The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-12-17

y l.
ms question was eagerly asked of hi.
nearest neIghhors by one of little grouE
OF travellers who had gathered round the
emDers of pine wood fire at way-side
inn IN one of the remotest parts of wild
Bohemia. VIZ
heard nothing" replied the trayele,
thus addressed, casting up his eyes suspi.
clously' nevertheless, to the hollow root
above tneir heads, black and grim with
the smoke OF many a winters day and
night. anu
1T acds strange" said a quiet voice from
the opposite corner of the huge chimney,
'tbut not so strange as sounds that Tbaye
heard and sights that I have SEEM
This was enough, and more than
enough. His fellow travellers unanimousIv
veered round in the direction of the sneot
er, and entreated him to commnnicaf -
something OF what he had seen and what
he had heard, hoping for the worst as to
its being a something very CHASTITY and
horrible.
The speaker, evidently by his accent a
native Of some part of Germany. was a
middle-aged man, and bore the appear.
ance of of an artist-just such one as
might have been sent in his earlier DAVIS
by the grea. man Of his native town or
village to study art in Rome, and to re-
turn from thmce-like how many Others?
doing little more, or perhaps even less.
than before he sought the Oracles which
now vouchsafe no answer He was n
wonderfully strange, imaginative looking
being though BY NO means an unpreposSes
sing one either with wild, blue eve, an
absent smile and an odd way of speaking.
rs it were, to persons who were not pres
cnt, and not to those who were so.
Years ago." began the stranger, with
something Of a sigh-"years ago, in the
spring time of my life, but in the autumn
of the year, followed the wanderings of
the Rhine. One evening found myself.
weary and sore footed, sitting in the
shadow of one of those far-famed relics of
the stormy past, whose still powerful out
| line, as it crowns and seems to ennobIe
the common vineyard hill, vet arrests
the gaze of the thoughtful traveller,
or Of one like myself, pilglim on the
face of the earth, in search of the beau
tiful
81 was grand dreamer in those DAYS.
and as lay gazing musingly up at those
stern old walls, still keeping faithful
watch in spite CT time and weather, the
| life of its own day seemed to he re-
stored to the long silent stro1 ghold. There
it was, all before me; tie steel-clad
| knight on his steed Of raven black. the
slender form of the gentle minstrel.
moon-tipped among the FILLING shadows
the wayworn pilgrim who Stopped to
shake the dust from his hemppn ,andal at
the castle gate. saw them all. Music.
too, there was-wid, dashing snatches of
warrior songs from the halls within, and
bursts Of clarion cailings from therampart
walls without, and harp-strings that trem-
bled on the ear as a ray of];ght on water
All this | seemed to see and hear; but
while l yet fingered, spell-bound 10 the
spot, a team of oxen, followed by its
peasant driven, came hurrying down to
drink at the oft-sung river, and trampling
of the beasts and the shouts of the driver
soon scared my visions far away An
ancient looking man. who sat and smoked
his pilR on one of the draw-bridge walls,
came forth from his shadowy corner to
have word With the passing stranger.
ing being than the old man then before
me. His hair was white and long; his
beard was white and long his pipe was
whitest and longest of all and he had no
sooner wished me good evening, than he
showed his anxiety to rid himself of nv
company by wishing me goodnight The
road before me was, he said, lonely one
Ono company all along it but the storks)
and he recommended me to lose DO time
in starting, so as not to be overtaken by
the night; storm, too, he thought, was
brewing, but if set off at once | might
reach the nearest village before it burst
No sleeping here, you know, sir, he add
ed, impressiveIy, seeing that / still ling
cred mo sleep here. You wouldn't like
it, nor l either, you'd best be off, sir
"There was a something mysteriously
imperative in the old fellows tone and
GESTURE as he said this. neither under
Stood or relished it. | was young then,
and waywarl, as one is is apt to he in the
golden DAYS of ones life Had the old
nan pressed me TO stay, or merely invited
ne to pass the night in the skeleton of a
6welling place, | should most likely, like
q free horse turning his shoulder to the
stable door have turrel my back to its
walls and my face to the omen
ields, but he wished me away, he churl-
SHY urged my departure from the pre-
cincts of his little kingdom, and therefore
[ simply determined to remain.
"Just at this crisis some raindrops be-
gan to fab with a heavy splash on the
broad gray stones of the bridge beside
which we were standing.
See Iexclaimed to the unwilling host,
the storm is begun already. Surely
here must be some one habitable corner
N vour huge castle there in which you
Gould allow me to wait for morning {; for
is vain to think of reaching the near
ast sleeping place before midnight, with
Ill this wind and rain, and my poor tired
feet
50 sHabitable corners = repeated the old
man. with an air of offended pride, closely
followed. however, by an approach to a
facetious chuckle, which, as it tucked up
his orav mustache. revealed the single
tooth left behind it 'habitable corners 2
WHY. the whole of one of the towers, the
western one had lately been repaired and
fitted up, and even slept in, for a time
at least. Only he wondered, for his part,
at my caring to stay in so dull place
some nersons wouldn't fancy it at all. AS
for himself, he was used to it-and an
honest man. They never, never troubled
him.
II had not at first attended TO the clos
inc words OF this solioquy but, as will
happen, their meaning came
back upon me a moment later, and l
asked nv guide, who still half reluctantly
led the way into the interior of the castle,
to what species Of molestation he alluded.
Nv query was, however, unheard, or he
didn't care to answer it, as a gruffish
Helm p followed by caution to look
L q ! /.