rrival at Nideck, was as thin and dry as a lath. His hunting-jacket was girded tightly about him by his belt, from which hung a hunting-knife with a horn handle; long leathern gaiters

point in a reddish tuft,

, "I have got strang

en his clenched hands, while dismal Sébalt calmly d

" cried Gideo

hanging abou

ck more forcibly. There certainly was some mysterious connection between the lord of Nideck and that old

ver and his comrade. "I want to know, first o

d at me with

? Who can

But when does she come

before Christmas, at th

long does

ght or th

efore? Not even on

N

ried. "This is contrary to nature. We must find out wh

aid than done. I could very easily send a bullet after her, almost at any time; but the count won't consent to that measure; and as for catching in any oth

ble with his long legs crossed, fixed his e

; it was deep down, and went across the road. The person had come down the bank and gone up on the other side. It was not a soft hare's foot, which hardly leaves an impression, it was not forked like a wild b

sure it w

figure, for I always go, sir, with my eyes on the ground. I know ev

nguishes this foot

the other toes, and they are all as fine as if they were in a lady's slipper. It is a lovely foot. Twenty years ago I should have fallen in love with

hands together, contemplated th

at next?" asked S

t, happening to look a little to my left, I saw another track which had, been following the Black Plague. I stopped short: was it Sperver's? or Kasper Trumpfs? or whose? I came to it, and you may fancy how astounded I was when I saw that it was nobody from our place! I know every foot in the Schwartzwald from Fribourg to Nideck. That foot was like none of ours. It must have come from a distance. The boot-f

s be?" Sperv

ders and extended his h

t in following the old

th can tell,"

minutes meditating o

on again with

the top of the Schnéeberg. There the wind had been blowing hard; the snow was knee-deep-but no matter! I must get on! I got to the edge of the torrent of the Steinbach, and there I lost the track. I halted, and I saw that, after trying up and down in several directions, the gentleman's boots had gone down the Tiefenbach.

us about her break

proved that the Black Plague had not gone far; but it was as cold as ice. Close by I saw a wire trap in the bushes. It seems the creature knows how to snare game. A hare h

rver cried

nest folks in our villages have nothing better than potato

nd all three of us, in a moment, stood rigid and motionles

d the most fearful and harrowing of all bestial sounds-that fearful cry was echoing through the castle not far from

h the vibrations of the mighty voice of the savage monarch of the desert, making the air tremble with the distant thunder of his awful cry, the vast snowy deserts of the North to

at the same moment-the deep bay of the bloodhound, the sharp cry of the pointer, the plaintive yelpings of the spaniels, and the melancholy howl of the mastiffs, all mingling in confusion with the rattling of dog-chains,

rm to see if a wolf had dropped into the moat. But no-th

lt!-come, co

d beneath the echoing arches the distant barking and yelling of the pack became almost inaudible in the distance; the dogs

hunting-knife. Sébalt did the same;

hurried forward. Sébalt stretched his long legs. I felt a shuddering horror creep through

usehold afoot-the gamekeepers, the huntsmen, the kennel-keepers,

r? Where are those

alone had had the courage to penetrate thither before us. She was holding in her arms the young countess, who had

d the pale face of Odile lying on the ample shoulders of the good servant still makes a vivid impression upon my memory,

reached the c

came from be

the hideous noise, or explaining the presence of such a wild guest in the

in hand, was darting into the room; but he stoo

yed standing rooted there, with his eyes starting from

sight that met my eyes made the b

his arms bending forward, his head carried low, his eyes gla

s the

off both cheeks; the long meagre figure, the sinewy limbs, the face, the cry. The attitu

nd then the crimson hangings would tremble with the quivering of his limbs,

ailed to the floor; we held ou

wild beast scents the wind, he li

w, a cry was heard in reply-weak at first; then the sound rose and swelled in a long protrac

his countenance pale as ashes, poin

here's th

s neck outstretched, his eyes burning, seemed to understand the meaning of that distant voice, lost ami

illing to restrain himself any longer,

deck-what ar

the room to his help. It was time. The third att