# The Necromancer (Kahlert)/Volume 2/Part 3

THE
NECROMANCER.
PART III.
CONTINUATION OF THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUTENANT B———.
Having shifted my clothes, that the old deceiver might not know me so easily, I went to the Austrian, whom I, without difficulty, persuaded to sup with me at Lieutenant N———'s. We repeated our orders to our trusty corporals and left the house.
​Strange sensations occupied my mind, spreading a gloom over my countenance:—The expectation of seeing something extraordinary and wonderful thrilled my soul with awe, and an unaccountable chill trembled through my limbs; perhaps it was the effect of a foreboding of my approaching separation from my ever beloved friend, who appeared as cool and unconcerned as ever. When he saw me so silent and gloomy, he said, "So solemn, my friend, it seems you with very little for your old acquaintance."
"It is no pleasant task to unmask an impostor," said I.
"But an useful one," answered he, taking me under the arm, and relating to me his transactions of the day.
This being quite out of his usual way, I could not mistake his intention, and endeavoured to appear cheerful, in which painful task I succeeded at length; however there was still lurking in my soul an awful strange ​sensation, quite foreign to my character, tho' the latter had been tinged with a sullen hue since I had frequented the company of my new friend.
When we came to Lieutenant N———'s apartment, we met two of his most intimate friends, who had been present at the late alarming apparition of the ghost, and were determined to engage the spectre once more.
They all were rejoiced at the Austrian's coming, and soon began to recount the terrible visitation of the ghost, and the anxiety they had suffered, which they did in a most prolix and tedious manner. The Austrian begged to talk of something else, and not to deprive themselves of the necessary firmness of mind by the recollection of what was past; he at the same time endeavoured to give the conversation a more cheerful turn, and I cannot but confess, that he never had been so amusing and pleasing since I had known him. ​The cloth being laid we sat down to supper, but none of us did honor to the meal except the Austrian; the wine promised to dispel the clouds of gloominess from our circle; however our host plied us in vain with bumpers, the heart-elevating juice of the grape could not raise our crest-fallen spirits, and the Austrian was the only one who relished it, and experienced "its powers divine."
The farther the night advanced the lower our spirits sunk, in despite of my friend's endeavours to spread the glow of merriment around, and to encourage us to join him heartily in his libations. Though he sounded the praise of the wine's excellence, by words and deeds, yet he kept within the bounds of soberness, and when it struck eleven o'clock, bade us drink a final bumper to good success, and then took up his hat and sword.
I did the same, and our companions followed our example with fear and trembling. We went down stairs in solemn taciturnity, ​and groped our way through midnight darkness to the Haunted Inn.
The master of the house welcomed us most cordially, thanking us beforehand for the expected tranquillity of his house and the return of his prosperity—he led us to the hall where the above mentioned dreadful apparition had appeared, enlarging with indefatigable garrulity, on many horrible incidents which had taken place, within the space of a twelvemonth, in that disastrous apartment.
The Austrian uttered not a word, but searched closely every corner of the spacious lonely room, and then took up a candle and went out. Having been absent a good while, he returned at length, pulled his great coat off, and entered into a long conversation with the master of the house, asking him many different questions, which betrayed his diffidence in the poor fellow's honesty. I was ​not much pleased with his unequivocal marks of suspicion, knowing the inn-keeper as an upright honest man, void of disguise and art, and that he himself had suffered the most glaring damages by those nocturnal apparitions: His inn had been unfrequented by travellers these many months, on account of that sleep-disturbing phantom, which haunted the weary wanderer in the dead of night, and he swore, by every thing holy and sacred, that he had never seen Father Francis, (so he called the hoary deceiver) though he had heard of many marvellous deeds perpetrated by that wonderful man.
"It is now," added he, "a good while since I have heard of that sagacious old man, they say he is gone to a distant place, offended at the ingratitude of the people of our country: Formerly he has told the people's fortunes, but without see. My father, the late possessor of this house, has told me many marvellous instances of his ​astonishing skill in detecting thefts, and recovering stolen goods; as how he has been possessed of a wonderful sagacity to read in people's looks, at first sight, whatever they had done all their life long; discovered and solved the spell of witchcraft, and horribly punished the old hags that dared to bewitch the countrymen's cattle. In short, said my father, God rest his honest soul, Father Francis has indeed been a father and a friend to every one in distress, and a baneful foe to the Black Spirit and his infernal hosts."
The Austrian appearing still to harbour thoughts of suspicion against the simple innkeeper, watched closely all his motions, was always at his heels when he left the room, and ever busy to ply him with various questions. I and my companions kept close together, myself burning with desire for the beginning of the drama, and my fellow adventurers awaiting it with fear and trembling.
​It struck twelve when the inn-keeper was still in close conversation with the circumspect Austrian. The door opened, and father Francis entered the room; the sight of the hoary deceiver made my blood boil in my veins, and I clapt my hand involuntarily to my sword; the Austrian, who was standing at a small distance from me, hiding a part of his face under his hat, and holding a brace of pistols in his hands, seemed to ask me by a side glance, whether Father Francis and my old acquaintance in the Black Forest was one and the same person. I affirmed it by a quick motion of my eyelids, and the Austrian turned his back to the Necromancer; I removed behind Lieutenant N———, and peeping over his shoulders, watched the proceedings of the juggler, who advanced with solemn steps into the middle of the apartment, where he stopped, resting his inquisitive looks on the countenances of the company.
Profound silence swayed all around, and we were fixed to the ground like so many ​statues, thrilled with anxious expectation, and scarce ventured to breathe.
The old man was clad in a long robe of black silk, his snow-white head uncovered, a white silken sash, marked with strange characters, was tied round his waist, and the well known black wallet hung on his back; having taken it down he untied it, and exhibited the mysterious instruments of conjuration: at his mute command the host carried a table in the centre of the room, put two lighted torches upon it and bolted the door.
Now he gave us a signal to form a circle round him; the Austrian placed himself to his left side, turning his face towards the door, Lieutenant N———, by the conjuror's own desire, to his right; the inn-keeper stood close by the Austrian, one of Lieutenant N———'s friends took his station by the landlord, and I placed myself close to the latter. The Necromancer appeared to care little for the ​right wing, and I could clearly observe that his left neighbour raised his suspicion.
However, he began his conjuration with apparent firmness, after he had strewed a reddish sand on the floor, and delineated a treble circle with his ebony wand. The particulars of the act of conjuring were nearly the same as in the cellar of the Haunted Castle, except his reading aloud the greatest part of the form of the conjuration, and his face being not so horribly distorted by convulsions as in the subterraneous rooms of that terrible haunt of robbers.
Now the ceremony was finished, he cast his book on the table, and pronounced thrice the well-known mysterious word: Suddenly a howling blast of wind rushed against our faces, a thick column of smoke ascended from the floor, overcasting the whole apartment, and extinguishing the torches. Darkness and horror surrounded us.
​'Ere long a faint gleam was breaking from the floor, sparingly illuminating the objects around, and rising higher and higher on the opposite wall 'till it reached the ceiling. At once the floor seemed to shake beneath our feet, and we beheld with chilly horror an human figure hovering on the wall; its garments and face, bearing the grisly marks of corruption, appeared to have suffered by the flames. It shook its head and fiery sparks flew around. A sudden smell of brimstone almost suffocated us.
After we had gazed at the phantom some time, with secret horror, the Necromancer exclaimed with a thundering voice, "Who art thou?"
Phantom. (Staggering back) "A soul from purgatory."
Old man. "What is thy desire?"
​Phantom. "To be redeemed from the flames."
Old man. "By what means?"
Phantom. "By the sale of this house."
Old man. "For what reason?"
Phantom. "Because I have got it by fraudulent means."
Old man. "How can the sale of this house expiate thy crime?"
Phantom. "It can, because my children will be saved."
The Necromancer was silent and the phantom disappeared.
A violent gust of wind rushed again in our faces, the smoke evaporated, and the torches began to burn. Lieutenant N——— with his ​friends and the landlord were struck with amazement, and unable to stir; the Austrian lifted his hat, which had hidden part of his face, staring wildly at the hoary cheat, and I expected with impatience the signal for seizing the rascal, who, with great tranquillity and unconcern, was busied with putting his gewgaws again into his wallet.
Now the Austrian came forth, and I clapped my hand to my sword: Awful silence reigned around, and our companions were still fixed to their places, whilst the Austrian's sparkling looks rested on the Necromancer, who now had packed up the instruments of fraud, and thrown the wallet over his shoulders. Just when he was going to leave the room, his eye caught the glowing face of my friend, and he seemed thunderstruck. Their looks evinced a mutual emotion of an uncommon nature; my friend's stern looks grew more and more terrible, and the old man was apparently grasped by horror's icy fangs: Our expectation rose to the highest pitch, and ​we were standing around them in a grisly attitude, most of us thrilled with secret awe, and I not without chill.
"Yes," began now the Austrian with a trembling voice, "yes, it is thou, Volkert! it is thou!"
The old deceiver shivered violently, his face was distorted by terrible convulsions, he gave a hollow groan, and fell lifeless on the floor.
We all seemed to be touched by a magic wand, and the Austrian was standing a good while in our middle, in a state of wild stupefaction; at length he recovered his recollection, drew with his wonted firmness nearer to the lifeless Necromancer, raised him up, shook him with all his might, and exclaimed,
"Volkert, Volkert, return to life once more."
​But all was in vain, the old man gave no sign of life.
"Volkert, Volkert," exclaimed my friend once more, but he did not hear him.
The inn-keeper ran down stairs fetching a glass of water and some drops, but all our endeavours to restore the hoary villain to the use of his senses proved abortive and he remained senseless in our arms.
"Well then," resumed the Austrian, his eyes flashing with anger, "if amicable means will not do, then I must have recourse to violence." So saying, he discharged a pistol, the door flew open, and four corporals rushed in with their swords unsheathed.
"Tie the rascal's arms and legs,' roared the Austrian, "away with the villain, he is our prisoner."
​"Your prisoner!" replied the gray deceiver who had recovered at last, "your prisoner," roared he with a ghastly grin, disengaging himself from our grasp.
The corporals rushed upon him.
"I am a citizen of F———, of a free imperial town, who dares to touch me?"
The corporals retired hastily, and the Austrian's brow was covered with terrible wrinkles, his eyes flashed anger, his mouth foamed, and his whole frame trembled in an agony of furious rage. I never beheld a more terrible aspect.
"Infernal spirit! hell-born villain!" roared he, gnashing his teeth, "I am deceived!—"deceived by thee, Volkert!—Volkert!"
At once the thunder of his voice lowered to an entreating accent.
​"Volkert, Volkert, for God's sake have mercy on me; save me from an ocean of doubts; spare me, O spare me; save me from the disgrace to appear to myself and my friends a fool and a superstitious fanatic! Tell me, O tell me, am I indeed deceived? O, I will forgive thee, I will pronounce thee my benefactor, my saviour, only speak—tell me I am not deceived!"
The tears ran down his cheeks, as he pronounced these words, spoken in the most violent passion.
It is a terrible awful sight to see a man weep. I turned my eye away from that affecting scene, not being able to behold it any longer. The rest of my companions were seized anew with dumb stupefaction, when they saw the violent emotions of my venerable friend, and a pause of unutterable horror ensued, after the Austrian's speech. The old man either would or could not speak, and the Austrian began once more to address the hoary de​ceiver in an accent of utter insensibility, and with a sternness of look not to be described.
"Volkert, thou wilt not know me. I will spare thee the disgrace of confessing thine own guilt, but if thou wert in my power—"
His eyes darted flashes of lightning, and his voice was like the roaring of thunder.
"If thou wert in my power, I would make thee confess thy cheats, and if I should be forced to beat thy old, rascally limbs to atoms, and to draw thy black blood from thy diabolical heart by single drops, I would make thee confess: But," added he in a more gentle accent, "thou art not within the reach of my power, and it is well that it is so. Volkert, here is my hand, I forgive thee. Thou not only deservest my forgiveness, but also my sincere gratitude, because thou hast given me a wholesome lesson, hast taught me, that every body, ​though ever so wise, may be deceived; and I think I have not paid too dear for it."
Volkert wanted to speak, but he could not, being overcome by a sudden emotion, and hid his face with his hands.
"Well, Volkert," resumed the Austrian, "I see thou art not quite so bad as I thought, I will not compel thee to a confession, though I am wishing most ardently to have my doubts cleared up, and trust that thou wouldst tell me more than I want to know. I will not distress thee any longer by my presence; I am going to leave this house and this town for ever."
"Gentlemen," added he, addressing us, "I have deceived you, by supporting the reality of things which have been nothing but illusion; from this moment I have forfeited your good opinion, and the honor of being admitted any longer to a circle where I have been respected. You may ​call my resolution pride, caprice, or what ever you please, I cannot remain here any longer, and I am determined to depart this instant, farewell, live happy."
Having addressed us in so unexpected a manner, he hurried out of the room, taking no particular leave of me. Sympathizing with his feelings, I thought it proper not to pay him a parting visit, because I knew it would recall disagreeable recollections, and give him pain.
A parting look which he gave me, when he was leaving the room, told me more than words could have done. Mine eyes were bathed in tears. I have seen him no more, and shall never forget that unhappy night which has robbed me of such a valuable friend, and deprived me of the darling of my soul.
When the Austrian and the corporals had left us, the Necromancer was likewise going to leave the room: His appearance was sul​len and gloomy, his looks cast down: My friends were also stirring and stopped him, forming a circle round him.
The landlord was still in a maze of silent wonder, not knowing what to think of what had happened. I was dejected and melancholy, and had banished from my soul every idea of vengeance; my companions, however, seemed not inclined to let him get off so cheaply, and insisted on his explaining how he had contrived to cheat us; but the inn-keeper interfered, imploring them not to ruin him entirely, by quarrelling in his house.
Lieutenant N——— threatened at last to give him up to the civil power, if he would not confess, which I at first likewise had determined to do, how he had deceived us; however, his stubborness could not be shaken, and he remained as silent as the grave.
Seeing that every farther means to break his obstinacy would prove fruitless, I inter​fered, advising my fellow adventurers to let him depart in peace.
"Upon the whole," added I, "it matters not how we have been deceived, our friend, the Austrian has set us an example, how one ought to behave on such an occasion: Let us, like him, forgive the wretch, he is below our resentment."
These words produced the desired effect on the minds of my fellow adventurers, who were stung with shame and remorse, but none of them more than Lieutenant N———: He blushed at his idle fears and his credulity, leaving the room abruptly, accompanied by his friends and the landlord.
Being now left alone with the Necromancer, I flattered myself to succeed better than my companions, and to get informed of what I so eagerly wanted to know; but I was mistaken, his stubborn reserve baffled all my solicitations.
​"Farewell, Lieutenant," said he, as he was going to leave the room, "I did not know you at first, and I am rejoiced that you have escaped your doom: I do not deserve your noble generous treatment: Farewell, and remember sometimes Volkert the Necromancer: If you could see my heart, you rather would pity than despise me; I may perhaps one time find an opportunity of being serviceable to you, and of proving my gratitude by deeds."
I went down stairs with him, and having seen him to the door he squeezed my hand and hurried away. I left the fatal house in a strange situation of mind, and it struck one o'clock when I came home. I went to bed, but not to rest, my fancy being haunted by gloomy ideas, which kept sleep and repose at a distance. Early in the morning my fellow adventurers came to see me, requesting me to unfold the mysteries of the preceding night.
​"We know," began Lieutenant N———, their spokesman, "we know that you are, or at least have been, very intimate with the Austrian, and you will, of course, be able to inform us, how your friend came to be acquainted with the cheats of the Necromancer. We have reason to think that he would have acted with more circumspection, if he had known that the Necromancer was no other person than Volkert, his former intimate favorite: We hope you will be so kind to clear up the matter: The Austrian's firmness of mind, his solid character, and his unshaken belief in the possibility of apparitions, give us strong reasons to think that he cannot have acted thus without mature deliberation."
Being but ill-disposed to enter into a circumstantial narrative, and not at all inclined to inform the intruding gentlemen of our adventures at the Haunted Castle, I called one of my corporals, who had been on the watch in the fatal inn the preceding night. "This ​man," said I, "will tell you more of the matter than I know, having watched every motion of the Necromancer, and discovered all his secret machinations."
The old veteran was very willing to satisfy their curiosity, and began a prolix narration of every proceeding in the lower apartment of the inn. The inn-keeper was, as he related, deceived like ourselves, but his servants had acted in concert with Volkert, and enabled him by their assistance, to impose upon us.
Not being disposed to listen to his tale, I did not mind what he related, but my visitors, more attentive than myself, appeared at least to be fully satisfied and left me, after a profusion of thanks for having freed them of their doubts and errors.
The separation from my venerable friend had spread a melancholy gloom over my mind, which nothing could dispel: His conversations had been so instructing, his princi​ples so noble, his heart so sensible and good, that I should have been unworthy of his friendship if I had not severely felt his loss: Wherever I went, the image of the darling of my heart was hovering before me, and I was haunted every where by the distressing painful thought that I should see him no more. His wise counsels, his sage instructions, still vibrated in my ear, and nature had lost all her charms, since I could no more admire the greatness of her Creator, wandering by his side, and hear him enlarge on the praises of him who showers down his blessings on man, and on the worm that is creeping beneath our feet; how my heart was thrilled with unutterable bliss, when he was pointing out to me the wisdom and power of God, who is as great in the meanest reptile, as in the structure of the majestic king of day; how my bosom panted with rapture, when, in the evening of a toilsome day, I could rest on his heart, and listening to the effusions of his noble mind, could sympathize with him in his virtuous feelings.
​The third day after his departure, I could no longer stay in a place where every object reminded me of so many hours of bliss, and of the man, whose friendship had made me so truly happy; I bade my servant pack my trunks, ordered my corporals to keep themselves ready, and left F——— after a few days; however I cannot deny that I left with regret a town where I had found, and, alas! lost so soon, so valuable a treasure.
My journey afforded me but little amusement, being not able to wean my gloomy mind from the painful recollection of the time past, the image of my friend rushing ever and anon on my soul, and I could not resist the ardent desire of being re-united to him: In vain did I consider the bad consequences a longer connexion with him perhaps would have produced; in vain did I struggle to convince myself, that the gloominess of his mind would have, sooner or later, infected the peace of my heart, and poisoned my tranquillity, though he had been ever so brave ​and good. I could not but be sensible how beneficial this sudden separation would prove to me, and that I certainly should have been infected with very dangerous opinions, if the Austrian's pride had not been wounded so deeply by the detection of Volkert's frauds, and if he had not been prompted thus to confess that he had been deceived.
The high opinion I entertained of his rectitude, the superiority of his understanding, and his infalibility, would, without doubt, have converted me entirely to his belief in supernatural apparitions, and that certain people had the power to effect phenomenons of that kind, a doctrine which exposes us to the artful wiles of every cunning cheat, darkens our understanding, stains our reason with superstition, and poisons our happiness: He was, nevertheless, still dear to my heart, and the idol of my soul, and even now I would willingly sacrifice any thing if I could be united again to that extraordinary man, who, by his reverend appearance, his exemplary manners, ​his equanimity, and his firmness of mind, won the hearts of the virtuous and the wicked without intending it.
But let us return to the continuation of my adventures.
I sat in the stage musing on what was past, revolving in my mind the strange events of the Haunted Castle, and the Inn, and examining minutely all the particulars, but I grew not a bit wiser: That Volkert was an impostor could not be doubted, but how he had managed his artful cheats and what his views had been in deceiving us, I could not unravel in a satisfactory manner; I examined singly all his transactions I knew, pondered with the greatest accuracy what the Austrian had related of his earlier exploits, but I was not able to dispel the impenetrable darkness which I was bewildered in.
The final result of my meditations was, that every body, though ever so circumspect and ​wise, would, like my worthy friend, have been deceived by his intricate machinations, and tempted to adopt the opinion that enlightened officer had once defended so stoutly.
