The Kanzas news., 1858-11-13
A NIGHT OF HoRRoRsi
The story of Heidelberg Student.

What a very happy period of my life that
was when L was supposed to be studying
Roman law at the feet of the great Profess
sor Mittermaier at Heidelberg. Little did
my fond parents reck the way in which l
spent mynights, or the mad scenes of which
was sharer, among the Drained
Burschen. I had only recently Quilted
Cambridge. after four years of college ex-
perience and forgetfalness of what had
learned at school, and the contrast German
university presented was most striking
Still took to the new mode of life very
kindly, and by the time was able to ex-
press my wants and wishes in fearfuily bro
ken German. I was perfectly happy: for
life is so pleasant at twenty - - -i4' -
Perhaps, though. l enjoyed my vacations
even more than did my terms, for / was
my own master, and could wander whittier
pleased. / ha passport in my pocket,
and respectable amount of forins, and
with knapsack on back, trudged through
the whole of the Black Forest, learning
German (of sort, il is true) rapidly on
the road, and meeting with various queer
adventures. One of the queerest, howev-
1T, i
may as well narrate it here. as another in
stance of those strange things which trav-
elers sometimes see. had ever predi-
lection for Alsace, for in that happy land
the quart bottle holds not merely quart,
which is a rarity. but just three piEts,
which is a marvel Nor is the quality of
the wine deprecated by the quantity; on
the contrary, Chablis is not patch upon
the white wines that grow on the sunny
slopes of the Vosges. "If you doubt
what say, take bumper and try" which
you can easily do, reader, on your next
visit to Slrasbourg, by calling in at the
Rebstock, and asking for litre of white
wine with the ochre seal. However, as I
knew that I was going into the country
where the delectable wine grew, I did not
daily at Strasbourg, but strobe manfully
away toward the Vosges, full of glorious
anticipations, and carefully studying the
patois by conversing with every peasant l
fell in with. There is very simple plan,
however, to make yourself eomprehended
in Alsace: always use French word and a
German word alternately; it IS wonderful
what success you meet with. An ipfallibie
rule to make yourself liked is, by Juggling
in the name of Napoleon ie Grand on eve
ry possible occasion, and if you are suffi
ciently cosmopolitan, you may tacitly as
sent to the fact that he won the battle of
Waterloo. @ i'fti" -s|
There is only one defect connected with.
Alsace: when it rains there, there is no
mistake about il. was fated to discover
this interesting meteorological fact at the ex
pense of thorough wetting. | had dined
at little village inn on the inevitable cold
veal and picked plums. and when set out
on my jaunt to my nights. quarters, sew
enteen miles of, the clouds were beginning
to collect ominously in the west. I but
toned my blouse round me, and trudged
manfully onward along road which had
not been traversed by respectable convey
ance within the memory of man. It was
full of ruts, hard enough at first, but which
the persistent rain, which had commenced
by this time to fall, converted into so ma
ny pitfalls, into which was continually
Slipping. To add to my troubles. night set
in with that rapidity peculiar to Southern
Germany, and there was no sign of the
village at which intended to spend the
night. Not creature did I meet; nobody
was foolish enough to venture out in such
weather, save pleasure travellers like my
self, and on went, making about half a
mile an hour. and growing very savage
whether the result of the wetting. or of In
digestion, really cannot say Ny brandy
flask had long been emptied; there was no
chance of 6lling it, and I was wearied-so
wearied that l could have lain down to
sleep in a dry ditch, had there been one
handy. but against that the elements had
carefully guarded. There was no hope for
it; l must trudge onward. @
Suddenly. through the rain. fancied
could see light glimmering short dis
tanee from the road. l stopped, and look
ed steadily; it was no Will-o' the wisp, and
by sudden impulse I bounded over the
low hedge, and went stumbling over a
ploughed field toward the house, as now
felt certain it was. Up to the present, I
had regarded the peasants cabins with con-
siderable aversion, and pour eouse:: they
were the dirtiest places imaginable. and I
bad no desire to sleep in them so long as an
auberge could be found. But now ] would
have gladly paid handsome sum for the
use of dog kennel. so long as it sheltered
me from the pitiless rain, and held out the
prospect of = glass of brandy to warm my
inner man, which stood SO much in need
of that refreshment -
se I soon approached the cabin. which stood
beneath the shade of some gloomy trees,
and the light, which probably came from
the fire, burned so dimiy, that I hesiIated
for 4 moment; all appeared so unutterably
wreiched shout the house. that had a ner-
vous timidity about approaching it. am
not constitutionaliy fearful; on the contra
~, I am usually too prone to run into fool
hardness: but now, whether it was the
soaking or the veal, I felt horribly nervous.
A moment, however, suficed to recover me,
and l walked across the yard. and knocked
boldly at the door. All remained perfectly
quiet in the house. except that 1 fancied
could hear the growing of huge dog.