Anne of Geierstein; Or, The Maiden of the Mist. Volume 1 (of 2)Scott, Walter
History
Anne of Geierstein; Or, The Maiden of the Mist. Volume 1 (of 2)
Scott, Walter
France -- History -- Louis XI, 1461-1483 -- Fiction
Arthur, on his part, with equal consciousness, blushed as deeply as
the maiden herself, and drew himself back from her observation. But
when Anne rose up, and was escorted by her uncle to her bedchamber, in
the manner we have already mentioned, it seemed to Philipson as if she
had carried with her from the apartment the lights with which it was
illuminated, and left it in the twilight melancholy of some funeral
hall. His deep musings were pursuing the subject which occupied them
thus anxiously, when the manly voice of Donnerhugel spoke close in his
ear--
"What, comrade, has our journey to-day fatigued you so much that you
go to sleep upon your feet?"
"Now Heaven forbid, Hauptman," said the Englishman, starting from his
reverie, and addressing Rudolph by this name (signifying Captain, or
literally Head-man), which the youth of the expedition had by
unanimous consent bestowed on him,--"Heaven forbid I should sleep, if
there be aught like action in the wind."
"Where dost thou propose to be at cock-crow?" said the Swiss.
"Where duty shall call me, or your experience, noble Hauptman, shall
appoint," replied Arthur. "But, with your leave, I purposed to take
Sigismund's guard on the bridge till midnight or morning dawn. He
still feels the sprain which he received in his spring after yonder
chamois, and I persuaded him to take some uninterrupted rest, as the
best mode of restoring his strength."
"He will do well to keep his counsel, then," again whispered
Donnerhugel; "the old Landamman is not a man to make allowances for
mishaps, when they interfere with duty. Those who are under his orders
should have as few brains as a bull, as strong limbs as a bear, and be
as impassible as lead or iron to all the casualties of life, and all
the weaknesses of humanity."
Arthur replied in the same tone: "I have been the Landamman's guest
for some time, and have seen no specimens of any such rigid
discipline."
"You are a stranger," said the Swiss, "and the old man has too much
hospitality to lay you under the least restraint. You are a volunteer,
too, in whatever share you choose to take in our sports or our
military duty; and therefore, when I ask you to walk abroad with me at
the first cock-crowing, it is only in the event that such exercise
shall entirely consist with your own pleasure."
"I consider myself as under your command for the time," said
Philipson; "but, not to bandy courtesy, at cock-crow I shall be
relieved from my watch on the drawbridge, and will be by that time
glad to exchange the post for a more extended walk."
"Do you not choose more of this fatiguing, and probably unnecessary
duty, than may befit your strength?" said Rudolph.
"I take no more than you do," said Arthur, "as you propose not to take
rest till morning."
"True," answered Donnerhugel, "but I am a Swiss."
"And I," answered Philipson quickly, "am an Englishman."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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