Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-03-28
ture must be made, and he se, firth =, ~,
way. Already from afar be san a.. L.ns

ture must be made, and he .., so,,h
way. Already from afar he saw n. ME-
and horrible cavern; the two cypresse. ..sn.sS
TO have been blasted as If BY terror Of the
| ghastly abyss, which he saw, as h. 60
nearer, held In its hollow strange hesn oS
rocks. They looked like distorted, long beard 1.
ed, goblin faces, some of which resembled
| that monstrous ape on the sea-shore; bat when
steadily regarded, they became only jagged
and rifted fragments of the rock. He entered
tremoliDgly among these stone phantoms. The
bottle imp in his pocket grew so heavy, 1t
seemed trying to pull him back; but that
rSsed his courage, for" thought he, "what
a does not like, is Just what I must like"
Ueeper In the cavern the darkness became so
intense that he could no longer see those
eIignuul shapes, and had to feel carefully be-
lore MIN with stick; but he found nothing
save smooth foor of fine moss, and, but for
strange whlstling and croaking which passed
dismissed all fear.
AT last he had passed through, and found
himself IN desolste hollow, enclosed On an
SIDES oy the mountains. On one side he saw
the great terrible black horse, standing hike
an iron statue, unbound, with head held high.
without grazing or stirring a limb Opposite
MIN gushed out Of the rocks a spring. in which
the horseman was washing bis face and hands:
but the water was black as ink; and when
the gigantic being turned round 10 Richard.
nls hideous face was Of a negro blackpess
frightfuliy contrasting with his gorgeous red
attire.
Don't tremble, young fellow" said he
- this is one OF the ceremonies am compelled
TO perform So, too, whenever I need new
dress, have to mix its purple with a coo5
number of drops from my own blood, whereby
t gets that splendid color. In short, / am
bound body and soul, beyond all chance of
redemption. And what do you think got for
thatf Only hundred thousand pieces of gold
year. But can't make that do, 50 want
TO ouy your bottle imp, and thus play the old
miser trick " And he began 10 laugh, so
that the rocks resounded, and even the bith.
erto motionless black horse started.
wen, he asked, turning again to Rich
ard, |" do you bring half farthings, comrade {"
am not your comrade," answered Rich.
ard, half confused, half testy as he opened his
bag
"Oh, We are proud, are ve?-but have a
care, my hne gentleman! Who set the mon
it," f1s'
There was no need of all that jugglery,"
said Richard; and he related how the prince
already struck not only half farthings, but the
third part of farthings The red man appear.
ed out of humor at having given himself the
trouble for nothing However, he changed
one good farthing against three bad ones, gave
Richard one of these, and received in return
the bottle-imp, which felt very heavy coming
out of his pocket, lying curled up, sullen and
sad, at the bottom Of the phial The rider
again laughed violently
That wont help thee, Satan,n cried he:
give me gold here, as much as my horse can
carry" and forthsith the huge beast groan-
ed under the burden Of gold yet he took his
master up again, and like fy crawling IN
the wall, stepped right up the perpendieuIar
rock, but with such hideous movements and
contortiops that Richard fed back into the
cavern, that be might see no more of them.
When he had como out on the other side of
the mountain. and run a good way beyond
the abyss, then, for the first time, did the
whole consciousness Of his deliverance strike
on bis mind Now at length he felt the evil
spirits hold over him gone and the pressure
OF unspeaksbie misery removed, and a true
penitence for his former wild and sinful life
touched his heart His joy at his release was
tempered by that penitence, and sanctioned
by firm determination to lead a new life,
and In this determin alton, and the carving
on Of it, his former cheerful heart returned.
With all his renovated strength and spirit, he
bent himself to run a good, sober, honorable
course and in this he succeeded so we'll. that,
after some years Of honest labor, be was able
to return as well to-do merchant to the dear
German land, where he married and where
in his old age he frequently told his grand
children, as useful warning the story Of the
Bottle-imp.