I was almost angry with myself for having let slip the opportunity of forcing that dangerous man to a confession of his dark and diabolical transgressions. It is true, I myself knew him as an hardened impostor, but could he not drag into the gulph of perdition many of my fellow creatures, who, like myself, would fall an easy victim to his deceitful hypocrisy?
This thought overwhelmed me with a load of uneasiness, and I reproached myself severely for having imitated the over generous example of the Austrian, and suffered the accomplished villain to decamp, without punishment. I had, indeed, reason to apprehend that the magistrate of F——— would not have regarded much the information of a recruiting ​officer, against a citizen, and that the inn-keeper would have been induced, by fear or bribe, to contradict our denounciation; nevertheless, I should have had the satisfaction of having performed my duty, and cautioned the inhabitants of F——— against that dangerous villain.
Tormented with this and similar thoughts did I finish my first day's journey, struggling in vain to recover my wonted cheerfulness, my mind being then too much occupied by gloominess, and an entire stranger to joyful feelings. My travelling companions prefered sleep to an amusing conversation, and I wished ardently for my corporals to chat with them, and thus to chase away the cheerless thoughts crowding upon my mind; but I had most unfortunately ordered them, along with my, servant, to meet me at N———, by a different route.
Not being able to get a wink of sleep all night long, I was haunted without rest, by ​the gloomy offsprings of my fancy, distressed by the appearing slowness of time, and entirely cut off from every comfort by the snoring disposition of my fellow travellers, which made me resolve to leave the stage next morning, and to continue my journey on horseback. I left, therefore, my cheerless and sullen companions, with the first dawn of day, bought a horse in the first village where we stopped, and trotted briskly onward.
I was not in the least acquainted with the roads in those parts, a circumstance which ought to have come sooner in my mind: I was obliged to ride back several times, and when it began to grow dark, found myself bewildered in a dreary forest, without knowing which way to turn. My jaded horse being hardly able to stir, I alighted, leading the poor beast by the bridle, in order to advance with more expedition.
​It was now so dark that I could hardly distinguish the objects before my eyes, when a sudden rustling in the thicket made me start: I listened, but all was silent again, and I pursued my way without any apprehension, thinking it might have been a deer; but was not gone far when I heard the rustling again much louder than at first, and close by me: I now beheld, on a sudden, a man with a sack on his back, and a staff in his hand, coming out of the thicket, within the short distance of two or three paces. This unexpected sight gladdened my heart, flattering me with the sweet hope of getting a friendly conductor out of that dreary wilderness, who would direct my weary steps to a place of rest.
"Whither art thou going, good friend?" exclaimed I.
"To the mill," answered he, groaning under his burthen.
​"Is the mill far from hence?" said I.
"No farther than half a league," he replied.
"May I find a shelter there for myself and horse?"
"No," replied he.
"Why not?" asked I.
"Because," replied he, "the miller does not admit strangers."
"I am sorry for it; but is there no house hereabouts where one could get a night's lodging?"
"O yes," answered he, "not far from hence, if you turn to the right lives a woodcutter, who lodges travellers."
​"But do you think I shall be safe there?" asked I.
"What do you mean by that?" said he.
"Don't you know, good friend," replied I, "that this part of the country is the constant haunt of robbers?"
"Would to God I could stay this night with good Master Max, I would not be uneasy on that score; but I must go on, and alas my burthen is heavy."
"If my poor beast was not so jaded, and so much tired, I would be glad to lend it you," said I.
"Thank you, Master," returned he, "I am used to hardships, and have laid in a good stock of patience."
Discoursing thus we went slowly on together, 'till we came to a foot-path, where the ​wanderer stopped to direct me to the woodcutter's cottage: "You cannot miss your way," said he; "if you pursue this path you will soon see a light."
I hesitated a little while, whether I should follow the advise of the honest man, or not, but the increasing darkness, and a rising tempest, which shook the oaks around, fixed soon my wavering resolution, and I pursued the path, bidding the honest wanderer good night.
I soon found myself on an unbeaten footway, obstructed by brambles and underwood; my poor horse threatened every moment to sink down, and I could not resist the apprehension of having been sent on a fool's errant by the unknown man, and misled into an unfrequented lonesome part of the forest. This made me look about with more circumspection, 'till I had ascended a rising ground with great difficulty, my horse fell frequently on his knees, and it would ​have been impossible to proceed a mile farther; you may therefore easily think how rejoiced I was when the glimmering of a light apparently at a small distance, bade me hope a speedy end of my distress.
Quickening my steps I soon perceived a small cottage, the owner of which made his appearance as soon as I had knocked at his humble door, hailed me with a hearty wellcome, and bade me, with much good nature, enter his hospitable abode.
Not expecting much conveniency, I was struck with wonder when he shewed me into a neat little room, not in the least corresponding with the poor appearance of his hut: I had expected to be introduced to the residence of poverty, and found an habitation that bore evident marks of prosperity, and seemed rather to be the abode of a gentleman than that of a poor wood-cutter.
​Mr. Max, this he told me was his name. Mr. Max took no notice of my astonishment, but prepared, with much alacrity, to provide me and my weary horse with food and drink.
While he was busy to prove his hospitality I had full leisure to satisfy my curiosity, and to take a view of the objects around me, assisted by the faint glimmering of a lamp.
The first object that struck my fancy was an enormous sword, hanging by his bed-side, which, as I thought at first, was rather an improper furniture for a wood-cutter's dwelling; but I soon made myself easy when I recollected, that he, living in an unfrequented part of the forest, might want sometimes an instrument of that kind to defend himself against unwelcome visitors, but my apprehension returned when I beheld a brace of pistols hanging on the wall, which I found were charged with balls.
​I went farther in my search, and saw a great number of guns, pistols, and swords, in a recess close by the fire side; I was chilled with terror, and just as I had taken the lamp in my hand to have a closer view at this alarming furniture, Mr. Max entered the room, with a large plate of greens, a piece of ham, and a bottle of wine.
"Well," exclaimed he merrily, as he entered the room, "there, I have brought you something to silence your grumbling stomach with, sit down, good Sir, and take up with my frugal fare."
Alas! my appetite was gone, but he fetched knives and forks, and a large loaf of bread, and began to eat with great avidity, taking at first no notice of my backwardness to follow his example; perceiving at length that I did not eat, he exclaimed, "Well, Sir, why don't you eat? I think one must be hungry, if one has travelled far and missed one's way.".
​His joviality revived a little my spirits, but his country-like simplicity, and his seeming honesty appeared to me very little corresponding with the great number of fire arms and swords which I had seen, yet I joined him at last in eating and drinking.
When supper was over I could no longer suppress my curiosity, and asked him why he kept so many guns and swords in his house.
"What," replied he rather angry, "what is this to you? I get sometimes visitors for whom I must keep them."
"But why," resumed I, "so great a number as I have seen in the recess by the fireside?"
"These are fine doings," said he angrily, "who bade you to search my room? Is this becoming a guest?"
​I arose and asked him how much I had to pay for my supper? He fell a laughing, and exclaimed, with marks of astonishment,
"You don't intend to depart in this dark and tempestuous night? Don't you hear how the tempest roars, and how the rain beats against the windows? I hope you don't think you will be shot or stabbed because there are so many fire-arms and swords in that recess? No, no, good friend, you need not be afraid, all these things are not mine, they belong to sportsmen who have laid them up here, that they may have them when they are a hunting in this part of the forest; perhaps you may see them yourself to-morrow morning; the sword by my bed-side I bought some years ago from an Austrian deserter."
Though I was not inclined to stay for the sportsmen, I did not know whither I should go with my jaded horse in that dark tempestuous night, and dreaded to run the risk ​of escaping from an imaginary danger, only to fly in the face of a real one, which, at last, determined me to stay. I begged Mr. Max to shew me the place where I was to sleep, intending to charge my pistols with balls before I should go to bed in case of accident.
My host opened a side door leading to a small chamber, where a bed was.
"Here," said he, "you may sleep 'till it is broad day, and rest your weary limbs at your ease, I keep this chamber on purpose for travellers; take this lamp, I will fetch it when you shall be asleep."
So saying, he left me, shutting the door after him.
Taking a nearer view of my bed chamber, I observed that it had no windows, and, in order to be prepared for the worst, I charged my pistols, which I had put in my pockets before I had entered the cottage:--— ​This done, I considered whether I should go to bed, and thus deceive my host, which, on mature deliberation, I thought would be the best.
With that intention I took my lamp to see whether the bed was fastened, lest I might sink down with it into the cellar. Though this apprehension was groundless, I made another discovery which thrilled my soul with horror: Perceiving traces of blood on the pillow, I was seized with a sudden terror, my hands trembled violently, the lamp fell on the floor, and I was in the dark.
As soon as I had recovered a little from my fright, I searched for my pistols, groping about a good while before I could find them in the dark. My fear abated a little when I found them at last, after a long and fruitless search, and I sat myself down on a little stool by the bed-side, listening whether any body was coming. All was quiet at first, but after a quarter of an hour I heard somebody enter​ing the adjacent room, and approaching the door of my chamber, which was gently opened, and the voice of my host called, "are you asleep?" I uttered not a word, and after a short pause the same voice resounded once more, "Have you extinguished the lamp?" I still gave no answer and the host retired.
All was hushed again in profound silence, but it lasted not long, my ears being suddenly assailed by the sound of many voices, the tinkling of spurs, and a humming noise, as if a number of people were discoursing; I could understand nothing, the discourse being held in so low an accent, that I was unable to distinguish the sound of their words. At once I saw, through the crevices in the door, somebody striking a light, which gave me some comfort. The discourse was still carried on in that secret mysterious manner: At last it seemed as if the company were sitting down, and I could now better distinguish the different sounds. The voices of these that spoke ​were rough, and the words seemed to belong to a foreign language.
I sat near an hour on my stool, like a poor culprit who awaits his doom, but was determined to defend myself to the last drop of blood: I intended several times to rush into the room, and to force my escape through the company with cocked pistols, but something within my breast admonished me to stay where I was, and patiently to wait 'till they should think it proper to pay me a visit.
My situation was exceeding painful, and at the least noise which seemed to approach my chamber I started up, putting myself in a posture of defence. My fears not having been realized as yet, my apprehensions began to vanish a little, and I thought Mr. Max might be an honest man, and his company, the sportsmen he had been speaking of, although their language seemed to contradict that opinion: Hope soothed my terrors for some time, 'till at length I recollected the ​traces of blood I had seen on the pillow, which recalled all my apprehensions with redoubled anxiety.
Sleep, whom 'till now I had carefully kept at a distance, began, by degrees, to steal upon me, and shut at last with his leaden wand my heavy eyes: But I was scarce fallen asleep, when one of my pistols dropped on the floor, and went off. I started up, seized by the chilly fangs of terror, and in the same moment the other pistol slipped out of my hand. I had scarcely picked it up when the door suddenly flew open, and three fellows of a gigantic size entered my room with naked swords. Sleep, the report of my pistol, and the sudden appearance of those terrible men, had stunned me so much, that I, without knowing what I was doing, discharged my pistol, at which one of the villains dropped on the floor with a roaring yelp. A numerous crew, armed with guns, cutlasses, and daggers, rushed like lightning into my chamber, and, before I could unsheath ​my sword, I felt myself in their clutches, bereft of all power of self defence.
A tremendous voice roared like thunder from the adjoining room, "Hither with the rascal."
Before I could recover my recollection I felt myself dragged out of my chamber, and beheld in an instant a man of the most terrible forbiding aspect, who, with a rough thundering voice, menacing looks, and sparkling eyes, asked me if I could not have patiently awaited my doom.
"Tie the daring wretch," added he in a rage, "and throw him into the cellar, until sentence shall be pronounced against him." His commands were obeyed, and Mr. Max himself assisted; I was seized with a despairing stupor, and uttered not a word; I was shut up in a damp cellar; how long I remained in my dungeon I cannot tell, ha​ving been in a situation which suspended all my powers of reflection.
After a long interval of the most desponding agony, I was at length dragged forth and brought before the tribunal of that terrible looking man. The villain whom I had wounded was stretched on the bed, his head tied up, and his associates standing round him, bemoaning his hapless fate, and amongst them a venerable old man, whom I at first had not observed.
Now the grim judge began to speak, and the whole assembly to dart furious and blood thirty looks at me: The old man likewise turned his face towards me, and it cannot be expressed by words what my sensations were when I discerned the features of Volkert: A poor culprit cannot feel greater joy, when, under the hangman's merciless fangs, his guardian-angel appears to save him from his impending doom. I did indeed not know whether he could save me or not, however ​the sweet soothing voice of hope silenced all my apprehensions; I had saved him once from ignominy, and perhaps from death itself, he had promised me to prove his gratitude, how could I therefore doubt that he would save me from destruction. "Volkert!" exclaimed I, in a supplicating accent, "Volkert!" The terrible man staggered back, staring by turns at me and him.
"Volkert!" exclaimed I, again lifting up my fettered hands; he knew me, and without the least delay took a knife out of his pocket, and cut asunder the cords my hands had been tied with. The whole frightful assembly fixed to the ground, seized with wonder and astonishment.
"Thou hast saved me," began my guardian angel now, in a solemn awful accent, "thou hast given me liberty, take back thy gift, and life into the bargain."
​"Friends," said he, addressing the gaping crew, "Friends, he is the preserver of my honor and my liberty, what may he expect?"
"Pardon, pardon," was the unanimous cry, "pardon, pardon, he shall live."
"Bravo, my boys," said now their formidable Captain, who was sitting in judgment upon me, "bravo, my honest lads, you are noble fellows: Farewell, Andrew," added he, addressing his dying companion, "Farewell, Andrew, thou art avenged, art doubly avenged by the generosity of thy companions!"
At the same instant the whole crew hurried out of the room, leaving me alone with Volkert. "Farewell, Lieutenant," said he, shaking me by the hand, "you have wisely acted, in leaving F, like the Austrian, I shall never return to that town: If any similar sinister accident should happen to ​you, need but pronounce my name and you will be safe."
I was going to embrace, and to assure him of my warmest gratitude, but he tore himself from my arms, and hastened to join his associates. Soon after I heard a confused noise before the door of the cottage, and, ere long, the whole band rode away in full speed. Now I was surrounded by midnight stillness, interrupted only by the groans of the dying robber. Max did not dare to enter the room while I was there.
I was no longer able to remain in the house, the roaring of the tempest was hushed in silence, and the dawn of morn peeping through the windows; I found my horse sleeping in a corner behind the cottage, got on his back, and rode away in a slow pace.
The morning sun rose in all his dazzling splendor, and still I was bewildered between trees and bushes, straying about two tedious ​hours without being able to find an outlet, 'till at length I was so fortunate to meet a countryman, who, for a small reward, directed me to the road leading to N———.
Warned by my dangerous adventure, I now inquired at every village for the route I was to take, and thus reached at last the place of my destination without having met with any farther misfortune. Before I arrived at N———, an incident happened, which being connected with my adventure at the Haunted Castle, I cannot omit mentioning.
Coming to a village about three miles distant from N———, a great noise struck my ears, proceeding, as I soon could distinguish, from a great number of recruits, carousing and singing at the inn. I alighted and entered the residence of merriment and intoxication, in order to inform myself who the commanding officer was, in hopes to meet with an old acquaintance, but I was disappointed. Two serjeants, entirely unknown to me, con​ducted the transport, and, inquiring after their officer's name, I found that he was an utter stranger to me.
Having surveyed the recruits, I was going to leave the room, when my eyes by accident fell on a man, standing in a musing attitude by the fire-side, his looks fixed on the floor. Thinking to recollect his features I advanced nearer to him, he started up from his reverie, and, seeing me standing before him, staggered back with evident marks of astonishment; however, his terror soon gave way to rapturous joy; he ran towards me, caught me by the hand, and exclaimed, flushed with pleasure,
"Dear, dear Lieutenant, is it you? God be praised that you are still alive! God be praised that I have once more the happiness of seeing my kind old master!"
​His voice, his accent, and his transport, gave me no room to doubt that he was my late servant, whom I had lost in the Castle."
The honest fellow could find no words to express his joy, at my not having been famished with my companions in the cellar, as it had been the intention of the robbers: He expressed his joy in so noisy a manner, that we were soon surrounded by the recruits. I begged the serjeants to indulge me with a private conversation with my honest servant, which they granted me with great politeness: I called for the host, requesting him to let us have a room to ourselves, that we might converse without being interrupted by the curiosity of his noisy guests.
As soon as we were in private, I requested John to give me a brief account of what had happened to him after we had left him snoring in the great hall of the Castle; he was very willing to satisfy my curiosity, and related as follows:
I was roused from my sleep by a violent shaking, and, recovering from my drowsiness, saw myself seized by two ill-looking fellows, who were employed to drag me forcibly away. Fear and terror bereft me at first of all power of utterance and resistance. I attempted several times to cry, but I could not pronounce a single word, and, as much as I could observe through the midnight darkness, saw myself carried down the spiral staircase, over the court-yard: When we were arrived at the gate, I was tied upon a horse, and surrounded by a numerous crew, who took me between them and rode away in full speed. My feet being tied together under the horse's belly, it was out of my power to stir, which rendered my situation exceeding painful.
The dawn of morn appeared, but not a single ray of hope cheered my desponding ​soul, being in the power of those merciless ruffians, who were still sweeping the field with all possible expedition, not caring for the excruciating pains I suffered, and forcing my horse to leap over hedges and ditches.
The swiftness of the race and my uncomfortable situation, deprived me, at length, of all power of recollection, and threw me into a kind of stupefaction which prevented me from observing how long our journey had lasted. I was seized with a fainting fit, and when my recollection returned, observed that I was shut up in a subterraneous dungeon, an old hag was rubbing me with onions, and, when I recovered from the state of stupefaction, occasioned by the cruelty of my leaders:She fetched a bottle of brandy, admonishing me, in a rough uncouth dialect, to drink plenty of it, which I declined, requesting her to rub my lacerated limbs with it.
Having performed my request with great alacrity the left me, and I had full leisure to ​contemplate the horrors of my dreary abode, the walls of which were blackened by the hand of time, and overgrown with moss; muddy straw spread on the damp ground served me for a couch, and the faint glimmering of a lamp heightened the horrors of my dungeon; the thick corrupted air made it difficult to fetch breath, to which were added most excruciating pains, not in the least alleviated by the use of brandy, but rather increased on account of the sores my poor frame was covered with; only the agony of my tortured mind surpassed the sufferings of my body; futurity stared me grisly in the face, and the consciousness of being in the power of a set of villains, who would either sacrifice my life, to their thirst of blood, or force me, by threats and exquisite torments, to commit deeds of the most attrocious nature, filled my mind with dreadful apprehensions.
I remained two days in a state of unspeakable despondency; although my bodily pains ​had abated, and I could move my limbs with more ease, yet the fear of futurity had weakened me so much, that I could not stir from my miserable couch; my misery was augmented by the troublesome officiousness of the old hag, who every instant came to torment me: One time she wanted to apply to my sores poultices of roasted flour, and at another she would make me swallow a spoonful of disgusting nauseous drops; now she would force down my throat a soup of a most uninviting appearance, and a few minutes after she brought straw, which was half rotten, to place it under my head; in short, she tormented me so much by plying me with her unwelcome officiousness and kindness, that the gloominess of my mind hourly increased, and my little remaining strength was entirely spent by my efforts to resist her torturing care for my health and ease.
On the fourth day of my confinement I was taken out of my dungeon, and my apprehensions were realized, The infernal villains ​intending to make me one of their associates in wickedness, ordered me to mount a horse, and forced me to follow them in full speed through fields and forests, notwithstanding the weak state of my body. My conductors, at first only three in number, and clad in linen frocks, blackened with coal dust, rode a head, looking back now and then; their black faces and sooty hands evidently foreboded their dark design.
After half an hour's ride my infernal guides stopped at a lonely public house, alighted, and bade me take care of the horses until they should return.
