the form of a semicircle. They seated 
 themselves, and began to put their in- 
 struments in tune. 
 
 It was a picturesque sight, these sons 
 of the Black Forest seated in the dim 
 light of the hall, the old harper, bent 
 with years, leaning over his instrument ; 
 next him a short, thick-set fellow, whom 
 his comrades called Black Pierre, pas- 
 sively supporting his 'cello, and gazing 
 about him curiously at the unfamiliar 
 objects in the room ; at his side the 
 handsome, jovial-looking flute player, a 
 picture of rugged health and careless 
 good humor; while next in line came 
 a man of medium stature, whose in- 
 distinctive features were rendered more 
 so by the large creases in his cheeks, 
 made by supporting his violin, which 
 he held firmly beneath his square chin,
 
 368 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 while he tightened the horse-hair of 
 his bow ; and finally, to complete the 
 semicircle, the clarinet player, a slight, 
 sunburned boy, scarce turned eighteen, 
 unmistakably a member of one of those 
 numerous Gypsy bands whose camps 
 are always to be found in the plateau 
 of the Rothalps between Alsace and 
 Lorraine. 
 
 The music began, and in justice to 
 the vagabond players it must be said 
 that it was of no ordinary degree of 
 excellence. All the fire and pathos of 
 their lawless natures was blended in 
 the melody ; now low and sad and ten- 
 der as the reveries of old age itself; 
 then rising and swelling into a burst 
 of passion and longing that bewildered 
 and electrified you ; then in the midst 
 of all this followed a lively measure,
 
 THE BANQUET. 369 
 
 persuasive and careless, that in turn 
 gave way to a waltz, foolish, palpitating, 
 wanton. 
 
 I sat enchanted, my eyes roving over 
 the faces of those around me. Odile, 
 too, seemed to find the strains a fitting 
 accompaniment to her thoughts, for she 
 nodded approvingly at me from time to 
 time, and once I thought I saw a tear 
 hang on her eyelash. However, that 
 may have been mere imagination, as I 
 invariably become sentimental with my 
 third bottle. 
 
 After a little the music began again. 
 This time it was Schiller's " Brigands," 
 and this more ambitious undertaking 
 was rendered with a spirit and under- 
 standing hardly to be looked for in 
 those who rarely aspired higher than 
 the audiences of the inns, or the wood-
 
 37O THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 cutter's gatherings in the shambles of 
 the forest. 
 
 I glanced once more about me. Every- 
 one's eyes were fastened on the flooring. 
 Even the frowzy scullion, who winced 
 as he became conscious of my gaze, and 
 passed the back of his hand across his 
 nose apologetically, seemed lifted for 
 the moment from his pots and kettles 
 to loftier thoughts. Other pieces fol- 
 lowed ; there were those to suit every 
 mood and fancy. The Count was en- 
 thusiastic in his applause at the end of 
 each number, and demanded more, 
 while the others expressed their satis- 
 faction with clapping and stamps on the 
 stone floor. 
 
 When at last the music came to an 
 end, the players were rewarded with 
 generous gold pieces by the master, and
 
 THE BANQUET. 371 
 
 returned well satisfied to the table to 
 wear away what little was left of the 
 night, in wine and conversation. 
 
 The hour was late. The old clock 
 ticked on in the chimney-corner, and 
 groaned in its casing as its heavy 
 weights ran out their length. The fire 
 fell on the hearth ; the great yule logs 
 of the early evening had given out their 
 substance, and now were crumbling 
 away into ruddy embers and soft, flaky 
 ashes. And still the merriment con- 
 tinued, still glasses were filled and 
 drained, and still the call for songs and 
 stories went on. 
 
 At length, at that hour when fatigue 
 begins to assert itself over inclination, 
 when vitality is low, and the shadows 
 become deeper, colder, and the night 
 more mysterious, then it was that the 
 Count exclaimed:
 
 372 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 " Each one shall sing a final song 
 except Knapwurst, for he has a voice 
 like a bull-frog, but he is first in story- 
 telling in all Alsace ! When it comes 
 his turn he shall tell us a story. Sper- 
 ver, you shall begin with the song of 
 of Black Hatto the Burgrave ! 
 
 "I am the king of these mountains of mine." 
 
