inda
was too obedient, or perchance too indifferent, to disobey her father's
commands. He sought her at the accustomed spot--she came not, sent not:
he hovered round her residence, and if chance favoured him with a
glimpse of his beloved, it was only to add to his misery, for she
withdrew hastily from his sight. A rumour of the intended marriage of
his perjured mistress reached his ears, and, struck to the soul, he
endeavoured, by manual labour, to exhaust his strength and banish the
recollection of his misery. He toiled all day in feverish desperation;
and now that there was no more to be done, sat down to ponder over his
altered prospects. The bailiff possessed the ear of his master, and it
was useless to hope that the count would repair the injustice committed
by so trusted a servant. The situation which above all others he had
coveted, which would have given him the free range of the forest, the
jovial hunter's life which suited his daring spirit, delighting in the
perils of the chase, and, above all, a home for Linda, was lost, and for
ever; henceforward he must relinquish all expectation of regaining the
station which the misfortunes that had brought his parents to the grave
had deprived him of, and be content to earn a sordid meal by bending his
back to burthens befitting the brute creation alone; to hew wood, and to
bear it to the neighbouring towns; to delve the ground at the bidding of
a master, and to perform the offices of a menial hireling. "At least not
here," cried the wretched young man, "not in the face of all my former
friends; there is a refuge left where I may hide my sorrows and my
wrongs. Fair earth, and thou fair sky, I gaze upon you for the last
time; buried from the face of day in the centre of the deepest mine,
I'll spend the remnant of my life unpitied and unknown." Determined to
execute this resolution on the instant, Carl hastily collected such
parts of his slender property as were portable; and having completed his
arrangements, prepared to cross the Brocken, and shaped his course
towards the Rammelsburg. The last rich gleam of crimson had faded from
the sky; but there was light enough in the summer night to guide him on
his way. A few bright and beautiful stars gemmed the wide concave of
heaven; the air was soft and balmy, scarcely agitating the leaves of the
forest trees; the fragrance-weeping limes gave out their richest scent,
and the gentle gush of fountains, and the tricklings of the mo