I obeyed their stern command with gloomy silence, tied the horses to a tree, and sat myself down upon a bench before the house. The haunts of my disordered fancy made the time pass quickly on, I revolved in my afflicted mind my former occupation, the happy hours I had spent in the service of a kind indulgent master, and the horrors of my pre​sent situation, the briny drops of sorrow and affliction moistened my palid cheeks:—"What will become of thee?" said I to myself, "A robber, and perhaps a murderer too." A chilly trembling glided through my veins, I started up, and was resolved to mount one of the horses, and make my escape, but the want of strength reminded me soon of the utter impossibility of the execution of my rash design. I sunk down upon the bench, imploring heaven rather to put an end to my miserable life, than to suffer me to become an associate of these hell-born fiends. After I had ejaculated this fervent prayer, I felt my despondency abate a little, awaiting with impatience the re-appearance of my fell conductors.
A short time after they came, accompanied by three more ruffians of a most frightful aspect, who, with the greatest expedition fetched their horses from an adjacent stable, mounted them without delay, and rode away like lightning, my conductors did the same, ​ordered me to follow their example, and galloped over the fields as fast as their coursers could run; coming up with our ill looking companions we pursued our journey with all possible swiftness.
Having by accident mounted the wrong horse, which was the fleetest of all, I kept always a head, and could distinctly hear every word they spoke, though I could not understand a syllable of their conversation. After it had grown dark we alighted again at a solitary public house, the horses being once more committed to my care, and I awaited with patience the end of an adventure that boded no good.
I had been standing in the chilly air of night above an hour, musing on my deplorable fate, when the inn-keeper brought me a piece of bread and butter, and a mug of beer, but I could neither eat nor drink, shaking with cold.
​The night was dark and the sky overcast, a thick dampish fog had wetted my cloaths, and not one friendly star was to be seen in the firmament, which was as gloomy as my mind. After I had been exposed half an hour longer to the inclemency of the chilly air, my conductors re-appeared, their number being increased to twelve, and their sooty dress exchanged for green hunting coats; every one of them was armed with a gun, a brace of pistols and a cutlass.
The feelings which were rushing on my mind at that sight admit of no description; the blood froze in my veins, my soul was harrowed up in dreadful suspence, and I mounted my horse more dead than alive, gallopping over the heath with my conductors in senseless stupefaction, like a poor culprit who is dragged along to be delivered to the merciless fangs of the grim fiendly-looking executioner, 'till I at length was roused from my stupor by the sound of horns ​assailing my ears from afar, and the loud clamorous shouts of our troop.
The sound of horns drew nearer, and my conductors answered it by blowing theirs. Now I perceived a powerful troop of horsemen sweeping the heath like a hurricane. In an instant I was surrounded by a numerous crew on horseback, and rough dismal voices vibrated in my ear in a confused manner: One of them struck fire, a number of torches were lighted, and I beheld, with amazement and dismay, a large troop of terrible beings around me.
Whithersoever I turned my eyes I was frightened almost out of my wits by stern threatening looks: They soon perceived the workings of my desponding mind, laughed at my fear, and uttered terrible execrations. One of them who bore a more tremendous aspect than the rest, came: forth, the noisy crew was awed in solemn silence, and the terrible man began to address them thus:
​"You know," my brave companions, "that this rascal here," (pointing at me) "is the servant of the wretch who has dared to watch in our Castle with armed numbers. The daring scoundrel and his two associates are punished; famine and thirst have seized their victims with merciless fangs, tormenting them with excruciating pains, with agony and black despair; on our next nocturnal visit to the Castle, we shall see them lifeless on the ground. You know how the daring fools have been vexed, teazed and tormented by Father Francis. It was glorious sun, we have been amused with their foolish credulity, and are now amply avenged on these bold disturbers of our nocturnal assembly."
"The villagers are not yet punished," continued he, "for having assisted them, but they shall not escape their doom. Our future safety demands the destruction of the village, and its environs, but, tell me, what shall we do with that fellow there? ​He is well fed, and seems not to be without strength, my advice is to make him our companion."
"We will, we will," roared the whole troop.
Then their terrible leader resumed, "he must give us to night a specimen of his dexterity."
"He shall, he shall," was the universal cry. I trembled like a wretched culprit who hears his sentence pronounced, when the speaker addressed me thus:
"Fellow! thou hast heard what an honor we have conferred on thee, we expect that thou wilt be faithful to us, oaths are as little valued among robbers, as they are in hell, and a hand-stroke will satisfy us, give me thy right hand as a token of unshaken fidelity."
​Trembling did I obey his stern command, and he bade me to take courage, to abandon all fear, and to follow him. The torches were extinguished, the robbers began to converse in an unintelligible accent, the horns were sounded, the whole troop set spurs to their horses, rushing over the fields like a midnight tempest; I felt myself seized by the arm, and my horse pulled by the bridle after them. After a short ride the voice of the terrible leader ordered us to halt.
"Here," said he to me, "is a gun and a whistle! The former thou art to use in case of necessity, and the latter as soon as a waggon or a coach passes the road."
This said, he rode away, but methought I heard another horseman not far from me.
Now I began to consult with myself what I should do, whether I should betray the innocent traveller, or suffer him to escape: My mind shrunk back from the horrid idea of ​becoming accessary to the destruction of a fellow creature, but how could I avoid it if I would not myself fall a victim to the cruelty of my infernal companions? Life is the sweetest gift of heaven, and not easy to be parted with.
While I was in deliberation with myself, what course to take, I heard the rattling of a coach within a little distance from me, and a violent trembling seized my limbs: The coach came nearer and my trembling increased. Without knowing what I was about, I was going to apply the whistle to my lips, my hand trembled, a sudden stupor seized me, the whistle dropped to the ground, and the coach passed by in full speed; at the same time I heard somebody whistle behind me, soon after the report of three guns, accompanied with cries and lamentations, struck my ear; a female voice was praying for mercy, loud acclamations filled the air, and soon after all was hushed in profound silence.
​I was sitting on my horse in dumb stupefaction, when, on a sudden, I perceived somebody laying hold of the bridle of my steed, and pulling her forcibly after him. After a few minutes I saw at a distance a glimmering light shining through the bushes; as we came nearer to the spot, I beheld in my conductor the terrible leader of the band, and we at length arrived at a place surrounded with bushes, where the robbers were seated round a fire, dividing the spoil; they all gave a loud shriek, as if they already knew how badly I had acquitted myself of my first task.
"Let us pronounce sentence against the rascal!" exclaimed my conductor, with a thundering voice.
"Let us knock his brains out," roared one of the robbers.
"Send him to the dungeon," exclaimed a second.
​"The latter we will do," resumed the Captain, "Punishment may, perhaps, recall him to reason."
Having said this, he ordered two of the gang to carry me to the place of confinement; they mounted their horses, took me between them, and hurried away with me at a furious rate. We arrived with the first dawn of day at the bottom of a hill, where I forcibly was dragged through the bushes and thorns fettered with heavy chains, and carried through a narrow passage into a dark dungeon; gropeing about I found myself surrounded with straw, the muddy smell of which left me no doubt that it was half rotten.
Having lingered many hours in that terrible abode of misery, without either hearing or seeing any body, I at last was hailed by the distant hollow sound of approaching footsteps, dying away sometimes, and then vibrating again faintly on my ear; at once they grew more and more audible, and the glim​mering of a light began to illuminate the subterraneous cave.
Turning round with much difficulty, I perceived that it emerged from a deep grotto behind me. The glimmering grew lighter, and the sound of footsteps drew nearer; at length I beheld a figure more frightful than the robbers themselves; the old hideous hag adorned with all the graces of hell, ascended with alacrity from the gloomy abyss, panting for breath; and now I had a full view of the horrors of my den: The faint rays of my lamp were reflected in a grisly manner from the lofty walls, hewn into the solid rock, and mixed with the midnight darkness, which was hovering beneath the high vaulted ceiling. My dungeon was of a small circumference, but appeared to be far removed from the surface of the earth; the dreadful abode of horror was infected by a damp pestilential air, through which the light was glimmering as if through a bluish fog.
​The antiquated scare-crow began to pity and to bemoan my miserable doom, exhorting me to obey more strictly the commands of my masters, and, having put a pitcher with water, and a piece of bread before me, unfettered my hands, admonishing me to submit patiently to my fate, and never to attempt an escape, which not only would prove abortive, but at the same time prolong and increase my punishment. I uttered not a syllable, and she left me to muse in solitude on my forlorn and unhappy situation.
Three gloomy days of misery and dismay were now elapsed, since I had been thrown into that terrible abode of silence and melancholy, before I saw any body except the old witch, by whose visits alone I could guess the progress of time. No year of my whole life has ever appeared to me so long as those three days of woe; I strove in vain to loosen the fetters which chained my feet, the lock that confined them together baffled all my endeavours, and, after many fruitless efforts, ​I was obliged to bid a mournful adieu to every ray of hope of making my escape from the fangs of my cruel tyrants; black despair hovered over me with sooty wings, the greedy tooth of grief was gnawing on my vitals, and the recollection of former times of ease and tranquillity served only to heighten my misery.
The fourth day brought me the visit of the Captain, who entered my dungeon with a lighted torch.
"Well, rascal!" exclaimed he, "how doest thou like this beautiful apartment? Art thou tired of thy sepulchre, or dost thou prefer to be entombed alive for ever to the honor of being one of our brave party? Art thou sensible of the foolishness of thy stubborn disobedience, and may I expect that thou wilt be more obsequious in future?"
​I groaned a lamentable yes, the result of my resolution, which I had been driven to by despair and my forlorn situation.
"Well," resumed my tyrant, unfastening my chains, "I hope thou art sensible that it is more eligible to be a gentleman of the high road, than to be buried alive, amid spiders and toads; I will try once more whether I can make thee a worthy member of our society, rise and follow me!"
I attempted to get on my legs, but I sunk down again upon my damp couch; my legs, which were become quite useless by the pressure of the chains, were now pierced with most excruciating pains, and unable to support my miserable carcase. The robber seeing me struggle in vain to obey his command, seized me with a powerful arm, and dragged me forcibly over the rocky ground. I was trailed along the winding passages of the subterraneous fabric, like a victim to the altar, where it is to receive the finishing stroke. ​I was every now and then forced to crawl on my knees through narrow holes, and to climb with much difficulty over gaping chasms in the rock, 'till at length an iron door obstructed our passage; my conductor opened it, and I beheld a spacious lofty hall, illuminated with a great number of torches, where some of the robbers were seated at table, eating, drinking, and conversing merrily with each other, and some cleaning guns and pistols, and charging them.
They all spoke kindly to me, inviting me to partake of their blithsome meal, and congratulating me on the wise resolution I had taken to become a sharer of their fortune. I relished the roasted meat, the turkies and hams exceeding well, and swallowed plentiful draughts of most delicious wine. Though I was not remiss to ply briskly the knife and fork and the cheerful goblet, and strove to do honor to the table; yet the robbers chided me every now and then, finding fault with my tardiness.
​The exhilerating juice of the grape spread mirth and cheerfulness around, the spacious cavern re-echoed their jocund songs, the tale of their exploits gave variety to the entertainment, and it seemed as if the sting of conscience had entirely lost, with them, its pungent point. The cloth was at length removed, the beldam, who had been waiting at table, began now likewise to eat, and the robbers made themselves ready to leave their subterraneous haunt.
"To day," said the Captain to me, before they departed, "thou shalt stay at home, but to-morrow thou art to be of our party, and thy deportment must decide whether we can enlist thee in our noble company, or shall knock thy brains out."
Then the whole crew sallied forth through the iron door, without giving me time to answer, and left me alone with the old woman, who was very assiduous to amuse me, ​relating, with much garrulity, many stories of the dear gentlemen, as she called the robbers, and extolling their generosity to the skies.
Perceiving that I did not relish her tiresome tales, she fetched books, cards, and dice, leaving it to my choice what sort of amusement I should fix upon. I preferred reading to a teté-à-téte with the old witch, and endeavoured to dispel the gloom of my mind, by perusing an old book of chivalry.
At night my rusty companion wanted me to sit down to supper with her, which I refused, requesting her to shew me to my bedroom: Vexed by my refusal, she mumbled something between her few remaining teeth, and opened the door of a small side room, where I found a couch, made of clean straw, and covered with a blanket; throwing myself upon it, I slept for the first time sweet and soundly after eight painful nights of horror.
​The next morning the old woman thundered at my door, telling me it was broad day, and past nine o'clock, and that our gentlemen would soon return to dinner: I got up much refreshed, and assisted her in the kitchen, which pleased her so well that the promised to recommend me to the good graces of the Captain.
Thus far had my servant proceeded in his narration, without having been interrupted by me, though he had been very circumlocutious, and spoken above an hour: It gave me great pleasure to hear a circumstantial description of the robbers and their cave, and honest John's simplicity afforded me great amusement, which proved a very seasonable relief, in my then gloomy state of mind, I therefore was very much vexed when one of the serjeants entered to tell him that they were waiting for him to proceed on their march, and bade him make haste, just as he ​was going to give me a full account of the robbers deportment towards him after their return, of the splendid dinner which the old woman had prepared, assisted by him, and of their discourses at table.
I entreated the rough son of Mars to resign this recruit to me, and to accept from me double the binding money he had given him, but he did not relish my proposal, and John himself was little inclined to enter again into my service; at last I prevailed, by fair words and a small present, on the serjeant to wait a quarter of an hour longer, and he left the room after we had promised to be as expeditious as possible.
When he was gone I asked John, why he would rather be a soldier than enter again into my service.
"What else would you advise me to do?" replied he, with weeping eyes, "my life is exposed to the greatest danger in these ​parts, and would you like to have a servant who has been a robber?"
"You have not been a robber," interrupted I the poor fellow, but recollected soon that he had not finished his narration, and perhaps might have been compelled at last, by menaces, to become a member of the gang, I therefore requested him to continue his tale, and to be as brief as possible, which he in vain strove to do, going every now and then affray: The substance of his confused continuation was as follows.
The robbers returned, treated John again with kindness, ate, drank, and left him once more, without mentioning a word about his going with them, which did not in the least displease him; he amused himself with reading, and, when night invited him to sleep, he went to his couch with a much lighter heart than when he had left it in the morning. That manner of life he led eight days, during which time the robbers always returned to ​dinner, in greater or lesser number; the whole gang consisted of twenty-four stout men besides the Captain.
On the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and the three succeeding days, the robbers did not return, but on the fifteenth they all appeared in high spirits, though with empty hands; John concluded, from this circumstance, and from what he could gather from their mysterious discourses, that they must have had several other haunts, where they hoarded up their spoils, the old Castle on the skirts of the Black Forest, seemed, however, to be their usual residence.
After dinner was over, and the goblet had freely circulated, the Captain recollected that John was to give them a second sample of his capacity, ordered him to mount a horse, and conducted him, accompanied by two of his associates, to the high road leading thro' the forest, where he commanded him to lay ​in ambush, and to rob the first traveller he should see coming along the road.
Poor John was thunderstruck at the stern command of the Captain, fell at his feet, and entreated him to have mercy on him, but the ruffians laughed at him, and their leader repeated his order, swearing he would kill him on the spot, if he did not instantly comply with his desire. The hapless fellow seeing there was no alternative, but to be killed, or to prey on his fellow creatures, concealed himself in a thicket, and the robbers posted themselves opposite to him, behind some bushes, taking the three horses along with them.
The first travellers that passed by were two monks, and John thanked God in his heart that they were two. A little while after a ruddy countryman appeared, he was on horse-back, as it seemed returning from the market, carrying two empty sacks behind him, and counting money. That will be an easy task, thought John, but when he was going ​to leave his hiding-place, his knees trembled, he was unable to stir, and the clown pursued his way without being disturbed.
The robbers began to hem, and poor John seized with terror, was going to run after the swain, but, thinking him too far advanced, resolved to wait for the next traveller, and to attack him vigorously.
He had waited a good while for another opportunity to acquit himself of his task, 'till at length a travelling journeyman appeared: John rushed out of his hiding place before his prey was near enough, and as soon as the frightened traveller saw a man running towards him with a pistol, he took to his heels and luckily got out of his reach.
The Captain and his companions, seized with a fit of roaring laughter, exhorted their awkward pupil, in a low accent, to have a little more patience in future.
​Before John could reach his lurking place, a Jew made his appearance; the sight of the poor Israelite fired the novice in robbery with an unusual courage, he rushed upon the terrified Hebrew like lightning, and, having seized him by the collar, demanded his money with a thundering voice: The petrified Israelite feeling himself thus roughly handled, shrieked and lamented most ruefully, and stoutly refused at first to deliver up his mammon, but when he saw his life at stake, and John put his pistol to his breast, yielded at last, with a woful visage, to the uncouth demands of his aggressor, exclaiming in the height of fear and despair, "I will give—I will give—all the money I have about me." So saying, he untied a leathern bag with money, fastened round his waist, and offered it to the greedy robber, who, transported with joy at his success, was thrown off his guard, and the cunning Jew taking hold of an opportunity to recover his treasure, seized, with much adroitness, the pistol, ​wrested it from poor John's trembling hand, and ordered the affrighted fellow, who was almost petrified, to return him his money instantly, if he would not have his brains blown out; John hesitated not a moment to submit to the Jew's demand, restored him his bag, and took to his heels, but the two robbers sallying forth from their hiding-place, retook him soon, while the cunning Israelite got clear off with his money and John's pistol.
The unfortunate fellow was instantly carried back to the robbers den, and shut up again in the subterraneous dungeon which he had but lately left. Having been confined there some weeks the robbers took him one day out of his hole, and gave him his liberty, and a small sum of money, after he had sworn a dreadful oath never to reveal the least thing of what he had heard and seen in the cavern during his stay with them, and to leave the country as soon as possible.
​This is the substance of my late servant's narrative; he had entirely forgotten his oath 'till he mentioned it, yet he silenced soon his murmuring conscience, persuading himself not to have committed perjury, because he had been intimidated by dreadful menaces to make it, and an oath of that nature could never be binding; he at the same time alledged, that the Captain himself had declared that among robbers swearing was of no importance, and thus soothed his conscience.
I did not think it necessary to undeceive, but gave him a handsome sum of money as a token of my gratitude for his faithful services, and bade him an affectionate farewell. He thanked me with weeping eyes and left the room. When he was gone. I mounted my horse, and arrived after a few hours at N———.
Now I come to the last and most important incident I ever met with during the whole ​time of my recruiting business, which will clear up all the above related events, and dispel the clouds which are still hanging over some parts of my wonderful tale.
Two years were now elapsed since my last adventure, and I had heard nothing farther either of the Necromancer or his associates: The frequent unwelcome visits at the Castle and their alarming consequences, very likely had made both parties more circumspect, which appeared to me to have been the principal motive of those ruffians to release my servant, least I might be induced to make a strict search after him; whatever may have been their motive for doing so, I had no farther trace either of the robbers or Volkert, and even at F———, the Necromancer's principal place of action, whither I went shortly after, even there, every thing relating to our former adventures was entirely forgotten—the haunted inn had been sold to a new master, the apparition was frightened away, and the house was a respectable auberge.
​I also began, by degrees, to forget the adventures which I partly had heard related, and partly experienced myself, being only now and then reminded of those incidents, when, in the lonely hour of solitude the recollection of the Austrian stole on my mind.
My long overclouded serenity had resumed its wonted brightness, and the remembrance of my ever regretted friend was no longer accompanied by gloominess and melancholy sensations; I could again partake of the pleasures which smile at us wherever we are, and I could relish again the innocent sports of merriment.
In that state of mind I arrived towards the end of summer at A———, when the expectation of every inhabitant was engaged by the approaching scene of a bloody execution, which was to take place within a few days.
A church having been robbed about six months ago, several suspected persons had ​been imprisoned and put to the rack, but could not be brought to confession, upon which the magistrates had been obliged to set them at liberty for want of such witnesses as the law requires, and to give up the inquisition until further proofs should be found. Many months elapsed before the enraged priests, aided by the eagle-eyed assistance of the magistrates, could trace out the sacrilegious robbers of their hallowed treasures, and feast their ruthless vengeance on the throes of the victims of their foaming ire, expiring on the flaming pile, 'till at length an accident delivered into their holy fangs the perpetrators of that daring deed, whom they in vain had endeavoured to discover by advertisements, tortures of the rack, and the promise of reward.