 And the steward, rising and stand- 
 ing like the figure of the wild huntsman 
 in the heather, thundered forth the song 
 with wonderful effect. The entire room 
 joined in the chorus, and the old suits 
 of mail fairly creaked and trembled with 
 the sound. 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried the Count. " Nobly 
 done, Sperver! It is your turn now, 
 Becker ! Sing what you like ! " 
 
 Becker, whose arm had stolen unper-
 
 THE BANQUET. 373 
 
 ceived around Gretchen's waist, got up 
 hastily, in some embarrassment, and 
 steadying himself against the table, 
 complied with a species of madrigal, 
 proclaiming the virtues of lasses of the 
 present, and claiming in a loud refrain 
 that they were quite the equal of those 
 of the olden times. And in truth they 
 were, judging from the fair faces at 
 intervals about the board, sitting with 
 their eyes veiled by long, drooping 
 lashes, as sleep and the wine were now 
 stealing over them. The kennel-keep- 
 er's tribute to their charms served to 
 arouse them, however, and they stole 
 shy and gratified glances at each other 
 as he sang. 
 
 After Becker, the Gypsy youth fol- 
 lowed with a herdsman's jodel, and so 
 the round was gradually completed.
 
 374 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 The clock struck two from its niche 
 in the corner. The last embers flared 
 up and fell. The lamp burned low. 
 
 " A story from Knapwurst now ! " 
 exclaimed the Count; "and then the 
 day is done ! " 
 
 A complete silence succeeded ; Knap- 
 wurst's quaint narratives were favorites, 
 it seemed. 
 
 The dwarf, half-tipsy as a result of 
 his liberal potations, rested his elbows 
 on the table, and with his fists dug into 
 his hollow cheeks, and his eyes staring 
 out of his head, he began in a harsh, 
 monotonous voice: 
 
 " Bernhard Hertzog relates that the 
 Burgrave Hugh, surnamed the Wolf, 
 the founder of Nideck, having become 
 old, used to cover his head with a sort 
 of hood that fell down about his shoul-
 
 THE BANQUET. 375 
 
 ders, which he wore over his steel helmet 
 when engaged in combat; when he 
 wished to breathe more easily, he re- 
 moved the helmet and covered his head 
 with the hood alone, the scallops of 
 which hung down about his waist. Up 
 to the age of eighty-two, Hugh still 
 wore his armor, though he could hardly 
 breathe in it. Then he sent for Otto 
 of Burlach, his chaplain ; Hugh, his 
 eldest son ; Berthold, his second son ; 
 and his daughter, Bertha, of the red 
 hair, the wife of a Saxon chief named 
 Zaan, and said to them, ' Your mother, 
 the she-wolf, has bequeathed to you her 
 claws ; her blood is mixed with mine, 
 and it will be born again among you 
 from century to century, and weep 
 among the snows of the Black Forest. 
 Some will say, " It is the moaning
 
 376 THE COUNT OF NIDECK. 
 
 of the wind!" Others, "Hark! The 
 owl hoots ! " But it is your blood, 
 mine, and the blood of the she-wolf 
 who made me to murder Elfreda, my 
 first wife before God and the Holy 
 Church ! Yes, she has perished by my 
 hand. Cursed be the she-wolf, for it is 
 written, " I will visit the crime of the 
 father upon the children, unto the third 
 and fourth generations ; " aye, until jus- 
 tice be done. ' And old Hugh died. 
 From that day the north wind has 
 sobbed, and the owl has hooted, and 
 the lost traveller by night knows not 
 that it is the blood of the she-wolf be- 
 moaning her crime. ' And she will 
 bemoan it,' says Hertzog, ' from century 
 to century, until that day when Hugh's 
 first wife, Elfreda, shall reappear in the 
 form of an angel at Nideck, to pardon 
 and console.' "
 
 THE BANQUET. 377 
 
 The dwarf paused, and silence suc- 
 ceeded, which lasted for a full minute; 
 then he continued, with solemn dig- 
 nity, pointing his long forefinger at 
 Odile : 
 
 " There is she who was to return to 
 pardon and console. She has returned. 
 At this moment she is sitting beside 
 the Count, our master! Look, sirs! 
 Do you not recognize her ? Is it not 
 she? Henceforth the lords of Nideck 
 may rest in peace, for justice is done, 
 and the good angel of this noble house 
 has returned." 
 
 THE END.
 
 lBRARYFACILITV 
 
 llil""'"' C 
 
 :, CALir.