ls, and the
owlets hooted in the distance "Come too! come too!" As I looked at the
driver, I noticed for the first time that he wore no uniform and was
not a postilion; he seemed to be growing restless, turning his head
and looking behind him several times. Then he began to drive quicker,
and as I leaned out of the carriage a horseman came out of the
shrubbery on one side of the road, crossed it at a bound directly in
front of our horses, and vanished in the forest on the other side.
I felt bewildered; as far as I could see in the bright moonlight the
rider was that very same crooked little man who had so pecked at me
with his hooked nose in the inn, and mounted, too, on the same
white horse. The driver shook his head and laughed aloud at such
horsemanship, then quickly turned to me and said a great deal very
eagerly, not a word of which did I understand, and then he drove on
more rapidly than ever.

I was rejoiced soon afterward when I perceived a light glimmering in
the distance. Gradually more and more lights appeared, and at last we
passed several smoke-dried huts clinging like swallows' nests to the
rocks. As the night was warm, the doors stood open, and I could see
into the lighted rooms, and all sorts of ragged figures gathered about
the hearths. We rattled on through the quiet night, along a steep,
stony road leading up a high mountain. Soon lofty trees and hanging
vines arched completely over us, and anon the heavens became visible,
and we could overlook in the depths a distant circle of mountains,
forests, and valleys. On the summit of the mountain stood a grand old
castle, its many towers gleaming in the brilliant moonlight. "God
be thanked!" I exclaimed, greatly relieved, and on the tiptoe of
expectation as to whither I was being conducted.

A good half-hour passed, however, before we reached the gate-way of
the castle. It led under a broad round tower, the summit of which was
half ruined. The driver cracked his whip three times, so that the old
castle reechoed, and a flock of startled rooks flew forth from every
sheltered nook and careered wildly overhead with hoarse caws. Then the
carriage rolled on through the long, dark gate-way. The iron shoes of
the horses struck fire upon the stone pavement, a large dog barked,
the wheels thundered along the vaulted passage, the rooks' hoarse
cries resounded, and amidst all this horrible hubbub we reached a
small, paved courtyard.

"A queer post-station this," I t