There lived in a suburb of A———, an old unsuspected man, named Peter, loved by the children of the place, whom he oftentimes amused with little tales, and bribed with sweetmeats, but dreaded by the aged, who ​firmly believed him to be on an intimate footing with his satanic majesty, because he now and then displayed, when in good humour, proofs of his juggling skill, which they beheld with gaping terror. This hoary man, who lived in a mean cottage, in apparent indigence, and could not be suspected of possessing ill-gotten goods, went oftentimes abroad, but whither he journeyed, or what called him so frequently from his abode, nobody could tell with certainty; some said he went a begging, others, more superstitious, pretended to have seen him, through the chinks of the half decayed window shutters, stretched lifeless on the floor; and some insisted upon having seen him riding through the air on a broom-stick, to pay, as it was supposed, his court to his infernal master, to whom his soul and body was said to be mortgaged.
Very fortunately this man was not at A——— when the church-robbery was committed, to the greatest satisfaction of some who thought him to be an harmless man, and to the greater ​mortification of others, who pretended to have suffered many a malicious trick by his sorcery; for if he had not been absent at that time, his ill wishers would certainly have forged a pretext to deliver him up to the civil power, as a suspicious person, because he never went to church, although he was supposed to be a roman catholic.
Some days after the above mentioned prisoners had been set at liberty, he returned to A———, on a holiday after sun set. The children playing in the streets no sooner espied him, than they ran towards him, hailing their hoary benefactor, with loud shouts, searching his pockets for sweetmeats, and teazing the poor old man so unmercifully, that he at last grew angry, and threatened to chastise the troublesome crowd with his staff; however, their demands grew still more clamorous, and some of them began to prick him with pins, which at length obliged him to put his threats in execution.
​When the mothers of those ill-mannered boys saw the old man plying the backs of their darlings with his staff, they attacked him like furies, to revenge their children's wrongs and the prophanation of the holiday, and by their vociferations alarmed the whole neighbour hood: The husbands of the enraged dames came soon to their assistance; the children began terribly to roar when they saw their old friend in danger of being torn to pieces by their parents, and poor Peter was glad when he got out of the clutches of the merciless multitude, after having sustained many a hard blow, and hastened with all possible speed to shelter himself from farther insult in his humble cottage.
But who can describe the terror he was siezed with, when he perceived that he had lost his wallet in the scuffle! Raving like a madman did he rush out of his hut, to recover his property, which was carried away in triumph by the victorious party: He exhausted all the rhetoric he was master of, entreated ​them, whined, and swore, but alas! his adversaries had hearts of flint, and stoutly refused to give up their booty, and when he at last, half frantic with despair, endeavoured to regain it by force, a violent shower of stones drove him back to his humble abode, leaving his dear wallet in the ruthless hands of the furious and inexorable mob.
The principal motive that had induced the assailants to retain the wallet, was an impulse of curiosity, to see what the old sorcerer, so they called him, had got by his journey; and the attack of the children was, very likely, a preconcerted matter, in order to provoke his anger, and thus to give them an opportunity of satisfying their curiosity.
The wallet having been opened the first object meeting their prying looks was an old pair of breeches, a tattered shirt, and some pairs of stockings, then followed a large book and some unknown instruments, and at last they found at the bottom a heavy ​leathern bag, the knot by which it was fastened, baffling all their endeavours to untie it, was at length cut asunder, and the amazement of the gaping multitude rose to the highest pitch, when their eyes beheld a great number of gold pieces.
At first the whole crew was struck dumb with astonishment, but their silence was soon interrupted by a voice, exclaiming, "we have entrapped the sacrilegious robber of our church!" which was the signal for the enraged multitude to break out in curses and terrible execrations against the old man; the air resounded with the universal cry, "church robber! church robber!" and some of them, hastening to the justice of peace, roared with a bellowing voice, "we have found him out! we have found him out! we have detected the sacrilegious robber of our church!"
The justice was astonished at the unexpected tidings, but his amazement increased still more, when he saw the large heaps of ​gold coin, which had been found in the wallet of the old beggar, and instantly sent the beadle to seize poor Peter; mean while the rest of the furious mob had stormed the defenceless hut of the old man, dragged him forth, and conducted him towards the judge's house amid numberless blows and curses. He was now delivered up to the grim catchpole, who instantly carried him to the town prison.
His trial began the following day, and he was ordered to give an account of himself, and how he had got such a large sum of money. Refusing to answer that question, and pretending to have earned the money by honest means, he was put to the rack; yet he stoutly maintained his first declaration, and the justice, being unable to convict him of the charge he stood accused of, was obliged to set him at liberty, retaining, however, his money, until he should have proved that he had got it by lawful means.
​Peter promised to prove his deposition within a short time, and returned to his hut, which, during his confinement, had been closely searched by his busy neighbours, who, however, had found nothing in it but some tattered coats, and broken pieces of furniture.
The justice, being a prudent man, dissembled to have dropped all farther inquiry, but secretly appointed some trusty people to watch all his motions. Their vigilance was fruitless a great while, until at length one of Peter's neighbours observed him, one morning, leaving his house with a wallet on his back, and a staff in his hand, setting off in full speed.
The people of the justice, whom he informed of what he had seen, followed Father Peter in different directions, in disguise, and saw him at noon-tide enter a lonely public-house: Having waited in vain for his reappearance, they began to conceive suspicion, and concealed themselves behind some bushes ​within a small distance from the house, until it grew dark.
As soon as night had spread her dun mantle over the face of the earth, they heard a distant trampling of horses, bending their course towards the spot where they were hidden, and, ere long, a numerous troop of horsemen alighted at the public house and entered it, upon which the spies crept forth from their lurking place, and stole softly to the windows of the house; there they had not listened six minutes, when they heard a jingling of money, and, peeping through the chinks of one of the shutters, beheld a table covered with dollars, and surrounded by a number of armed men, among whom father Peter was, feasting his looks on the money which was spread before him.
Having now got every information necessary, they mounted each of them one of the horses which the robbers had fastened to some trees, and hurried back to the town with all possible expedition. The public house being ​distant from A——— only two leagues, they arrived there after an hour's ride, and having informed the justice of every thing they had heard and seen, were instantly sent back with a great part of the town guard, well armed, and mounted on the fleetest coursers that could be got.
The whole troops arrived a little before midnight at the public house, where the robbers were seated round a table, eating and drinking in the greatest security, and almost bereft of the use of their senses by frequent libations. They all started up as if roused by a sudden clap of thunder, when the town guard rushed into the room, seizing their arms, and threatening to blow their brains out if they should attempt the least resistance.
Their hands having been tied, father Peter, the landlord, who had concealed himself under the bed, and all his servants were seized, and, having been properly secured, carried off in triumph.
​The robbers, amounting to ten, were clad in hunting coats, and their purses well stored with gold and silver coin; the whole train marching slowly on, with lighted torches, arrived at A——— before it was light, and the prisoners were safely lodged in the strongest dungeon.
Their trial commenced early in the morning, and the youngest of the robbers, who was questioned first, refusing to confess, was put to the rack; his stubbornness being soon subdued, by the torments of the torture, he made evidence, that their gang was very numerous, and scattered all over the country, where they had a great many hiding places under ground; their chief residence, he said, was the old Castle, on the skirts of the Black Forest, where a great part of their spoils was concealed: He farther confessed, that Father Peter was in close connexion with all the different numerous gangs; that he had no fixed abode, but resided sometimes in this, and at other times in that town, and enjoyed the burghership in several cities, where he possessed ​houses and estates. He firmly denied to have had any share in the church robbery, but pointed out three of his fellow prisoners who had been concerned in it; whether Peter had been accessary in it or not he could not tell.
The day following the three robbers charged with the sacrilege were brought to the bar, but none of them would plead guilty. Being put to the rack, the first of them, an aged man, bore the three degrees without uttering a word, and died a few hours after he had been re-conducted to the prison. The second confessed at the third degree, that he had been accessary in the church robbery; but declared that the third was innocent; and that he himself had been persuaded by Father Peter, to commit the sacrilege.
Now the hoary dissembler was ordered to the bar: Having heard the charges of the justice with a firm countenance, he replied, with great equanimity.
​"Yes, I am guilty, and wish to God, I had no other crimes on my conscience than that which I stand accused of. The sluggish gluttonous monks, who in honor of an image of stone, have ruined, and expelled from their own country a whole innocent family to beg their bread in the streets; these vile villains are far greater felons than myself, and I rejoice at having been an instrument in the hand of providence to avenge the wrongs of the hapless objects of their rapacity, and to restore to those innocent sufferers their property. If this action deserves punishment, you may tear my old limbs asunder, break these withered bones, and reduce to dust and ashes my poor out-worn frame, I will not complain, nor utter a groan."
"The grim avenger draws near—I feel the hand of the Supreme Judge; he, and not you, poor mortals, force me to confess my transgressions. I can brave the ire of men, and deride all bodily sufferings; but ​I must bend my aged knees to him, who dwelleth in heaven, and the pangs of conscience are not to be trifled with."
The Judge and the Sheriffs gazed at each other in dumb silence at these words, and none of them were inclined to question him any farther. Seeing this, he informed them voluntarily of every particular of the sacrilege, and of the family which had been plunged into want and misery, by the rapacious monks, whose church and convent had been robbed, by means of a forged will: He at the same time confessed where and in what manner the jewels, and the gold and silver furniture, had been turned into money, and by what means the sums those articles had fetched had been conveyed to the family, without acquainting the innocent sufferers with the names of their secret benefactors.
The astonishment of the whole court increased with every word the old man uttered, and as soon as he had finished his confession, ​he requested the jailor to reconduct him to the prison. It lasted a good while before the dread arbiters of life and death could recover from their astonishment, and debate on Peter's doom, which they unanimously agreed to mitigate as much as possible.
According to the rigour of the law he should have been burnt alive, but he and the robber who had been convicted of sacrilege, were sentenced to be beheaded first, and then burnt. The rest of the gang were ordered to close confinement for further examination.
When father Peter with his fellow sufferer was called to the bar, in order to hear his sentence pronounced, he behaved with the same firmness of mind as on his trial, and comforted him who had betrayed him.
Having heard his sentence pronounced with the greatest equanimity, he thanked his judges for their clemency, and left the court, ​supporting with his arm his companion, who exhibited a ghastly picture of dismay and despondency. Father Peter did not lose his courage during his confinement, and took all possible pains to sooth the grief of his fellow sufferer, and to inspire him with sentiments superior to black despair.
He was to be executed two days after my arrival at A———, and I hesitated long whether I should go and see this extraordinary man or not, although I was much solicited by my friends to do it; having a secret boding, that this reverend old man, who faced the grim spectre of death so cool and undaunted, could be no other person than Father Francis, alias Volkert, and thinking it disingenuous to distress, by my presence, a man who had saved my life two years ago.
Curiosity and sensibility struggled a great while within my breast, until the last day before the execution, when an ardent desire of having cleared up the mysteries of former events got the better of my generous senti​ments, and prompted me to see him early in the morning.
Having mustered up all my fortitude I went to the prison at six o'clock: Perhaps, thought I, the old man may now be more willing to dispel thy doubts than formerly, being on the awful brink of eternity, and disclose the mystery of his former impenetrable transactions, and thy presence may not distress the unhappy man so much as thou thinkest! Yet I could not get entirely rid of my apprehensions of increasing the sufferings of my benefactor, or being perhaps disappointed in my expectation.
In this state of mind I arrived at the prison, which was opened by the goaler after a violent knocking. I requested him to favor me with a short interview with the prisoner, but was denied access, because it was against the common rule to introduce company to the convicts the day before the execution. I offered him a dollar, entreating him to make ​an exception with me, being a stranger, and having reasons of moment to wish for an interview with the old man: The sight of the money seemed to have more weight with him than my words; he mused awhile, and then said, "since you are a stranger I will make an exception from the common rule, but I must insist upon your telling nobody of this indulgence."
So saying, he conducted me without farther ado to a narrow staircase, leading to a long and narrow passage, at length we came to a small black door, marked with three red crosses, through which I followed him into a dark gloomy room; the entrance was guarded by two men half asleep, and in the back ground close to the wall I beheld two human figures, of a ghastly woe-worn aspect, and, drawing near with a beating heart, saw that one of them was Volkert: His countenance was pale and emaciated, but still stamped with his usual dignity of mien; his head reclining against the wall, and his hands resting on his knees.
​He seemed not to perceive that a stranger was in the room until the goaler said to him, "Well, Father Peter, there is a gentleman who will be glad to speak to you and to your comrade."
Hearing this, he slowly lifted up his head, staring at me.
"Volkert!" exclaimed I, "Volkert!"
His looks grew wild, his head sunk back, and he heaved a deep groan; whilst I was standing before him like a statue, thrilled with horror and pity.
As soon as the goaler had left us, Volkert began with a trembling voice, "Lieutenant, are you come to embitter my last hours, or to speak comfort to my afflicted mind?"
"The latter, good Volkert," replied I.
​"Then," said he, "you are welcome; sit down, if you please, perhaps I may be able to be useful to you some how or other, before I fall a victim to my crimes. I can caution you at least against cheats like myself"
"No idle curiosity has prompted me," said I, "to see you, nor am I come to distress you by illiberal reproaches, for having once endangered my life; that would be ungenerous: You have saved me once from eminent destruction, and that atones fully for all former injuries; yet, you will not be offended if I earnestly request you to clear up some late events, which have happened to myself and the Austrian, who—"
"Has been imposed upon by me," replied Volkert, "like yourself, whom I had given the lie at F———, in your and your friend's presence: I will give you all the information you desire, and at the same time a short sketch of my life, as well as it is in my power in my ​present deplorable situation. I wish most ardently I had done what I always intended to do, and set down in writing those events, and the memoirs of my life; they undoubtedly would be very instructive, and greatly lessen the number of impostors, and those that are imposed upon."
Here he stopped, and, having mused a while, began his narrative, which, indeed, was very defective, but satisfactory enough for me.
"I am," thus Volkert began, "a native of England, my father died when I was not quite ten years old, and left me an helpless orphan, without either fortune or near relations: A rich Dutchman being moved by my helpless situation, took me in his house, and, leaving England the year following, carried me over with him to the Hague."
​"This worthy man gave me a very liberal education, and when I was thirten years old took me in his 'counting-house, but, alas! he died before he could establish my fortune as he intended to do."
"His son, who carried on the father's business, had never been very partial to me, and forged a pretext to quarrel with me, and to send me away. A rich nobleman, just going to set out for Germany, wanted a servant, who occasionally would act as secretary, and I was glad to accept his offer to take me in his service: He directed his way to K———, where his father was one of the ministers of state."
"My young master appeared to be little inclined to qualify himself for state business, being possessed of a very small stock of ambition, and entirely addicted to the study of the occult sciences, which had engaged his attention so much, that he was unfit for any ​thing else. I soon was infected with an ardent desire to become his pupil, and, after a few months instruction, was as great a fool as himself."
"It would be too tedious if I was to relate all our fruitless endeavours to effect the apparition of a spirit, and I was soon convinced that it lay not in the power of man to lord over these bodiless beings: My master, however, continued his mysterious operations day and night with an indefatigable ardour."
"It is very natural, that it at length came into my head to profit by his superstitious enthusiasm, and that I eagerly seized every opportunity to impose upon a man, who promised to fall an easy sacrifice to art and cunning, having great reason to expect that such an attempt would ensure me his affection, and promote my fortune rapidly."
"One night as he was conjuring up his guardian angel with much impatience, I en​tered his room, telling him, that all his efforts would be in vain, because he was not acquainted with the proper means of forcing the inhabitants of the other world to make their appearance."
"Gazing at me with wonder and surprise, he inquired whether I had improved so much in the occult sciences that I could effect what he so eagerly desired. I neither denied nor confirmed his question, but told him, that I would give him the next day, a specimen of my skill in Necromancy."
"It was an easy task to impose on my credulous enthusiastic Count, having secured the assistance of a fellow servant. We resided at a country seat his mother had left him, which was the fittest place in the world for the execution of our design. Having succeeded better than I at first expected, I made him my dupe above a twelvemonth, and grew at last so bold and impudent, that the Count could not ​but perceive my juggling tricks, and instantly sent me away.
"The good credulous man has certainly been convinced afterwards, that the lesson I gave him by my cheats deserved the warmest gratitude."
"I had saved a pretty sum of money during my stay with the Count, and, being used to an idle life, had not the least thought of looking about for another master. I went back to H———, where I abandoned myself to gambling, drinking, and all sorts, of dissipation, until all my money was spent, and no other means of getting an honest livelihood left, than to try my fortune in the army."
"A recruiting officer paid me a hundred dollars for my liberty, and I cheerfully enlisted under the banner of Mars."
"I had received the promise to be made a serjeant, but saw myself at first very much ​disappointed, being forced to serve as a common soldier: Being however a good penman, well skilled in casting accounts, and leading a sober and regular life, I soon rose so high in the good opinion of my superiors, that I was appointed serjeant after nine months service. I certainly should have been promoted higher if I had continued to be zealous in the service, sober and attentive to my superiors, but my patience was exhausted, and I relapsed again into my former dissipations."
"A dissolute life requires money, and the desire of getting it plunges him who has once been led astray from the path of virtue, soon into his former errors. I had once more recouse to my juggling tricks, pretending to possess a supernatural skill, in detecting thefts, in tossing up the cup, and in telling people's fortunes; I conjured up spirits, dispelled the power of witchcraft, and raised up the dead: in short, I did every thing in my power to drain the purses of the weak and credulous."
​"This trade was profitable, and very advantageous in many respects; but it lost me the esteem of my superiors, stained my character, poisoned my heart, and reduced me at last to that despicable sort of people, whose heedlessness bids defiance to every obstacle, and who have nothing more at heart than how they may enrich themselves to the detriment of their fellow creatures: In short, I became a rogue of the blackest die."
"It was natural that my cheats now and then miscarried before I arrived at that degree of skill, which, in later years, has crowned with success most of my roguish tricks. My superiors, who had warned me many a time against commiting such villainous actions, became at last tired of admonishing and correcting me by words, and a spirit which I had conjured up played his part so bad, that they found themselves obliged to make an example of me, and to banish me the country."
​"An healthy well-made man of my age had no need to be uneasy about getting into the service of any foreign power. I had taken a liking to the life of a soldier, and found soon an opportunity of enlisting under the banners of Austria."
"A few days after I had began my peregrination, I met with a recruiting officer of that country, who proposed me to enter into the Austrian service, but, being grown wiser by experience, I at first feigned to dislike the military profession, and succeeded so well, that the officer at last threw a hundred ducats upon the table, assuring me, upon his salvation, that he never had paid such a price to a recruit."
"Now I thought it high time to strain the strings a little lower, agreed to his terms, and told him, that I had been serjeant in the H———n service: Having given him a specimen of my skill in penmanship, I requested him to recommend me to his commanding officer: ​He promised it and was as good as his word. The general received me exceeding well, and I occupied my former post, as serjeant, before a year was elapsed."
Having been sent away with disgrace from H———, I had taken a firm resolution to abstain in future from all fraudulent juggling tricks, and kept my resolution firmly a long while, behaving eight years as it meets a good soldier."
"I abstained entirely from art and fraud, minded my duty, and thus ingratiated myself with my superiors to such a degree, that I kept firmly my ground in spite of many complaints which afterwards were made against An unhappy accident induced me to have recourse again to my former juggling tricks, and thus to acquire once more the title of a Necromancer."
"I will tell you all the particulars of that adventure, in order to enliven a little my te​dious narrative, and to convince you, that nothing but necessity could tempt me to engage once more in rogueries, which already had destroyed my fortune once, and deprived me of my good character and an honorable employment."
