has fairly attained the three marks which he proposed to himself.' That he has attained them is plain,' answered the party to whom the appeal was made; but that he has done this fairly may be doubted, if there are such things as witchery and magic in this world.' Shame, shame, Rudolph!' said the Landamman : ' can spleen and envy have weight with so brave a man as you, from whom my sons ought to learn temperance, forbearance, and candour, as well as manly courage and dexterity?" The Bernese coloured high under this rebuke, to which he ventured not to attempt a reply. To your sports till sunset, my children,' continued Arnold; while I and my worthy friend occupy our time with a walk, for which the evening is now favourable.' 'Methinks,' said the English merchant, I should like to visit the ruins of yonder castle, situated by the waterfall. There is something of melancholy dignity in such a scene which reconciles us to the misfortunes of our own time, by showing that our ancestors, who were perhaps more intelligent or more powerful, have nevertheless, in their days, encountered cares and distresses similar to those which we now groan under.' 'Have with you, my worthy sir,' replied his host, there will be time also upon the road to talk of things that you should know.' The slow step of the two elderly men carried them by degrees from the limits of the lawn, where shout and laugh and halloo, were again revived. Young Philipson, whose success as an archer had obliterated all recollection of former failure, made other attempts to mingle in the manlypastimes of the country, and gained a considerable portion of applause. The young men who had but lately been so ready to join in ridiculing him, now began to consider him. as a person to be looked up and appealed to; while Rudolph Donnerhugel saw with resentment that he was no longer without a rival in the opinion of his male cousins, perhaps of his kinswoman also. The proud young Swiss reflected with bitterness that he had fallen under the Landamman's displeasure, declined in reputation with his companions. of whom he had been hitherto the leader, and even hazardeci a more mortifying disappointment, all, as his swelling heart expressed it, through the means of a stranger stripling, of neither blood nor fame, who could not step from one rock to another without the encouragement of a girl. In this irritated mood, he drew near the young Englishman, and while he seemed to address him on the chances of the sports which were still proceeding, he conveyed, in a whisper, matter of a far different tendency. Striking Arthur's shoulder with the frank bluntness of a mountaineer, he said aloud Yonder bolt of Ernest whistled through the air like a falcon when she stoops down the wind!' And then proceeded in a deep low voice, You merchants sell glovesdo you ever deal in single gauntlets, or only in pairs?' 6 'I sell no single glove,' said Arthur, instantly apprehending him, and sufficiently disposed to resent the scornful looks of the Bernese champion during the time of their meal, and his having but lately imputed his successful shooting to chance or sorcery, I sell no single glove, sir, but never refuse to exchange one.' You are apt, I see,' said Rudolph; 'look at the players while I speak, or our purpose will be suspected-You are quicker, I say, of apprehension than I expected. If we exchange our gloves, how shall each redeem his own?' 'With our good swords,' said Arthur Philipson. 'In armour, or as we stand?' 'Even as we stand,' said Arthur. 'I have no better garment of proof than this doublet-no other weapon than my sword; and these, Sir Switzer, I hold enough for the purpose.-Name time and place.' The old castle-court at Geierstein,' replied Rudolph ; the time sunrise ;-but we are watched.-I have lost my wager, stranger,' he added, speaking aloud, and in an indifferent tone of voice, since Ulrick has made a cast beyond Ernest.-There is my glove, in token I shall not forget the flask of wine.' And there is mine,' said Arthur, ' in token I will drink it with you merrily.' Thus, amid the peaceful though rough sports of their companions, did these two hot-headed youths contrive to indulge their hostile inclinations towards each other, by settling a meeting of deadly purpose." CHAPTER V I was one Who loved the greenwood bank and lowing herd, ANONYMOUS. LEAVING the young persons engaged with their sports, the Landamman of Unterwalden and the elder Philipson walked on in company, conversing chiefly on the political relations of France, England, and Burgundy, until the conversation was changed as they entered the gate of the old castle-yard of Geierstein, where arose the lonely and dismantled keep, surrounded by the ruins of other buildings. This has been a proud and a strong habitation in its time,' said Philipson. 6 6 They were a proud and powerful race who held it,' replied the Landamman. The Counts of Geierstein have a history which runs back to the times of the old Helvetians, and their deeds are reported to have matched their antiquity. But all earthly grandeur has an end, and free men tread the ruins of their feudal castle, at the most distant sight of whose turrets serfs were formerly obliged to veil their bonnets, if they would escape the chastisement of contumacious rebels.' "I observe,' said the merchant, engraved on a stone under yonder turret, the crest, I conceive, of the last family, a vulture perched on a rock, descriptive, doubtless, of the word Geierstein.' 6 6 'It is the ancient cognizance of the family,' replied Arnold Biederman, and, as you say, expresses the name of the castle, being the same with that of the knights who so long held it.' I also remarked in your hall,' continued the merchant, 'a helmet bearing the same crest or cognizance. It is, I suppose, a trophy of the triumph of the Swiss peasants over the nobles of Geierstein, as the English bow is preserved in remembrance of the battle of Buttisholz ? ' |