Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-09-15
EVENING STAR.
THE DEVILS LADDER
BY LEITCH RICHIE

| The lord of an ancient castle, il seems. O,
which there are now only some scanty ruins
| left, was of a churlish disposition; and one
night in particular-it was q dark and stormy
night-turned away from his door ga little old
man, who implored shelter. The next day
this lords young and lovely daughter was
missing; and in the afternoon the wretched
father saw her clearly from his castle window
standing on the inaccessible heights of the
Hederck He knew now, of course, with
whom be had to deal the evening before-one
| OF the gnomes Of the mountain and set 20
work to strew his bread and aims, and to
curse and to pray, and to make vows and lad
ders. All was in vain.
-Four years after, when young knight, re-
turned from the wars of Hungary, was wan
dering among the rocks of the mountain,
dreaming of the fate of G Garlinda, who was by
| this time the heroine Of the popular songs, be
saw an old man in situation Of singular dam
| ger. The wretch was far above the knight g
head, lying on the very brink of a rock, and
fast asleep Every now and then q twist of
his limbs brought him nearer the edge; he
was evidently in the midst of a dream and
| In another moment be would undoubtedly roll
into gulf, where he must be a dead man
long before he reached the bottom. To shout
would only hasten his fate and the generous
knight, with extraordinary hazard to his neck,
climbed up the rock to his rescue.
lie had just grasped the unfortunate being
by tho collar, when the latter awakened, and
perhaps terrified by the touch, sprang over
| the cliff ! He struck, however, on a projecting
point of the rock, and clung on with death
| grip The knight, horror struck, risked every
| thing to repair the mischief he had done. He
followed, but more cautiously; and would
have succeeded this time in saving his man,
had not tie strength Of the latter given way
at tho moment. He sunk helplessly to another
ledge of rocks; and there also was pursued by
the enterprising philanthropist.
Our adventurer, however, was now sudden
ly alarmed by the growing darkness of the
gulf, and by strange conviction he felt, that
| the old man was not alarmed at all; and all
| at once he began to mutter paternoster, and
re ascend the rocks. His foot slipped, how
ever, at the moment, and he fell upon the OBJ
him with shrieks of wild laughter, and both
parties tumbled head over heel. TO the very
| bottom of the cliff
What is all this noise about" demanded
another little old man, coming out of hole in
the rock in the dress of q miner, and with a
lamp in his hand. The knights companion
was for some time unable to answer for laugh
| ing; but at last" Brother" said he, this
young fellow would needs save my life, and
venture his own to help me out of the rocks
What shall We do in return? Shall we give
him q arlinda to wife
"Garlinda is in the safe keeping Of our eld-
| est brother at the top of the mountain. We
| have no more control over her than We have
| ever the moon"
"I know that; but our eldest brother is a
| good ma :ured fellow, at the bottom, although
| ne hates churles. Do you, who understand
| the trade, make a ladder for the young man
to ascend the mountain, and leave the rest TO
me I"
| Telling the knight then to take care and be
| at a certain place at the bottom of the noun
| tain by daybreak, he showed him a subterr a
| mean passage by which he easily found bis way
| out of the gulf. As the adventurer retreated
| he already heard the noise of Telling trees the
grating of the saw, the thump of the hammer,
and he pleased himself with the idea that the
| little old mans ladder was something more
| than joke.
The next morning he was punctual to his
| appointment, and sure enough a ladder ap-
| Ieared reaching to the very top of the noun.
tain The knight was little giddy at first
when he began to mount but taking care not
to look down, and to keep saying his pater-
noster incessantly, he at length gained the
summit Here sight awaited him beautiful
enough to repay a thousand such dangers; it
was Garlinda, lying asleep upon the velvet
turf Lilies and roses was there ever such a
girl The knights lips watered as he looked
1T her
"Hush hush - whispered little old man,
| stealing out on tiptOe from behind a rock "I
! am one of the carpenters, your honor, that
| made the ladder, and L am sorry to tell you
| that Garlinda's master is inexorable. He is
here, however, lying as fast asleep as she is,
and single blow of your sword will deliver
| your mistress and save your life?
81 would not slay sleeping man" replied
| the knight "to deliver a dozen mistresses, or
to save my own life, were it as manifold as a
| cats"
ooh do not slay him - exclaimed arlin-
| da, awaking at the moment; "he has stolen
me from my father it is true, but indeed be
| has been u father to me himself
What is to do here 20 said the eldest bro
ther, in gruff but broken voice, as he camo
from behind the rock, wiping his eyes. g Let
| US have no more words, for I know all. Here
is your dowry, Garlinda, giving her basket
| of precious stOnesD tell your father that L
! forgive him. Good bye, sir knight you that
| would break your neck to save an old mans
| but who would not slay a sleeping man either
| for love or fear good bye l shall see you
again at certain family epOchs, as often So
| they occur, and never como empty handed
| Now, show them the subterranean route, and
| let the ladder hang as warning to the coun-
try, till it falls in pieces by the action of the
| elements.