"I was quartered in a house that was said to be haunted: It was rumoured about, that time out of mind it had been haunted by a spirit, who disturbed the tranquillity of the inhabitants, though he never had injured any body: He had now, for about six months, alarmed very much the people that lived in the house, and the report of that extraordinary perturbance had caused such a general fear that most of the rooms were unoccupied."
"Tempted by the cheapness of the lodgings, and desirous to get at the bottom of the alarming apparitions, which had given so much uneasiness to the inhabitants of that house, I went to the owner, and agreed with ​him to pay five dollars a year for the best room; I instantly took possession of my apartment, and, to my greatest surprise, perceived a long while not the least trace of any supernatural inhabitant."
"My landlord always disappointed my inquiries by vague ambiguous answers, and his daughter, who, as it was rumoured, had suffered most from the dreadful apparition, replied with nothing but a deep sigh, when I interrogated her about the nocturnal phantom."
"That girl had attracted my attention in a high degree, as soon as I had seen her, being adorned with charms which conquered every heart almost irresistibly, because she seemed to be entirely unconscious of their winning powers. Her face was rather pale, her constitution weak and sickly, and although she could not be called a beauty, yet I thought her very amiable, and more bewitching than any woman my eyes had ever beheld; I never ​had tasted the heavenly bliss of innocent virtuous love, before my thirty-ninth year; but I must confess this girl had infused into my heart, at first sight, sensations I had always been an utter stranger to."
"Helen, this was her name, her father and myself, occupied the first floor of the haunted house, and the second floor was inhabited by a young secretary; all the other rooms, a back parlour, on the ground floor, where the servants lived excepted, were unoccupied."
"The secretary seemed to have no concern for what was passing around him, his whole attention being engaged by his writings, and I happened only now and then to see him in the company of my landlord and his fair daughter, whom he treated as utter strangers: However I watched my opportunity better than him, and was never so happy as when I could spend a few hours in conversation with the charming maid: I al​ways pretended to have something to say to the father, taking care never to come to his apartment but when he was abroad."
"However, all my anxious endeavours to make a tender impression on my charmer's heart proved abortive, Helen neither seemed to take the least notice of the attention I paid her, nor to be pleased with my eager zeal to engage her favor. The discourses I addressed to her consisted mostly in monologues, interrupted by frequent pauses; and her replies in a pantomime, composed of a silent shaking or nodding of the head, accompanied every now and then by a gentle sigh, which, of course made me, by degrees, tired of conversing with her, though my heart at first shrunk back at the thought of giving up such a lovely object."
"I had now been many weeks in the house without either hearing or seeing the least thing of the phantom, the tranquillity of the mansion not having been interrupted for a single ​moment. The domestics of my landlord were highly surprised, ascribing the peace which they enjoyed to me; even my landlord thought that I had chased away the dread phantom, and oftentimes thanked me warmly for having restored the tranquillity of his house."
"Dear friend," said he one evening to me, shaking me by the hand with evident marks of satisfaction, "to you I owe the peace and tranquillity I now enjoy; if the nightly phantom shall continue to stay away, my house will not longer remain unoccupied, and you shall live in it without paying rent as long as it shall be in my possession."
"These words he spoke in the presence of his daughter, who fetched a deep melancholic sigh."
"A few days after that trifling accident, as it appeared to me, I came home late in the night, and was going to lay myself down ​to rest, without calling for a candle, every body being gone to bed, when I heard gentle steps before my door: I started up, and the steps advanced nearer and nearer: Now they seemed to retreat, and silence reigned around a while."
"I listened with eager expectation, and, at once heard again the sound of fearful steps, and somebody moving the latch of my door, which now was opened slowly and shut again. I was just going to see what these strange proceedings meant, when a white figure entered my apartment.
"Who art thou?" exclaimed I, with a furious voice, seizing the phantom with a powerful hand.
"Jesu Maria!" groaned the apparition, "for God's sake be quiet."
"Methought I knew the voice, and, asking again who it was that dared to disturb my ​rest, the ghost whispered, in a faltering accent, "be quiet, dear Sir, I am Helen!"
"Half frantic with rapture I pressed the trembling girl to my panting bosom, printed a glowing kiss on her sweet lips, and asked her, what fortunate accident had procured me the happiness of seeing her so late in the night."
"Oh!" sighed the lovely girl, "you shall save me from destruction."
"With all my heart," answered I, "if it is in my power."
"It is in your power," resumed my sweet visitor, "my father confides in you, O, save me! save me!".
"I entreated her to tell me the source of her affliction, and how I could be serviceable to her; upon which she sat herself down and began as follows:"
​"The apparition which has lately disturbed the tranquillity of our house is my lover, Henry—is the secretary in the second floor: Last Autumn he asked me in marriage from my father, who refused to comply with his suit, and the unhappy man has been hurried by despair into a resolution which has destroyed the peace of my mind, and has made him likewise miserable."
"Our house has been reported to be haunted by a ghost these many years, because it was formerly a cloyster: My Henry took hold of that superstitious rumour, turning it to his advantage, and, alas! accomplished his design without difficulty. My heart was thrilled with terror at first, and several nights elapsed in unspeakable horror, before I knew that my Henry was the spectre that visited me every night, and made my blood run chill with awful dread. At length he undeceived me, but, alas! it was then too late; my virgin honor was}} ​gone for ever: I feel the dreadful consequences of my guilty connexion with the unhappy man, and disgrace and ruin will seize me with merciless fangs, if you do not save me. O, Mr. Volkert! do not refuse your assistance to a poor helpless girl."
"During this woful speech I had been standing before the lovely maid, holding her by her trembling hand, and bending my ear close to her lips, as she was whispering her woes to me. When she had finished her plaintive tale, she pressed me to her heaving bosom, her burning kisses thrilled the very pulses of my heart with voluptuous rapture, her lily arms encircled my neck, her whole lovely form seemed melted into one with mine—but you may easily guess what was the consequence!"
"When the crowing of the cock announced the dawn of morning, she left me in high spirits, because I had given her the most solemn promise to procure the consent of her ​father to her marriage with the secretary, might it cost whatever it would. Her gratitude knew no bounds, she almost suffocated me by her endearments, and left me with these words:"
"My happiness, my life, and my honor, are in your power; without your assistance destruction will seize me, and eternal misery will be my dreadful lot."
"As long as my blood was heated I thought no obstacle too arduous, but after more cool deliberation, I soon grew sensible that I had engaged in a very difficult undertaking: By what natural means could the father of the seduced girl be persuaded to sanction her love ? How was it possible to shake the firm resolution of a rigorous head-strong man, if a medium congenial to his manner of thinking was not to be employed, which might surprise and prompt him to come to our terms, for the sake of his own interest. This medium was no other than what he himself had sug​gested to me—his belief in the supernaturalness of the apparition, and the power he supposed me to have over it."
"I could not get a wink of sleep during the remainder of the night, racking my brain and tormenting my imagination in vain:—Whenever I fancied to have hit on a feasible expedient, it soon vanished like a deluding dream, as soon as I applied the undeceiving torch of reason, and I saw but too clearly that nothing would extricate me from the maze I was bewildered in but the magic wand."
"I was engaged for three days in a most distressing conflict with my rebelling conscience, and several times on the brink of shifting quarters, and taking a house far enough removed from my then abode, but my resolution was always shaken as soon as it was formed, when the doleful situation of the poor distressed girl recurred to my mind, im​ploring my assistance with a pallid ghastly look."
"It is true, the lover of the afflicted disconsolate girl did not deserve my assistance; however, I could not deny it to myself that I had greatly injured him—common justice required some atonement, and poor Helen would certainly have been lost without my assistance. These considerations conquered at last every hesitation which reason and honesty had suggested to my troubled mind."
"The forth night Helen paid me a second visit, entreating me more pressingly than at first; yet I remained firm and unpersuaded a good while; however, when she reminded me of my promise, and of ———, I could no longer maintain my ground, renewed my former promise, and went, without delay, the next morning to work."
"I entered at nine o'clock the apartment of my landlord, and could not but observe, ​that Helen's cheeks were tinged with a crimson hue of inward satisfaction; her aspect and her looks supported my resolution."
"Sir," said I, "the tranquillity of your house is dear to me, and I have had the good fortune, last night, to hit upon means, the application of which will certainly secure it for ever."
"The simple superstitious man embraced me with visible marks of gratitude, exclaiming in an ecstacy of joy, "O, tell me, tell me, what must I do?"
"Then he ordered his daughter to fetch a bottle of Hungarian wine, pressing me to drink; but I declined it, resuming,
"Sir, the ghost that disturbs the peace of your house—"
"Have you seen him?" he interrupted me, with a ghastly look.
​I will see him," replied I, "he is a malicious being, and has given me much trouble; yet I trust I shall be able to get the better of him by the assistance of the occult knowledge which I possess."
"How! how!" stammered the simpleton, "then you are indeed the man I always took you for; then you are really one of those great mortals who understand the wonderful art of necromancy. How happy I am, to meet at last, so unexpectedly, with the man I have always most ardently wished to find out. Tell me, dear friend, what must we do?"
"Nothing in the world answered I, "but conjure up in due form that turbulent spirit."
"And will you undertake to perform that difficult dangerous task?"
​"Why not?"
"And when, dear Sir, do you intend to do me that inestimable favor?"
"The ensuing night if you will consent to it, for without your leave I can do nothing."
"O, that you have! that you have! You may do whatever you please; I will consent to any thing if I can get rid of that infernal disturber of my nocturnal rest."
"I left the credulous man with sensations which sprung from pity rather than exultation, at my easy gotten victory;. I instantly made every preparation for executing my roguish plan, being assisted by the secretary, and having won over to my purpose the servants of the house, every thing succeeded to admiration."
​"A little before twelve o'clock all the inhabitants of the house resorted to my room, and an intimate friend of mine acted the ghost admirably well: Benumbing perfumes deprived the spectators of the proper use of their senses, and the landlord had previously been made unfit for investigation, by a powder mixed with his wine."
"The ghost appeared, or rather stepped forth, from behind a partition of paper, which I had contrived to make."
"When I asked why he had dared to disturb the tranquillity and the peace of the house, he answered, in a tremulous hollow accent, "Out of resentment against the female sex."
"On my farther inquiries, he related, in short answers, that, a century ago, the cruelty of a lady he had been in love with had driven him to despair, and hurried him into the rash ​resolution to shut himself up within a cloister's hallowed walls; but, having prophaned his holy order, by entering into it with a worldly heart, polluted by the loose desires of sensual love, he had been condemned to purgatory until a certain condition should be fulfilled."
"All these queries and answers, previously set down in writing and got by heart, produced the desired effect on the blinded mind of the credulous father, who, at length, stammered out the question, "By what means he could be relieved from his torments?" The ghost replied, that he was doomed to suffer the agonies of purgatory, and to haunt his former abode in the midnight hour, until an unhappy couple, separated by a parent's cruel tyranny, should be united in holy wedlock."
"Having related his fictitious tale he disappeared behind the partition of paper, under the cover of a thick smoke, leaving my landlord in a state of mind, which seconded our design to the utmost of our wishes."
​"When the credulous man had recovered a little from his astonishment, I asked him, if he could explain the meaning of the ghost's answer, and whether it was in his power to perform the condition he had hinted at: Upon which he silently nodded to me, and promised to pay me a visit early in the morning, which he did at six o'clock, confessing his cruelty towards his daughter, which he believed had provoked the resentment of the monk, and pleaded the poverty of the young man, and the cool indifference he had treated his daughter with ever since his offers had been rejected."
"Now," added he, I see every thing in its proper light; the ghost has entirely opened my eyes, blinded by avarice: God be praised that the young man has not yet left my house, as he intended to do, for it would then give much room for scandal, if he should marry my daughter, which I am very well convinced cannot be avoided, ​if the tranquillity of my house shall be restored."
"In short, the secretary was married to the girl, and the ghost appeared no more."
"This beneficial fraud, for so may I justly call it, the honor, and perhaps the life of the father and daughter, having been saved by it, and the young man, who was sober and industrious, proving a very tender and affectionate husband: This beneficial fraud was the first step, which afterwards led me to ruin and disgrace."
"Possessed of a large stock of knowledge of the human heart, of experience, and art, I was no longer satisfied with confining myself to trifling juggling tricks, but I soon began to act after a more extensive plan: In spite of all the precaution I had taken to keep the above mentioned transaction from the knowledge of the public, it soon transpired with the usual additions, and every body thought me ​to be a sort of supernatural being, and so many opportunities of preying on the credulity of mankind were thrown in my way, that I could not stand the temptations which frequently occured, to profit by the superstition of my fellow creatures."
"I hope you will spare me the distressing task to relate all the transgressions I commited afterwards: Suffice it to say, that a complete account of my frauds would swell many volumes. The few remaining hours of life allotted me, prevent me from relating all the subsequent cheating tricks which I committed, I therefore shall confine myself to the two criminal transactions, by which your friend, the brave Austrian, has been imposed upon; they will afford you ample means of forming a proper idea of those I am obliged to bury in silence."
"I had, for the space of six years, carried on my juggling tricks with so much secresy, ​that few of my criminal deeds were known. Although I had been betrayed several times by my associates, and reprimanded by my superiors, yet I always suffered myself to be blinded by the too powerful charms of gold and false ambition, and was ever ready to lend my assistance to deeds of the blackest hue."
"One day the widow of an honest citizen sent for me, and, having bribed me by some pieces of gold, requested me to assist her in the execution of a most criminal design."
"Her husband, lately deceased, so she told me, had promised her daughter in marriage to a man, whom she could not suffer to become her son-in-law, because he had behaved very disrespectfully towards her while her husband had been living, and scorned to apply for her consent; moreover, she told me, he was a lazy drunkard and a gambler; in one word, a good-for-nothing fellow."
​"I know, Mr. Volkert," added she, "that you are in high favor with the Devil, and entreat you to raise up one of the angels of darkness, commanding him to appear to my daughter, and to threaten her to carry her to hell if she will not desist from her intended marriage."
"Shocked at that infernal proposal I was going to throw the money at her feet; would to God I had done it! but three ducats more soothed my indignation, and allured me to promise that I would take the matter into consideration, and inform her of the result of it the following day."
"I kept my promise, enjoining the woman to tell her daughter, as a secret, that her deceased father had, on his death bed, compelled her to make a solemn promise, never to consent to that marriage: She readily executed my order, and the poor girl was overwhelmed with grief"
​"Then I bade the inhuman mother assume a melancholy aspect, to treat her daughter with more kindness than ever, to mingle her tears with those of her child, to inveigh now and then against the caprice of the deceased, to inflame the girl, by degrees, with a desire of knowing the reason her father might have had to forbid, on his death-bed, her union with a man he had always seemed to be fond of; and, after these preparations, to mention, as if by accident, my name, and my skill in necromancy, yet to take care, not to betray her design of having conjured up her deceased husband."
"The cruel unnatural mother executed my orders with all possible dexterity and art, wept with her afflicted disconsolate child, and, by these means, beguiled the unsuspecting heart of her unhappy daughter. The poor victim of a mother's infernal cruelty listened eagerly to the deceitful speeches of her artful parent, and her curiosity was soon raised to so ​high a pitch, that she one evening came to my lodgings, trembling and shivering, to acquaint me with her woe, and to implore my assistance, which I instantly promised to grant her."
"The rest you very likely know, from the relation of your friend: One of my comrades, who was always ready to execute my commands, acted the ghost, and every thing succeeded, alas! too well"
"But suffer me to drop the dreadful horrid tale; this black infernal deed lays heavy on my conscience, for it has rendered me guilty of the murder of two innocent persons."
"Your friend requested me, soon after, to give him a specimen of my talents, which I readily promised to do as soon as an opportunity should offer; but, God knows, I did not then mean to perform my promise."
​"However, the quarrel between the two officers afforded me very soon such an alluring opportunity to display my skill, that I could not stand the temptation to perform the most cunning and subtle trick. The whole transaction bears such strong marks of the marvellous, that you will expect a long explanation, but the contrivance was so simple that a few words will suffice to unfold to you that strange affair."
"One morning a foreign officer sent for and requested me, to compose an ointment, which would make him invulnerable. I stared at him with wonder and astonishment; however, when he covered the whole table with gold, I was tempted to profit by his folly, and asked him who his antagonist was: Being told it was Lieutenant C———, I would not run the risk of exposing myself to his resentment, and left the valiant son of Mars without listening to his proposal." ​"The succeeding day your friend visited me: "Volkert," said he, as he entered the room, "I have a job for you: I can give you an excellent opportunity to favor me with a proof of your skill, and to get a handsome sum of money into the bargain."
"I pricked up my ears, made a few faint objections, and at length suffered myself to be persuaded."
"As soon as your friend had left me I went to Baron T———, who was still in bed, without having the least inclination of fighting a duel."
"Baron," exclaimed I, as I entered his room, "give me the money, I am ready to execute your orders; you shall not only be invulnerable, but also leave the field of battle and this town as a man of honor, provided nobody knows that you are returned from your journey."
​"That is charming!" exclaimed the undaunted Baron, "nobody besides you and my landlord know that I am returned, and him we can easily silence if secresy is is necessary."
"Then he jumped nimbly out of his bed, and gave me the money. I laid my plan before him, and he joyfully submitted to every thing proposed. His landlord and the owner of the house where the conjuration was performed, were bribed: The Baron, who acted the ghost, was concealed in a small closet, to which he, when the whole transaction was finished, retired, under the cover of a thick benumbing smoke, which concealed his retreat, and left the town that very night. The postman had likewise been bribed to deliver the letter, composed by me and copied by the Baron. The certificate of the surgeon-major was forged, and every thing succeeded to our satisfaction."
​"As to the duel, every thing was effected by natural means: I cleaned and charged the pistols of Lieutenant C———, and took care to spoil the locks of one brace, and to charge the other with wrong bullets. I informed the governor of the duel, that Baron T———'s courage might be known, and he returned, for the same reason, to town, as soon as the duel was fought, delivering himself into the hands of the soldiers, who had been ordered to arrest the combattants."
"That he might be thought generous, he supplicated for the enlargment of his antagonist, and procured him the governor's pardon."
"The heniousness of this deed of mine will be lessened in your eyes, if I tell you, that the bullets in the Baron's pistols were likewise too small, so that Lieutenant C——— could not be wounded dangerously, and the Baron took care not to hurt him materially."
​"Volkert had, as yet, spoken with great hilarity, and it almost appeared as if he had entirely forgotten his impending doom; but suddenly he grew more serious and solemn: Gloomy clouds of sorrow were gathering on his brow, the paleness of his countenance increased, his lips were contorted, he gave a deep groan of anguish, and after an awful pause of inward agony, he went on in a faltering accent."
"O that I here could conclude the dreadful tale of my transgressions! O that I had not to relate deeds more glaring and abominable! deeds which thrill my soul with anguish, and pierce my guilty heart with a thousand daggers, pointed by unutterable pangs of a polluted conscience: However, I promised you a sketch of my whole life, and will be as good as my word: Although I shall not be able to give you a full narrative of deeds which fill my soul with horror, yet I will go on as well as I can."
​"The intercession of Baron T——— in my behalf, had so much weight with the governor, that he suffered me to escape without punishment, and sent me on the recruiting business, in order to get rid of me without provoking my anger: O that he had rather loaded me with his resentment, than with his bounty, and punished me as I deserved; perhaps it would have opened my eyes and brought me back to the path of honesty00."
"My ruin was now completed: I began my recruiting business with great alacrity and cheerfulness, and found but too many opportunities of exerting my plotting skill, which I did with so much success, that my comrades were astonished, and my superiors so highly pleased with my zeal, that they put the greatest confidence in me, and intrusted me with sums which enabled me to abandon myself to all manner of dissipation; the few remaining sparks of honesty and virtue were extinguish​ed by degrees, and I was hurrying with rapid steps into the abyss of destruction."
