The Count of Nideck

en, old Gideon Sperver burst suddenly into my room, crying, "Gaston, my boy, I have come to take you back wi

, that in this time he had grown a full beard, and that now, in my half-aroused condition, he appeared before

d, "let's take up things in th

sing sense of ingratitude. "What! Don't you remember your foster-father, Gideon Sperver, the General's old ranger who save

hand!" We gripped each other's hands, and Sperver, passing

putation. What ar

Count's

you happen to

ess Odile sent m

When are w

is very ill, and his daughter begged me to los

ook at the weather; it has b

your fur coat, fasten on your spurs, and we are o

of my childhood anything from my youngest days, I hurriedly dres

. "Swallow down this slice of ham and drink a stirrup-cup, for the ho

is tha

Nideck; that is indispensable. I will

nt two horsemen arrived. They seemed exhaust

als! They are Wallachians; fine and swift as deer. Come, make haste and throw a blank

stirrup. I could only distinguish the long brown moustache of one, and his dark eyes that were singularly bri

oad had become obliterated by the considerable fall of snow. Our only companions were the ravens of the Black Forest, spreading their great hollow wings above the drifts, lighting for an instant here and there, and crying in d

; but a b

If old Parson Toby had the courage to start out in su

s pace Sperver slowed down and let me catch up with him. "Gaston," he said in

t thinking

number of doctors have al

dee

zerland, and have made a most careful study of their p

for, I remained silent, w

t returns every year on the same day and at the same hour; his eyes grow

become unbalanced throu

it is that he fancies if his daughter would only consent to marry, it would effect his cure; and she as strangely refuses even to entertain the

llness first d

, twelve

nowy. The Count was striding up and down the room, his head upon his breast and his hands clasped behind his back, like a man who is deep in thought. From time to time he paused, and looked at the high windows that were fast becoming veiled in snow, while I sat in the chimney-corner warming myself, thinking of my dogs, and silently cursing all the wild boar of the Black Forest. For fully two hours everybod

any bearing on you

?' But he burst into mad laughter, stumbled, and fell upon the floor, face downwards. I called for help immediately; the servants hurried to the room. Sebalt and I raised the Count and moved him to the bed near the window; but just as I was about to cut my master's cravat with my hunting-knife,-for I believed it was a stroke of apoplexy,-the Countess Odile entered, and threw herself upon the body of her father, uttering such piteous cries that I tremble yet when I think of it. From that hour, Gaston, a pall has hung over the Castle, and Heaven only knows when it will be lifted. Every year, at the same day and hour, the Count is seized with these strange convulsions. The attacks last from a week to a fortnight, during whic

not indeed impossible. It was evidently some moral disease. In order successfully to combat it, it would be necessary to trace it back to its origin, and this origin was doubtless lost in the vaguen

h the high turrets suspended like baskets from the angles of the edifice. It was as yet but a mere outline, hardly distinguishable from the blue sky; almost imp

ned motionless, with his fore legs planted firmly before him, his mane bristl

ARK OBJECT CROUC

, "The Black Plague!" Following with my glance the direction of his extended arm, I was astonished to perceive an aged woman, her legs bent up between her clasped arms, and so ragged that her red elbows protruded from the sleeves of her dress, seated in the snow. A few locks of gray hair fell

meaning of all this? Ar

g with the old witch frightens me." Then, turning his head and seeing that the old creature had no

believe me, a man is wrong to laugh at things he cannot understand. It is not without reason that I call this woman the B

aking. "Come, Sperver, explain yourself more clear

he cause of all our misfortunes. It i

? How can she exercis

'Gideon, she is coming.' I hold his arms and try to quiet him, but he keeps muttering with staring eyes, 'She is coming! Oh, oh! She is coming!' Then I climb the tower and survey the landscape. You know I have a keen eye, Gideon. At last, amid the distant mists, between sky and earth, I distinguish a black speck. The next morning the speck has grown larger; the Count starts up in his bed with chattering teeth. On the second day we can see the old crea

ese unseen bonds, this world of magnetism that some proclaim with all the ardor of the fanatic, and others deny with scorn and ridicule,-who can say that all these forces will not some day revolutionize our universe? It is easy to arrogate to yourself a claim to

he exclaimed; "the worst they

good deal for an ho

s all. I would as lief die that way as to receive a blow on my head, or

at sounds odd, comi

ifle at the service of the witch; from time to time, I renew the priming, and i

he Count: 'no bloodshed.' Reconsider, and discharge yo

old huntsman; he dropped his chin on his breas

es. The animals whinnied and increased their pace, cheered doubtless by the prospect of a warm shelter. Every now and then, Sperver turned and looked behind him with evident anxiety, and I was not free from a certain indefinable apprehension as I reflected upon the strange account of his master'

izon line intersecting the dark arches of the larch-trees. Suddenly, as we emerged from a thicket, the ancient fortress reared up before us, its dark extent

head and seizing the deer's-foot bell-handle. Th

its circle of light a little dwarf with a yellow beard and broad shoulders, enveloped in furs from head to foot. He came

erver?" he asked

" cried the huntsman. "Don't yo

ellow; "it is you indeed! You always speak

, Monsieur Doctor," but in a tone as much as to say, "Here is another one who will go the way of the rest." T