"My dissipations tempted me to defraud my superiors, and soon intricated me in a maze of embarrassment, where I found myself entirely bewildered. I got acquainted and intimately connected with the most dangerous sort of people, with robbers and their infernal associates: Allured by my cunning and artful tricks, they did every thing in their power to gain my confidence, and to win me over to their party, which, alas! laid the foundation to my ruin: I became a spy, a traitor, and, at last, their accomplice in the perpetration of the most shocking crimes."
"My recruiting business was neglected, and my superiors were going to call me back: Being not able to give an account of large sums that had been intrusted to me, I could not appear before my commanding officer, and no other means were left me to escape ​the impending storm, but to disappear entirely, which I effected in such a manner, that every one firmly believed I was no more."
"I conducted ten robbers, disguised as recruits, through a large town, where many of my profession resided, and, as soon as we had reached the adjacent wood, they took to their heels: I ran to the next village, raving like a madman, related my misfortune, wept, cried, and then returned to the wood, dissembling to be in the greatest despair."
"The robbers, who were waiting for me, made me pull off my uniform, dressed a dead man in it, who, perhaps, had been murdered for that purpose, put a pistol in his hand, and disfigured him by blowing his brains out."
"Now I was no longer Volkert the serjeant; I was Volkert the robber and murderer; I painted my face, feigned to be ​twenty years older than I really was, and thus escaped being known by my former acquaintances; I soon became famous under the name of Father Francis, bought houses in several towns, and every body took me for what I appeared to be, an old harmless man. Yet I was known at length by one of my former messmates, when in the H———n service, who was recruiting in the empire, and forced me to assist him in his business."
"The cunning rogue had not forgotten my skill in executing deceitful plots, and his expectation, that I should be of great service to him by my artifices, did not deceive him. I never spread my nets in vain when I wanted to catch a well made young fellow, and we had enlisted within a short time a great number of recruits. How easy I could remove every obstacle I will prove by a single instance, which will give you a true notion of my intricated artifices."
​"A well made, young, and amiable Livonian, lodged with me, at the same Inn, at T———, and my associate took such a liking to him, that he offered to acquit me of all farther services, if could ensnare this young man"
"I promised to do my utmost, and went instantly to work, ordering some of the gang I was connected with, and who then resided at T——— on account of the great fair, to purloin his ring, snuff-box, purse, and watch, returning him the latter in a public place, telling him that I had detected the thief."
"This done, I left him suddenly, without giving him time to make farther inquiries, my sole view being to excite his curiosity, and to gain his confidence, in which I succeeded admirably well."
"The Livonian became very anxious to get acquainted with me, watched my return to the Inn several nights, and attempted to ​converse with me; in short, he was very impatient to draw from me an information of the means by which I had detected the thief, but I always shunned him, and baffled his endeavours a great while, until, at last, I found it necessary to pay him a visit, in order to console him about the loss of a bill of exchange, which my myrmidons had got in their power, along with his pocket-book."
"This bill having contained all the little wealth he had got about him, he was under the necessity of either remaining some time longer at T———, or of selling his linen and every thing of value, and thus return to his own country, in a most distressing condition: I gave him two notes, each of a hundred dollars, the binding money from the recruiting officer."
"My unexpected visit and my seeming generosity, put him into the greatest asto​nishment, and I left him again abruptly, without entering into conversation with him."
"He was now enlisted without suspecting it, but I did not, as yet, know how I could put him into the power of my employer; however, my inventive genius soon suggested to me the proper means of effecting my purpose. By some letters from his mother, which I had found in the pocket book, I had learned, that she had died a little time before, very ill satisfied with his conduct, on account of his dissipations when at university."
"The characters engraved on the inside of the ring which I had taken from him, being the same with those the letters of his mother were signed with, put it out of doubt that the miniature picture of an old lady it was adorned with, must be the likeness of his mother."
"One of my associates, whose features had by accident some resemblance with those of ​the picture, concealed himself at the inn, painted his face with chalk, wrapped himself in a sheet, and went at midnight into the room of the young Livonian, who seemed to wait for my return, to inquire, as I suppose, some particulars about the two notes I had given him the preceding day, and was not a little frightened when he saw the ghost of his deceased mother entering his room. The phantom walked through his apartment, looked at the watch which was on the table, to signify that it wanted rest, sighed, gave him a menacing look, and left him thrilled with horror and amazement."
"The day following I ordered my myrmidons to watch every step of the Livonian, and was informed that he was gone into a tea garden, after he had changed the two notes."
"I hastened after him without delay, and found him sitting in a lonely bower; he did not see me, though I was standing close by ​him, being bewildered in gloomy meditations, and talking to himself. Suddenly he exclaimed, "No, it was a dream!" It was no dream, replied I instantly. He looked up, siezed with terror and surprise. I promised to unfold, at ten o'clock at night, all the mysterious accidents which had happened to him at T———, and, having appointed him to meet me at the city gate, which was within a small distance from our inn, disappeared suddenly."
"My spies continued to watch all his motions during the remainder of the day, and one of them carried every thing that he had lost to the landlord of the Inn where we lodged, that he might be the more eager to meet me and to satisfy his curiosity, which had the desired effect."
"He kept the appointment very punctual, but I made him wait above an hour. Just when he was on the point of going home I came walking towards him with hasty steps, ​and conducted him to a lonely public-house within a small distance from the town, which was the usual haunt of the recruiting officers and their associates."
"Having conducted him into a pleasure-house in the garden, built over a cellar, to which a trap door led from the room where we then were. I asked him what he desired to know? and seeing him hesitate to fix on a question, I inquired if he should not like to know his benefactor, who had interested himself so much for him? He consented to it, and, having drawn a circle round the trap-door, which could be let down from below, I placed him to the centre of it. Some of my associates, who were concealed in the cellar, imitated the roaring of thunder, during my conjurations, opened the trap door and caused him to sink down into the cellar: He who already had acted the ghost of his mother appeared again in his former disguise; some blew powder of calophony through the ​windows of the pleasure-house, and every thing succeeded as well as I could wish."
"The poor young man was stunned with wonder and surprise, and, seeing the ghost of his mother as he was sinking down into the cellar, lost all power of recollection. He was instantly carried into a coach, one serjeant of the recruiting officer seated himself by his side, and another mounted the box, driving on with all possible speed, but being a very indifferent coachman, the vehicle was suddenly overturned and one of the unhappy young man's legs was broken."
"When the serjeants saw it they disengaged the horses from the coach and rode away. This was indeed a great disaster, but still it turned out very fortunate for the young man, for a neighbouring nobleman, who saw him in his deplorable situation as he passed the road, took him to his castle, sent for proper assistance, and took so much care of the ​young man, that he, after a few months, was able to return to his native country, where he safely arrived without having met with any farther sinister accident."
"The recruiting officer, vexed at the miscarrying of our design, now dropped all connexion with me, and I abandoned myself entirely to a life of rapine and plunder."
"You will now expect me to unfold your adventure at the ruinous Castle, on the skirts of the Black Forest, but I hope you will spare me the disagreeable task of enlarging on the particulars, since you have a clue, by the assistance of which you will easily extricate yourself from the maze of mystery and wonder in which you have been bewildered."
"As to the strange apparitions in the subterraneous vaults, they have likewise been effected by the assistance of the robbers. Some of them were concealed in the vaults joining to the principal cellar, and the burying vault, ​blowing the artificial flashes of lightning through the chinks in the wall, and others being concealed in the hidden recesses of the subterraneous fabric, produced the thunder by means of large kettle drums. The lid of the coffin was opened by a cord, which the darkness concealed from your sight; the female figure was the son of a neighbouring publican, closely connected with our gang, who already had acted the ghost several times, when curious travellers had visited the castle: The light shooting from the coffin was effected by a dark lanthorn, which previously had been placed to it: The bluish glimmering you saw in the other vault, came from a lanthorn composed of blue glass, and placed on the staircase of the cellar."
"The second ghost was one of the robbers; his fractured disfigured head was made of an hollowed pumpkin. Our sudden retreat we effected through the iron doors, and the ruinous side building opposite the cellar door."
​"The stench you smelt was effected by some brimstone we had left burning on the staircase: The extinguishing of the light in the lamp, hanging over the cenotaph, and of that which you had taken with you, was caused by a certain spirit I had poured in it as we descended the staircase: Perhaps you will recollect that I took it from you before I began my juggling tricks, as I was leading the way into the cellar. The spirit in the lamp over the cenotaph had previously been poured into it by one of my associates; and the smoke caused by the artificial lightning smothered the light until it evaporated in the arched vault. After the second apparition had disappeared, I overturned the lamp; and the rest you will be able to unravel without my assistance."
"Now I come to the incident which gave you and your friend an opportunity of feeing me in my real character, and of detecting my juggling cheating tricks. Every thing has ​been carried on and executed under my direction, here is the key to it."
"Ever since the H———n recruiting officer had known me at T———; I visited that town very seldom, though I possessed a house there, and was esteemed by my neighbours and fellow citizens."
"An acquaintance of mine who kept a public house within a small distance from T———, took a large Inn at that town, and expected to do very well, but an adjacent Inn which was in great renown, disappointed all his hopes, and reduced him soon to very distressing circumstances. He disclosed his distresses to me as I once happened to come to T———, and I advised him to ruin the neighbouring Inn by the introduction of a ghost."
"The owner of the house had died a little time ago, and his son, a young unexperienced and simple lad, carried on the business. We ​bribed some of his servants to make a noise in the night, and to spread the rumour about, that the house was haunted, and that the late possessor of it appeared at midnight, frightening the guests in a terrible manner."
"This artifice succeeded to the utmost of our wishes, and when I left T———, a few months after, the Inn of my friend, which always had been empty, was crowded with travellers, while that of his neighbour was the lonely haunt of the disguised spectres."
"Having great reason to apprehend that our machination would be detected, sooner or later, I promised my friend, who dreaded the same, to return within a twelvemonth, and to procure him an opportunity of purchasing the haunted Inn, on reasonable terms. I was as good as my word, returned to T———, and what farther happened you know."
"At first I was rather uneasy that the foreign officer had taken lodgings at the haunt​ed Inn, and prohibited every nocturnal disturbance, apprehending the whole artifice would be detected, but just as I was going to leave T———, without having attempted any thing, the cowardice of that officer gave me an opportunity of executing my design."
"His comrades, chicken-hearted like himself, proposed to watch with him in the haunted house, and their imagination played them a trick which, most unexpectedly, favored the execution of my plan."
"They had watched already three successive nights, without either hearing or seeing any thing uncommon; the fourth night a tempest was raging, without their perceiving it, being prevented from doing it by the great quantity of punch they had swallowed, and the roaring noise which was the natural consequence of their inebriation."
"When they entered the room, after having been frightened by the howling of the ​the storm, on their return from the search they had been making, the tempest ceased a few seconds, and it was natural that one of them, who very wisely looked out of the window, could perceive nothing. Being chilled with dread and apprehension, he forgot to bolt the window; his companions had, from like reasons, neglected to shut the door, and the first gust of wind finding no resistance, threw the window and the door suddenly open, the lights were extinguished, and their disordered fancy effected now, what I perhaps would have attempted in vain, with all my juggling skill. Flashes of lightning illuminated the room, the tremenduous roaring of thunder shook the house, one of the company overturned the table, in his fright, and they really fancied to see a phantom, which only existed in their disordered imagination, harrowed up by fearful apprehensions and superstitious terror. What farther happened I need not tell you."
​"My spies informed me of the departure of the officer, who had resided at the haunted Inn, and of the route he had taken; they likewise apprised me of his return. I hastened to meet him on the road, and the conjuration of the ghost was agreed on."
"Being no stranger to the cowardly disposition of his friends, I apprehended not the least danger from their being present at the experiment, and willingly consented that he should bring with him some of them."
"However, I was very much mistaken, because two of them were gentlemen for whom I was not prepared, and who had been already once deceived by Volkert; yet I did not entirely miss my aim, and the haunted Inn was sold, soon after, to my friend, on very low terms; the simpleton, who had been the owner of it, and who believed still in the reality of the apparition, in spite of what he had seen and heard, when I conjured ​up the the spirit, and in spite of reason and good sense, having no peace nor rest until he had disencumbered himself of the possession of ill-gotten wealth."
"The apparition itself was effected by means of a camera-obscura, in an apartment beneath that where I performed the cheat, some boards in the floor having the night before been sawed through, after we had made a hole in the ceiling of the lower chamber. The boards which covered the opening close to the wall were replaced in such a manner, that they could be removed from below, by means of which, the smoke could ascend from the lower apartment, and represent the picture in the machine—smoke and darkness put the finishing stroke to the deception."
"I left, like your friend, T——— the next morning, with the firm resolution to return no more, apprehending to be delivered up to ​the vengeance of the civil power, in spite of your generosity, and having lost my good character for ever. On my journey I happened to come to the house where you was confined, and felt the highest satisfaction when I had it in my power to make you some atonement for the many wrongs you had suffered by me. My intention was to live here in A———, in solitude and retirement, and to dedicate the rest of my miserable life to repentance, and thus to make my peace with God: But my former lawless companions soon found out my retreat and forced me to renew my crimes, and to assist them in their infernal deeds."
"The crime for which I am confined here you very likely know: All I can say, in order to palliate this last transgression, is, that it is one of the noblest deeds I ever performed, and it would not give me the least uneasiness, if the execution of it had not brought destruction on other people beside myself."
​Here Volkert stopped, fatigued and exhausted by the long narrative: I conversed a good while longer with him on his conjurations, and could not help mentioning, that I was very much surprised that his deceptions could have been kept so concealed, though he had always been obliged to rely on the assistance of other people: To which he replied,
"Your observation is very just, but your surprise will vanish, if you consider, that my assistants in cheating people, bore their share in the frauds I committed, and, of course, would not have escaped punishment, if they had not kept secret all transactions of that nature."
"It is more surprising," added he, "that one is always certain to find people who will lend their assistance in cheating their fellow citizens, and it is almost incredible how willing every one is to assist any im​postor in deceiving others. Yet I do not think that the source of that intriguing disposition, so common among all classes of men, springs from the depravity of human-nature, I rather would attribute it to the pleasure every one feels, when he can prove the superior powers of his genius, which is the head spring that animates us as well to good as to bad actions, and, if guided by a benevolent heart, and good principles, raises us above the common herd, and leads us to honor and glory."
As I rose and was going to leave the prison Volkert squeezed my hand, and said, with a faltering voice,
"To-morrow at this hour I shall be no more; to-morrow, at this hour I shall have seen the Supreme Judge of human kind: I shudder when I think that I must appear before his awful throne; yet there is still one consolation supporting me, one conso​lation that, as yet, has warded off the deadly arrows of despair, and, I trust, will comfort me in my trying hour, and when he who dwelleth in heaven shall speak to me. This consolation, friend, give me leave to call you by that sacred name, this consolation is not the vain groundless expectation that I shall atone for my sins, by suffering the punishment that awaits me; No! If I had a hundred lives to lose, I could not atone for my manifold crimes: This consolation consists in the persuasion that I shall be made a warning example of the dread consequences attending the criminal abuse of the intellectual powers the great ruler of the universe has given us, and that the world will be warned against impostors like myself."
When he had finished I bade him a last farewell, in a faltering accent, and left the unhappy man, who said to me, as I opened the door,
​"Come to-morrow to the place of execution, your presence will give me comfort!"
"I left the prison lost in gloomy thought, and with a bleeding heart. The dismal idea of the awful scene which was to be exhibited the next day, haunted me where ever I went, and I struggled in vain to chase it from my mind: The solemn stillness of the night rather increased than diminished my uneasiness, and sleep entirely fled from my weary eyes. The dawn of the rosy morn cheered the whole creation, but my soul was pierced with horror when the first ray of the rising sun hailed me on my couch.
At length the solemn found of bells announced the approaching hour of execution; I wrapped myself in my cloak, and repaired with trembling steps to the place where Volkert was to atone for his crimes. The streets were crowded with a noisy multitude: Haunted ​by secret awe did I arrive at the place of execution, and horror made my blood run chill as I beheld the dreadful pile, which soon was to reduce to ashes the preserver of my life.
A gaping multitude was standing around, awaiting with cruel insensibility, and with more than beastly satisfaction, the dreadful catastrophe which was to terminate the life of their fellow creatures.
Without recollection was I standing amid the crowd, when, suddenly a confused noise was heard, and every eye directed to one spot: Lifting up my downcast looks, I beheld the funeral procession drawing near with slow solemnity: Volkert was walking in the front with firm and manly steps, followed by his ghastly looking fellow sufferer: The procession stopped at the enclosure, encircling the scaffold, and Volkert's eyes were anxiously looking around; at length he saw me, nodded to me, with a grateful smile, and entered the enclosure.
​His trembling fellow sufferer was first sacrificed by the avenging hand of justice. I cast my eyes to the ground until I perceived by the murmuring noise around, that his sufferings were over. Now I directed again my melancholy looks towards the dread place of execution, and beheld Volkert undressing himself, and approaching with firmness the stool stained with the smoaking blood of his friend. Now he was seated, the sword of the executioner lifted up—now it glittered in the morning sun, ready to strike the fatal blow. I shut my eyes involuntarily—a sudden hollow humming told me that Volkert had conquered. Awful sensations thrilled my palpitating heart, and I forced my way through the gaping multitude without looking once more towards the horrid place where Volkert had expired.
At the city gate I looked back and beheld with horror a thick column of smoke ascending aloft and darkening the pure serene air; ​I could not stand the horrible sight, and hastened to my apartments, determining to leave a place immediately, in which my peace of mind had been so much disturbed.
But being informed that the Captain of the gang would be examined the following day, curiosity got so far the better of my impatience to leave as soon as possible a town where every object recalled to my mind the hapless fate of my preserver, that I resolved to stay one day longer, and very glad I am that I took that resolution: The account this man gave of himself being so singular and remarkable, that I was amply repaid for the melancholy and grief which haunted me with unabating fury, whilst I tarried within the walls of the town where my benefactor had been executed.
"The trial began at six o'clock in the morning, and I took care to be in the town house, before the terrible leader of the rob​bers had made his appearance at the bar. Every one present seemed struck with terror when he entered the hall.
He was of a gigantic make, near seven feet high, his robust limbs corresponding with his extraordinary size; his black and bushy hair covered part of his sun-burnt face, which was disfigured by two gaping scars across his left cheek. His eye, for he had but one left, flashed like lightning when he beheld the dread arbiters of life and death eager to pronounce his doom. The judge exhorted him to speak the truth, and not to aggravate his guilt by stubbornness. However nobody expected that a wretch of his appearance would pay the least regard to gentle admonitions, and perhaps remain silent even under the tortures of the rack. His savage look and lofty mien seemed to betoken an haughty spirit, not easy to be subdued. I at least had entertained not the most distant hope of having my curiosity gratified in so satisfactory a manner as he really did. ​Imagine therefore my astonishment when contrary to all expectation, he began.
"My Lord and Gentlemen,
"I am in your power, and well aware that nothing can avert my impending doom, I scorn the tortures of the rack and bid defiance to every human effort, to force me to a confession of my crimes: You might tear my limbs asunder, and kill me by inches, and yet would never extort a single word from my lips, if I had no other reasons to deal candidly with you. However I will spare you that trouble, and honestly confess my crimes, their origin, and their progress; being strongly persuaded that the history of my life will afford a useful lesson to judges, and teach the guardians of the people to be careful how they inflict punishments if they will not make a complete rogue of many a hapless wretch, who would have been recalled to his duty, and preserved to the human society, by gentle ​treatment: I never should have become a robber, had not the too great severity of the laws made me an enemy to the human race, and hurried me to the brink of black despair. I know my doom is fixed; however, if your heart is no stranger to pit, you will at least not refuse a tear of humanity to a poor unhappy man, who has been dragged by dire fatality into the path of vice, and forced to commit deeds his foul abhors."
Here he stopped. Awful silence swayed around, and my curiosity was harrowed up to the highest degree, when he began nearly in the following strain.
"I am the son of an Inn-keeper at A———, whose name was Wolf, and who died when I had reached my twenty-fourth year. I succeeded him in his business, which being but indifferent, many of my hours were unemployed: Being an only son, I had been spoiled by my parents, who were ​delighted with my wanton pranks and indulged me in every thing. Grown up, girls complained of my impudence when I was but twelve years old; and the boys of the village paid homage to my inventive genius. Nature had not dealt niggardly with me in refpect of bodily endowments; however, an unfortunate kick from a horse disfigured my face in such a manner, that the girls of the village shunned me, and my play-fellows took frequent opportunities to make me an object of their merriment. The more my female acquaintances avoided me, the more the desire of pleasing took root in my heart. As I grew up, I was given to sensuality, and persuaded my self to be in love. The object of my flame treated me with scorn, and I had reason to apprehend that my rivals were more successful than I; however the girl was poor, and I had reason to hope that her heart, which was inaccessible to my vows and prayers, would yield to presents, which ​I knew not how to procure, the small income my business afforded me being entirely swallowed up by the vain efforts I made to render my person less disgusting. Being too much addicted to idleness to exert myself in amending my circumstances, and too ambitious to change my expensive mode of life, I had only one mean left to improve my fortune, which thousands before me had tried with more success."
"The village in which I lived gave me an opportunity of committing depredations on the game, and the money I raised in that way wandered regularly into the hands of my mistress. Robert, a game-keeper to the Lord of the Manor, was one of the admirers of Jenny, which was the name of my paramour; he soon observed the advantage which my presents procured me over him, and being spurred by envy and jealousy, he watched me closely: By degrees he began to retort to the Sun, which ​was the sign of my Inn, more frequently than ever, and his prying eye soon detected the source of my liberal gifts."
"A very rigorous law against game-stealing had been renewed not long before, and Robert was indefatigable to find an opportunity of getting rid of his rival. He succeeded but too soon; I was caught in the very act of shooting a deer, and condemned to be sent to the house of correction: It cost me all my little remaining fortune to buy off that punishment. Robert had gained his aim, and Jenny's heart was lost to me."
"Glowing resentment rankled in my breast and I was determined to be revenged as soon as a proper opportunity should offer. Poverty and want, hunger and despair, tempted me once more to have recourse to game-stealing, and Robert's watchfulness surprised me a second time. Being reduced to the lowest degree of poverty, ​it was not in my power to gild the hands of justice a second time, and I was committed for a whole year to the house of correction in the residence. Every lash of the goaler's whip gave new strength to my resentment, the separation from my mistress increased my passion, and I hastened on the wings of love and revenge to my native place, as soon as I had been set at liberty. I flew to Jenny, but was denied admittance and treated with scorn. The pinching want having subdued my pride and laziness, I offered my services to the rich, in the village, but nobody would employ a fellow who had been imprisoned in the house of correction."
"Pressed by hunger and dire necessity, and foiled in all my attempts at getting an honest livelihood, I renewed my depredations on the game, and was entrapt a third time through Robert's watchfulness. The repeated infringements on the game laws had aggravated my guilt; The judges ​looked into the records of the law, but not into the heart of the transgressor, paid no regard to the plea of want and dire necessity, and sentenced me to have the mark of a gibbet burnt on my back, and to work three years in the fortifications."
"At the close of that term I recovered my liberty a second time, and here begins a new period of my life."
"I was entirely changed, having entered the fortress as a common transgressor, and left it as a consummate villain. I was not entirely divested of all sentiments of honor when I was confined; however the few remaining sparks of ambition were soon extinguished by ignominy, being confined in one room with twenty-three malefactors, two of whom were murderers, and all the rest famous thieves and vagabonds. I was laughed at, when mentioning the name of God, and urged every day to utter blasphemies against our Holy Redeemer! My ​fellow prisoners sung obscene songs to me, which I could not hear without disgust and horror, and committed actions which I could not behold without blushing. Every day new rogueries were related, or wicked designs fabricated.
"At first I avoided the company of that abominable set of wretches as much as possible, hiding myself in the remotest corners of the prison; however, I wanted a companion in my solitude and the cruelty of my goaler had refused me even the poor consolation of taking my dog with me. My labour was hard and my health declining: I wanted assistance, and, to be sincere with you, I was in need of comfort, which, scanty as it was, I could not obtain without sacrificing the last remains of my conscience."
"Thus I used myself by degrees to hear without disgust, the most horrid language, and to behold without aversion, and at ​length with secret pleasure, the most shocking actions; before the termination of my confinement I was superior in wickedness to my instructors in villany, and began to thirst with increasing impatience for liberty and revenge: I hated the whole human race, because every one of my fellow creatures was either happier or less wicked than myself; I fancied to be a martyr to the natural rights of man, and a victim of glaring injustice. I rubbed my chains against the wall in a fit of frenzy, grinding my teeth when the sun was rising behind the rock on which the fortress stood, and experienced with unutterable agony, what a hell an extensive view creates in the bosom of a prisoner."
"The free air whistling through the iron grates of my window, and the swallow perching on the massy bars, seemed to mock me with their liberty, and rendered my imprisonment more hateful and horrid to me. Seized with the burning fangs of ​despair, I vowed unrelenting and burning revenge to the whole human race, and have been as good as my word."
"The first idea which rushed upon my mind as soon as I saw myself at liberty, was that of my native village. I had indeed not the least glimmering of hope to meet there with the smallest assistance in my distress; however I entertained sanguine hopes to glut my revenge, which gave wings to my steps. My heart beat violently when my impatient eye beheld the steeple of the village; however, it was not that sweet satisfaction which I had felt on my first pilgrimage, which was now heaving in my bosom. The recollection of all the misfortunes and cruel persecutions I once had suffered there awakened me suddenly from a kind of stupefaction; all my wounds began to bleed anew: I quickened my steps, anticipating the pleasure it would afford me to strike my enemies with terror by my sudden appearance, and to feast my ​eyes on the pangs of the devoted victims of my vengeance."
"The bells were ringing to summon the inhabitants to the church when I made my appearance in the market-place: I was soon known by the inhabitants, who were going to church, and every one who met me started back at the sight of me. Having always been very fond of children, I could not resist the involuntary impulse of giving a penny to a boy who was skiping by; he stared at me for a moment and then threw the money in my face. If my blood had not been heated so much, I should have recollected that my long and burly beard had frightened the poor boy; however, my polluted heart had infected my reason, and tears, which I never had shed in my life, were trickling down my cheeks."
"The boy does not know who I am, nor whence I came, said I, half loud to myself, ​and yet he avoids me like a wild ferocious beast: Is my black heart marked on my brow, or have I ceased resembling a human being, because I am sensible that I hate all human kind? The contempt of that boy grieved me more than my long imprisonment, because I had treated him kindly, and could not accuse him of peronal hatred."
"I seated myself on a large stone opposite the church: What intention I had I do not know, however I remember very well that I rose up in a fit of burning rage when I saw that all my former acquaintances passed by with visible contempt, and scarcely deigned to look at me."
"I left my station in an agony of vexation, to find out a lodging, and as I was turning round the corner of a street I met my Jenny. 'My dear Wolf,' she exclaimed, and offered to embrace me, 'God be praised that you are returned at last; ​I have shed many a bitter tear during your absence!' Hunger and misery were marked in her face, and I beheld with horror that she was infected with an ignominious illness: Her tattered raiment and her whole appearance told me plainly what a miserable wretch she was. I soon guessed the origin of her abject situation, concluding by the sight of some dragoons that soldiers had been quartered in the village. 'Soldier's strumpet!" I exclaimed, and turned my back to her with an exulting laughter. It gave me some satisfaction to see her infidelity rewarded in so shocking a manner. I never had loved her sincerely."
"My mother was dead, and my house had been sold for the benefit of the creditors: I had no friend, no money, except a few groats; every body fled me like a mad dog, however I was dead to shame and disgrace. After my first imprisonment I had shunned all human society, because ​I could not stand the contempt I met with every where. Now I intruded upon them, and it afforded me a malicious satisfaction to drive them away by my appearance: It gave me a pleasure, because I had nothing farther to lose, and nobody to care for; I had no farther occasion for the least good quality, because nobody believed I had one left; the whole world was open to me, and perhaps I should have been able to recover the character of an honest man in a distant province, however I had no courage to assume even the mask of honesty; despair and disgrace had forced these sentiments upon me, and I persuaded myself that every sense of honor was useless to me, since I had no claim to the smallest share of it. If my vanity and pride had maintained their dominion over me, I certainly should have put an end to my existence; I did not know myself what my intentions were, I wanted to do mischief so much I knew: I wished to deserve my ​fate. 'The laws,' said I to myself, 'are the guardians of human happiness, and therefore I will do whatever is in my power to subvert them. Necessity and thoughtlessness had once compelled me to sin, but now I did it voluntarily because it gave me pleasure."
"I had again recourse to game-stealing, for hunting had always been my chief passion, and life called for support: But this was not the sole motive which prompted me to reassume my former favorite occupation; the desire of bidding defiance to the laws and to infringe the prerogatives of the prince was an additional impulse; I had no apprehension of being taken up once more, for now I had a ball in readiness to stop the mouth of my informer, and was sure I could not miss my aim."
"I killed all the deer which came in my way, selling only a few pieces on the frontiers, the remainder I left behind to ​rot. I lived very sparing in order to be able to afford the expences for powder and shot. My depredations and the havoc I made in the forest, caused a great alarm, but nobody suspected me, my miserable appearance screened me, from suspicion and my name was forgotten."
"This mode of life I continued for several months without being detected. One morning I was rambling through the forest pursuing the traces of a deer. Having hunted without success two tedious hours, I began to give up every hope of coming at my prey, when I saw it at once within the reach of my gun. I took my aim and was going to fire, but started suddenly back, when I saw a hat upon the ground not far from me. I looked around with great circumspection and beheld Robert, the game-keeper, standing behind the trunk of an oak, and aiming at the same deer which I intended to kill. My blood froze ​in my veins as I beheld the author of all my misfortunes; and this very man whom I hated most among the whole human race, was within reach of my fusee: Infernal joy thrilled my whole frame, I would not have exchanged my gun for the universe; the burning revenge which 'till then had been rankling in my bosom, rose up into my finger's end, which was going to put an end to my adversary's life; however an invisible hand seemed to retain my arm to prevent the horrid deed: I trembled violently as I directed my gun against my foe—a chilly sweat bedewed my face—my teeth began to chatter, as if a fever frost had seized my frame—methought I felt the icy fang of death upon my heart, and every nerve was quivering."
"I hesitated a minute—one more elapsed—and now a third. Revenge and conscience were struggling violently for victory—the former gained and Robert lay weltering in his blood!———"
​My gun dropped on the ground when Robert fell—Murderer, stammered I with quivering lips—the forest was as silent as a church-yard, and I heard distinctly the word murderer. Creeping nearer to the spot where my enemy was swimming in his blood, I saw him just expire. I stood a dreadful minute of grisly horror before my murdered foe, as if petrified—a yelling laughter restored me to the use of my senses: 'Wilt thou any more tell tales, good friend,' said I, stepping boldly nearer, and turning him upon his back. His eyes were wide open, I grew serious, and every power of utterance fled; strange and horrid sensations chilled my heart."
"'Till then I had been a transgressor of the laws on the score of the disgrace I had suffered, but now I had perpetrated a deed for which I had not yet atoned. An hour before that horrid action, no man living would have been able to persuade me that there was a more abject being upon earth ​than myself, but now I began to fancy that I had been enviable an hour ago."
"Not the most distant idea of God's judgments came in my mind, however I had a confused notion of halter and gibbet, and of the execution of a murderer which I had witnessed when a boy. The idea of having forfeited my life froze my very soul with dreadful fear: I wished ardently that it might be in my power to restore to life my slain enemy, and racked my brain to recall to my recollection all the injuries he had made me suffer, but, strange to tell, my memory seemed to be entirely extinguished, I could not recall a shadow of all the ideas, which, but a quarter of an hour ago had filled my soul with glowing revenge; I could not conceive how I could commit such a horrid deed."
"I was still standing by the corpse in a kind of stupefaction, when I was roused ​from my desponding reverie by the cracking of whips, and the creeking of waggons on the high road, which was about a mile distant from the spot where I then was."
"I went mechanically deeper into the forest, and, recollecting on the way that Robert had been used to wear a watch, I wished to get it in my possession. I wanted money to reach the frontier, and yet I had no courage to return to the place where the corpse lay, the idea of the devil and the omnipresence of God rushing suddenly on my mind. I struggled a few moments, and having summoned all my boldness, determined to go back and fetch the watch in defiance of God and the devil."
"I found what I had expected, and in a green purse a little more than a dollar, siiver coin: As I was going to put both in my pocket, I started suddenly back and considered whether I should take it or ​not. It was no fit of shame, nor was it fear to aggravate my crime through robbery; it was rather scorn, which prompted me to fling the watch upon the ground, and to take only one half of the money. I wanted to be thought an enemy of the game-keeper but not his robber."
"Now I fled deeper into the forest. I knew that it extended itself four German miles towards the north, where the frontiers of the country began. I fled on the wings of fear 'till noon; the swiftness of my flight had dispelled the agony of my conscience; however, it returned With redoubled violence as my strength began to be exhausted; a thousand grisly phantoms tortured my fancy, and filled my soul with dreadful bodings. I had no other choice but either to put an end to my wretched existence, or to drag on a life embittered by a continual fear of dying under the ​hand of the executioner: I had not the courage to rid myself of a painful existence, and shuddered at the idea of leading a life of never ceasing torments."
"Hemmed in between the certain tortures of life and the uncertain horrors of eternity, equally averse to life and to death, I finished the sixth hour of my flight, an hour abounding with agonies, which no living man can form an idea of."
"Gloomy and slow I had pursued a narrow foot-path, which led through the darkest thicket, when suddenly a rough commanding voice ordered me to stop. The voice was not far off; agony and the horrors of despair, which had assumed their dreadful sway over me, had made me entirely regardless to the objects around me, my eyes were cast to the ground, and I had covered part of my face with my hat, as if that could have hidden me from the eye ​of the lifeless creation. Starting and lifting up my eyes, I saw a savage looking man coming towards me: He was armed with an enormous club, his figure was of a monstrous size, my first surprise at least had made me think so, and the colour of his face was of the mulatto hue, which gave to the white of a squinting eye additional terrors. Instead of a girdle he had his green buttonless great coat tied with a thick cord, to which an enormous knife and a brace of pistols were fastened. I had quickened my steps when his terrible voice assailed my ears, but he soon came up with me and stopped me with a powerful arm. The sound of a human voice had filled my soul with terror, however, the sight of a ruffian raised my spirits: In my miserable situation I had full reason to tremble at the sight of an honest man, but none at all at that of a robber."
"Who art thou?" thundered the frightful apparition in my ear."
​"Thy equal," was my reply, "if thou really art what thy appearance bespeaks."
"This is not the right way. What business hast thou here?"
"And what right hast thou to question me?" I replied in a determined accent."
"The terrible man measured me with his looks from tip to toe: He seemed to compare my haughty answer with my defenceless situation-"Thou art impudent like a beggar," he resumed at length."
"Very possible, I have been one but yesterday."
"He laughed, exclaiming with a horrid grin, "My honest friend, I hope thou doest not presume to be thought something better."
​"That is nothing to thee," so saying I wanted to pursue my way."
"Fairly and softly, my dear boy, why in such a hurry? What weighty business is it which makes thee run so fast?"
"I mused a moment, and cannot conceive what prompted me to reply in a slow accent, "life is short and hell everlasting."
"He stared at me with a ghastly look, "I will be damned," he resumed at length, if thou hast not stumbled against a gallows on thy way."
"It may come to that one time, farewell, comrade."
"Stay a moment longer," he exclaimed, "taking a tin bottle from his hunting pouch and offering it to me after he had swallowed a large draught: The hurry of my fright ​and the dreadful agonies of mind I had undergone had reduced my strength very low, and my parched lips had not been moistened with one refreshing draught that whole unfortunate day. Famine had already stared me horribly in the face, in that extensive forest, where three miles around no refreshment could be procured, you may therefore easily think how joyfully I accepted this offer. I swallowed greedily the contents of the bottle, and new strength animated my whole frame, my heart was expanded with new courage, and hope and love for life returned in my desponding heart; I began to fancy that I was not wholly miserable; so much relief afforded me that welcome draught, and I must confess that my situation began to appear less dreadful to me, since I, after a thousand miscarried hopes, had found at last a being that bore some resemblance with me. In the desponding situation in which I was, I would not have hesitated to ​pledge the health of an infernal spirit, in order to have a confidant."
"Meanwhile my new companion had stretched himself upon the grass, and I followed his example."
"Thy brandy has given me new life," said I, "we must be better acquainted with each other."
"He struck fire and lighted his pipe."
"Is it long since thou hast carried on this trade?"
"He stared at me—"What means that question?"
"I took the knife from his girdle, resuming, "Has this instrument done much execution."
​"Who art thou?" he roared in a terrible accent, flinging his pipe on the grass and starting up."
"A murderer like thyself—but only a beginner."
"He gazed at me and took up his pipe."
"Thou art no inhabitant of these districts," he resumed, at length."
"I am; hast thou heard of Wolf, the innkeeper, at A———?"
"He started up as if frantic, exclaiming in a rapturous accent, 'Wolf the inn-keeper, who has been punished so severely for game-stealing?"
"That very man I am."
"Welcome, comrade, a thousand times welcome!' he exclaimed, shaking me joy​fully by the hand, 'how glad am I that I have found thee at last, I have been many many months in search of thee; I know thee very well, know all what thou hast suffered, and have been longing for thy assistance this great while."
"For my assistance? To what purpose?"
"Every body speaks of thee: Thou hast many enemies, hast suffered glaring injuries, hast been entirely ruined and persecuted with unheard of severity.'—He grew warm.—'They have immured thee in the house of correction, have treated thee like a galley-slave at the fortress, have stripped thee of thy fortune, and reduced thee to beggary, because thou hast killed a few paltry deer, which the Prince suffers to prey on our corn, and to rob us of the fruit of our diligence. Is it come to that, brother, that a human being is valued less than a hare or a boar? Are we not better than ​the wild beasts of the field? And a fellow like thyself could brook such injury."
"What could I do?"
"That we shall see: But pray tell me, whence dost thou come, and on what errand?"
"I related my whole history to him, and, without awaiting the end of it he jumped up with joyful impatience, pulling me after him with all his might."
"Come along, brother,' he said, 'now art thou ripe, art the very man I wanted for my purpose. I shall reap great honor by introducing thee to our common wealth. Make haste and follow me."
"Whither art thou going to conduct me?"
​"Don't ask questions but come and see;" so saying, he dragged me forcibly after him."
"As we proceeded the forest grew more and more intricated, impenetrable and gloomy: None of us spoke a word until I was suddenly roused from my apathy by the whistle of my leader: I looked around and beheld myself at the declivity of a steep rock, projecting over a deep cavern. A second whistle answered from the womb of the rock, and a ladder rose slowly from the abyss, a thundering voice hallooed from the deep, and the winding cavern echoed to the sound. My leader descended, first bidding me to wait 'till he should return. 'I first must secure the mastiff which guards the entrance to our abode,' he said, 'thou art a stranger, and the ferocious beast would tear thee to pieces.'—So saying, he disappeared."
​"Now I was standing alone before the precipice, and was well aware of it. The imprudence of my leader did not escape my notice: It would have cost me no more but a resolute effort to pull up the ladder, and I would have been restored to liberty, and effected my escape without the least danger of being overtaken by the inhabitants of the cavern; I cannot but confess that I had some temptation to do it: Looking down into the abyss I was struck with an obscure idea of the bottomless gulph of hell, from whence there is no redemption to be expected. I began to shudder at the new course of life which I was going to commence. A sudden flight only could have saved me. I was half determined to effect my escape, and already stretching out my hand to pull up the ladder, when suddenly I fancied to hear a thundering voice as if from the womb of hell, 'What has a murderer to risk?' and my arm lost its hold, and every power ​of motion. My doom was fixed, the time of repentance past, and the murder I had committed was towering behind me like a mountain shutting up for ever my return to the path of virtue."
"My leader reappeared the same moment, bidding me descend into the cavern. I had now no other choice left but to submit to necessity, and climbed down. Having advanced a few steps under the excavated rock, our passage grew larger, and I beheld some huts at a distance, and as I approached nearer, a round spot covered with grass appeared to my view. About twenty people were sitting round a blazing fire. 'Here,' my leader exclaimed, 'here I bring you a new member of our society, whose name is not unknown to you, rise and welcome the celebrated Wolf, of A———."
"Wolf, they all exclaimed with one voice, starting up and forming a circle around me, men, women and children: ​Their joy was unfeigned and cordial; confidence and even respect was marked in their looks; one squeezed my hand, the other clapt me on the shoulder, in a confidential manner; all seemed sincerely rejoiced at seeing me, and the scene was not unlike the meeting again of an old beloved acquaintance."
"My arrival had interrupted their dinner, they retook their seats and pressed me to partake of their inviting meal, which consisted of venison of all kind and stewed fruits. The goblet filled with delicious wine wandered from hand to hand, and spread merriment and joviality around; plenty and concord seemed to reign in that little society, and every one strove to manifest his joy at my presence."
"I was seated between two females which was the place of honor at table, and having expected to meet with the refuse of their sex, how great was my astonishment ​when I found amid this gang of robbers the most beautiful female figures my eyes ever beheld. Margaret, the eldest and handsomest of the two, was called Miss, and could not be much above eighteen; her language was very licentious, and her looks still more so. Maria, the youngest, was married, but had run away from a husband who had treated her ill; her form was superior to that of my other neighbour, however she was pale and of a delicate constitution, and in the whole less striking at first sight than the lively Margaret. They seemed to rival who first should kindle my desires; the beautiful Margaret strove to dispel my timidity by wanton jokes, however I soon conceived an invincible dislike to that woman, and the modest Maria fettered my heart for ever."
"You see, brother,' said the man who had been my conductor to that place, 'you see how we live here, and every day passes like the present: Is it not true, comrades?' ​"Yes, every day passes like the present,' the whole gang exclaimed."
"If therefore you think you can accustom yourself to our manner of life, then stay with us and be our captain: Do you consent to it, comrades?"
"An unanimous yes rent the air."
"My imagination was fired with wine and loose desires, my reason fettered, and my blood heated: Human society had banished me—and there I found brotherly affection, good living and honor. Whatever might have been my choice, I could not escape the hand of punishing justice; however, in a situation like that which was offered me, I could at least sell my life dear: Voluptuousness was my ruling passion, and I had 'till then always been treated with scorn and contempt by the other sex, but here I could expect to satisfy my ​desires, and to be received with pleasure: My resolution cost me but very little, and I exclaimed, after a moment's consideration, I will stay with you, comrades, if you will cede to me my beautiful neighbour."
"All of them agreed to content to my request, and I became unexpectedly the avowed possessor of a w———e, and the chief of a gang of robbers!"
"To be revenged on the prince, in whose dominions I had suffered so much disgrace, was the chief desire of my heart, and to effect that purpose the first use I made of my new acquired authority. Our gang consisted in eight stout fellows besides myself, the rest was composed of women and children: My new associates had contented themselves 'till I was joined to their society, with clandestine depredations in the pantries and cellars of the rich peasants, and game-stealing, and never had recourse ​to violent means. My views went farther: I proposed to declare open war against the game, which had brought on my disgrace and ruin, and to rob the houses of the judges who had punished me so severely."
"To effect our purpose we wanted horses, The frontiers, where the dominions of my former sovereign terminated, being three miles distant. By means of house-breaking and some highway robberies we soon got possession of a sufficient sum of money, with which we dispatched one of our associates to a distant town to buy four horses, fire arms, powder and ball. The houses of the hated judges were pillaged in a tempestuous night, and whenever the face of the earth was covered with midnight darkness, we rallied forth from our den to destroy the game in those parts where my misfortunes had commenced, and I took care to let my persecutors know that it ​was Wolf who committed these depredations."
"Meeting with success in our nocturnal rambles our temerity increased, and we way-laid the traveller on the high road, however I took great care not to perpetrate a second murder. The terror of my name soon spread itself all over the country, and the neighbouring magistrates tried every means to get me in their power; a great reward was promised to him who should take me, dead or alive, and, if one of my associates, a full pardon; however, I was so fortunate to elude the watchfulness of my pursuers for a considerable time, and to frustrate every attempt on my liberty."
"I had carried on this infernal trade a whole year, when I began to be tired of it. The gang, whose leader I was, having disappointed my sanguine hopes, I soon perceived, with terror, how much my fancy, heated by wine and loose desires, had been ​imposed upon, when I consented to become the captain of my associates. Hunger and want frequently supplied the place of superfluity and ease, which I had expected, and I was necessitated many a time to risk my life in order to procure a scanty meal, which hardly sufficed to appease the violent cravings of my empty stomach. The visionary image of brotherly concord disappeared, and envy, suspicion, and jealousy stepped in its place, loosening the ties of our society; the solemn promise of a full pardon to him who should deliver me into the hands of justice, was a powerful temptation to lawless robbers, and I was well aware of the dangers which surrounded me. I became a stranger to sleep, a victim to never ceasing apprehensions; the phantom of suspicion pursued me every where, tormented me when awake, laid down with me upon my couch, and created frightful dreams, when my weary eyes were now and then closed by the hand of slumber. ​My conscience, which had been lulled asleep, recovered its power by degrees, and the sleeping viper of remorse was roused by the general tempest which was raging within my breast; the hatred I bore the human race turned its dagger against myself—I was reconciled to human kind, and cursed nobody but myself: The dreadful consequences of vice stared me grisly in the face, and my natural good sense dispelled at length the delusions which had led me astray from the blessed path of virtue; I felt how deep I had fallen, and gloomy melancholy stepped in the place of gnashing despair: I wished, with weeping eyes, to have it in my power to recall the times past, and was convinced that I would make a better use of the hours I had dedicated to the vile service of gilt; I began to hope that I yet would reform, being sensible that I should be able to effect a reform. On the highest summit of depravity I was more inclined to tread in the ​steps of virtue, than before I had commited the first lawless deed."
"A war had broken out in Germany at that time, and recruits were raising every where, which gave me some hopes to retreat in an honorable manner from my associates, and turn a useful member of human society: I wrote a letter to my prince, the copy of which you will find in my pocket book."
"The letter was produced and read by the clerk, the purport of it ran, as much as I can remember, as follows:"
"If your Highness does not think it beneath your dignity to condescend to a viilain like myself, if a criminal of my atrocity is not entirely excluded from your mercy, O then do not reject the humble petition of a repenting sinner—I am a mur​derer and robber, have forfeited my life, and am pursued by the avenging hand of justice, I will deliver myself into the hand of the executive power—but I, at the same time, am going to lay a very strange prayer at the feet of your throne: I detest life and do not fear to die, it would however be dreadful to me to die, without having lived. I wish to live, in order to repair my crimes past, and to make my peace with human society, which I have offended. My execution will be a warning example to the world, but not atone for my wicked deeds; I hate vice, and have a strong desire to try the path of honesty and virtue; I have shewn great capacities to become a terror to the state, and I flatter myself that I yet have some abilities to render services to the country which I have injured."
"I am well aware that I supplicate for something quite uncommon: My life being forfeited, it does not become me to propose conditions to punishing justice; ​however, I am not yet chained in fetters, am yet at liberty, and fear has the least share in my prayer."
"It is mercy that I crave, and if I had some claim to justice I would not attempt now to enforce it; yet there is one circumstance which I have reason to recall to the recollection of my judges. The period of my crimes commences with that rigorous sentence which has deprived me of my honor. If my judges had not been too severe, if they had listened to the voice of equity and humanity, I should perhaps not have been reduced to the necessity of craving the mercy of your Highness—their want of feeling has plunged me in the fatal gulph of guilt."
"Let mercy supply the place of justice and spare my life, if it is in your power to intercede with the law in my behalf, the remainder of my life shall be entirely devoted to your service: If you can grant my ​humble prayer let me know it by way of the public prints, and I will throw myself at your feet, confiding in your princely word; if not, then justice may proceed as it shall be deemed proper, and I must act as necessity shall require."
"This petition," thus resumed the delinquent, "was not taken notice of, as well as a second and third, and having not the least glimmering of hope left, to be pardoned, I took the resolution to leave the country, and to die in the service of the King of Prussia as a brave soldier."
"I gave my gang the slip, and began my journey. My road led me through a small country town, where I intended to stay the night: A few weeks ago a proclamation had been published through the whole country, commanding a strict examination of every traveller, because the Prince had taken a party in the war, as a member of the German Empire. The ​gate-keeper of the town which I was going to enter was sitting upon a bench before his house as I rode by; my forbiding countenance and motly dress raised his suspicion, and as soon as I had entered the gate he shut it and demanded my passport, after he had first secured the bridle of my horse. I was prepared for accidents of that sort, having provided myself with a passport, which I had taken from a merchant whom I had robbed. However this testimony would not satisfy the eagle-eyed gate-keeper, my physiognomy being in contradiction with it, and I was obliged to follow him to the bailiff's house: He ordered me to await his return at the door."
"The passport was examined, and meanwhile a rabble began to assemble around me, attracted by my strange figure; a whispering arose among the multitude and some of the crowd were pointing alternately at me and my horse; the latter having been stolen by one of my former associates, my conscience gave the alarm. ​The gate-keeper returned with the passport, and told me, that the bailiff understanding that I came from the seat of the war, would be glad to have half an hour's conversation with me, and to get some information of the situation of our army. This message increased my apprehension of being known, and fearing the invitation of the bailiff to be a snare to get me in his power without resistance, I clapt spurs to my horse without returning an answer."
"My sudden flight gave the signal to an universal hue and cry; a thief! a thief! exclaimed the whole multitude, pursuing me with all possible speed: The iron-hand of punishing vengeance seemed ready to grasp me, my life was at stake, and I redoubled the swiftness of my flight, goading the sides of my horse without mercy."
"My pursuers were soon far behind me, panting for breath, and liberty promised to ​gladden my heart again, when the fleetness of my flight was suddenly stopt by a dead wall. My pursuers gave a loud shout when they saw me entrapt, and I had given over every hope of effecting my escape, when a sudden thought struck me, that the wall might be the city wall, and that perhaps I would regain my liberty through a window of one of the houses on the bottom of the street. The door of that on the left side was open, I jumped from my horse, and entered it with a pistol in each hand, bolting the door after me, and hastening up stairs without being seen by any one of the inhabitants. My pursuers were close at my heels, and thundered at the door when I was rushing into a room where nobody was but an old woman: Seeing a man with a brace of pistols, terror fettered her tongue, and she fell in a swoon. I opened the window, and, imagine my joy, when the open field hailed my anxious looks; I bolted the door, ​placed chairs and tables against it, threw the bed out of the window, and concealed myself in the chimney to await there the setting in of night."
"This was the work of a few moments, and I was safely housed in my hiding place when the door was forced open with a thundering noise. My calculations had not deceived me, and my plan succeeded as well as I could expect it. My pursuers seeing the window open, and the feather-bed lying in the field, believed firmly I had effected my escape: Some young men jumped boldly down, and others went to pursue me on horseback; the old woman who could tell no tales, was carried to another part of the house, and I was left alone to muse on my awkward situation."
"Soon after the owner of the house came into the room with some of his neighbours, and confirmed by his discourses my hope, that nobody suspected my hiding-place. ​One of the company thought I might be concealed under the bed, but his idea of my still being in the house was, to my inexpressible satisfaction, treated with ridicule. At length my situation became extremely painful to me, and I wished fervently my unwelcome visitors might be gone."
"After two tedious hours I was at length released of my fear to be detected by some unforeseen accident, when the landlord and his friends left also the room where I was hidden. As soon as the coast was clear, and the tranquillity of the house restored, I climbed higher up into the chimney with the intention to get upon the roof; however, on maturer consideration I thought it safer to remain where I was, hearing many voices in the field, which made me afraid of being detected."
"The time crept slowly on, and I thought the wished-for hour of midnight would never set in: Hunger and thirst increased ​the horrors of my situation, and that ever watchful remembrancer of the mortal race, conscience, began to remind me of my wickedness, and the punishments of never sleeping justice, which sooner or later would overtake me: My resolution of leaving the path of vice acquired new strength, and I vowed fervently never to sin again if I should escape once more."
"Amidst these salutary meditations and resolutions night began to set in, and I breathed freer. At length the feather-bed was brought back, but nobody came to sleep in it that night, and the room remained unoccupied."
"As soon as midnight silence announced to me that every body was gone to rest, I slided softly down the chimney, tore one of the bed sheets and twisted it in a line to make use of it in getting into the field. No sooner had I touched the ground than I took to my heels to reach, before day​break, the Black Forest, which I knew was only two miles distant, being well aware that the whole country would be in a hue and cry after me as soon as my nocturnal escape should be known. Fear gave me strength and winged my feet: Fatigued and entirely spent I reached the skirts of the Black Forest, and threw myself into the first thicket to rest my weary limbs."
"Fatigued by the long journey I had made and the anxiety and fear which continually had harrassed my mind, I fell asleep: I had not slept two hours, as I could guess by the sun, when I was suddenly roused by the distant barking of dogs; I started up and listened, when the hallooing of two huntsmen vibrated in my ear: They seemed to direct their course towards the spot where I was concealed, and no other means of escape were left me, but to climb up an adjoining oak tree, and to hide myself amid its thickest branches, where I fancied to find security."
​"However all my fears and apprehensions returned with redoubled force, when the dogs came to the tree which sheltered me and began to bark in a terrible manner; the hunters were close at their heels, but seeing no game, they recalled my new persecutors and pursued their way. Fear of falling into the hands of my enemies obliged me to remain where I was until the dark mantle of night should cover once more my flight."
"Hunger and thirst had hardly left me sufficient strength to keep my situation any longer, when I, to my inexpressible joy, espied the nest of a raven in the top of a tree, and six eggs in it. This unexpeaed relief gave me new strength, new life, new hope, and I awaited with patience the setting in of night, when I got down, pursuing my way through the forest."
​"The night was dark, and a rising tempest shook the tops of the lofty oaks: The distant lightning and the hollow voice of the thunder announced a dreadful night. The thunder soon began to shake the firmament, flashes of lightning illuminated, by intervals, the dark and dreary forest, and to increase the miseries of my situation, a storm of rain gushed down with such violence as if all the flood-gates of heaven had been opened at once. I sought shelter beneath an antient oak, but, alas! a flash of lightning which shivered to atoms a lofty beech tree, not above fifty paces from the spot where I was standing, made me soon quit my dangerous asylum, and drove me to an open spot where I was exposed to all the violence of the storm: I was soon wet to the skin; my teeth began to chatter, and all my little courage fled on the wings of despondency."
"I had stood the fury of the elements two horrid dreadful hours, no sound was heard ​but the screech of the owl, the croaking of the raven, the roaring of thunder, and the howling of furious winds: midnight was past, and the hurricane still raged with unabated fury: My wounded conscience brought all my crimes to my recollection, I fancied the day of judgment was near, and was seized with a violent trembling. My tortured soul divined a thousand horrid thoughts, and I vowed fervently to pursue the steps of virtue."
"My whole frame shaking with cold I began to run without knowing whither I was directing my course, in order to warm my blood, which was almost chilled, when suddenly the ground gave way beneath my feet, and I fell into a deep pit. My fall was violent, however I received no other hurt except a few bruises, my coat being entangled in the roots of a tree about four yards from the bottom of my subterraneous dungeon: I strove to climb up the ​wall, which appeared to be horizontal, but all my endeavours were fruitless, and the dreadful spectre of famine stared me grisly in the face: I sat down upon the damp ground and began to muse on my forlorn situation, when a sudden flash of vivid lightning illuminated my prison, and disclosed to my eyes a narrow passage; I groped along the winding passage with fearful steps, not knowing whether it would lead me upwards or downwards."
"I had walked above half an hour and not yet found an outlet, the little hope I had to extricate myself from my subterraneous dungeon began to die away by degrees, and seemed to be entirely frustrated, when a massy iron door suddenly obstructed my way: I exerted all my little remaining strength to force it open, however the impenetrable darkness which surrounded me rendered all my labors abortive: The punishment of my crimes seemed to be arrived, and I sunk down upon ​the damp ground in a fit of despair entirely spent, and incapable to attempt any farther efforts to open the fatal door; cold drops of sweat bedewed my wearied limbs, and I began, the first time in my life, fervently to pray."
"At length a thought struck me, that perhaps the flash of the powder would disclose to me an outlet, if I was to fire a pistol. I hastily took one, out of my pocket and discharged it; my hope had not deceived me entirely, and I beheld another passage to the left, which I instantly pursued with alacrity. 'Ere long I came to a second iron door, which however soon yielded to my efforts to open it, and let me into a spacious vault."
"Having groped about half an hour longer I was thrilled with unutterable joy when I discovered, after many fruitless researches, a narrow staircase, which led me into a roomy hall, faintly illuminated by the rays ​of the moon, who was peeping through the lofty windows, composed of stained glass."
"Here the robber gave a full description of the Haunted Castle, on the skirts of the Black Forest, which you, my dear friend, know too well to require a repetition of the faithful picture he drew."
"Having explored every corner of the antient fabric," thus he continued, "without meeting a living soul, I descended into a spacious court-yard, from whence a lofty gate-way led me into the open field. The dawn of morn began to break in the East from the purple clouds, and I heard the crowing of cocks within a small distance. He only who has been in a situation like mine can form an idea of the rapture which rushed on my soul when I perceived myself to be so near an inhabited spot."
​"Quickening my tottering steps I saw two country wenches with baskets on their heads coming from the adjacent village, which seemed to be not above a quarter of a mile distant: I was just going to enquire of them the name of the village, when both of them raised a dreadful scream, running back as fast as possible. Being desirous to know, previous to my entrance into the village, where I was, lest I might unknowingly run into the hands of my pursuers; I summoned up all the few remains of strength, which hunger and fatigue had left me, in order to come up with them, but when the frightened girls perceived me close at their heels, they threw down their baskets, and fled with the swiftness of an arrow."
"Fearing to be known, and apprehending the wenches would alarm the village, I was obliged to desist from my pursuit, and to seek a hiding-place 'till I should be able ​to continue my journey, for I found it utterly impossible to advance a mile farther. No place promising a safer asylum than the desolated castle, I resolved to return, but previously to examine the baskets the girls had dropt, whether they might not contain some victuals to appease the pinching hunger which tormented me."
"It seemed they had been on their way to the market, their baskets containing some lumps of butter, two earthen jars with milk, some small cheeses, and two large pieces of coarse bread. The milk, which was not all run out of the earthen vessels, quenched my thirst, and the bread and cheese I took with me to the castle to satisfy the pressing demands of my stomach."
"On my arrival in the great hall of the castle I struck fire with the help of a steel I had in my pocket; and the flint of one of my pistols, and soon was seated by the ​blazing flame drying my wet garments and appeasing my hunger. Casting my looks accidentally on my hands, I saw that they were as black as those of a coal-heaver, from the foot of the chimney where I had sheltered myself against the first onset of my pursuers, and having every reason to believe that my face must be of the same hue, I easily could account for the sudden flight of the two girls, who, very likely took me for the devil: This idea silenced my fears of a visit from the alarmed villagers tolerably, and the soothing hand of sleep began to close my eyes."
Thus far the captain of the robbers had related his extraordinary tale, when the chief Justice commending the apparent sincerity of his voluntary confession, broke up the court, ordering the prisoner to be reconducted to his dungeon until the day following, when he would hear the continuation of his adventures.
​My business not allowing me to stay a day longer, I departed reluctantly at four o'clock in the afternoon: However, before I left N——— I obtained the promise of a friend of mine whom I accidentally had met, that he would send me the continuation of the robber's farther confession, and four weeks after I received the following letter, which contains every thing you may with to know.