The interior of the hut was as rude as its exterior had promised. In a small chimney built of rough stones a fire was smouldering; on the plain wooden table, something like a cold supper of meat and bread, with beer, in one of those large glazed bowls which come from Muscovy, was standing, as if awaiting a belated visitor; and by the smoky oil lamp that hung from a rafter of the roof, and shed a light over the rudely constructed and humble edifice, I could perceive that, under his bushy eyebrows, my host scanned me frequently in a scrutinizing manner, which, to say the least of it, was very unpleasant. His bearing and expression were by turns full of oily civility and sullenness; his figure was strong and athletic--short, and somewhat bow-legged; his head and face were large, and the latter had a very unprepossessing cast of features; the nose of a hawk, wide cracked lips of a livid colour, teeth like fangs, but coated with tartar; a low brow overshadowed by a forest of hair, and ears partly shorn off--in their mutilation announcing most satisfactorily the reason of his aversion to the bishops, knights, and lords of the district. In short, he was hideous. "I fear I have disturbed you, my friend," said I. "Not in the least--make no apologies, I pray you. All night I have been waiting for a friend who is journeying from Bredenburg to the castle of Lauenburg. Here is his supper, of which you may partake if you choose, and then pass the remainder of the morning on these deer-skins, or in that poor bed in the little room within." "Many thanks, woodman," said I; "though not much used to luxuries of late, I shall be but too happy to accept of your little bed." "The Herr may please himself," he muttered gruffly. "At what hour of the morning do you usually set forth?" "In these woods all hours are alike, Mein Herr--say, six." "But, I have not a horologue, and how shall we know?" "When the sun shines between the forked branches of a tree opposite, I know at this season the hour of six." "I have five hours to sleep, then--fail not to waken me, and when we pass the boundary of the Hamburg territory, I will give you all I can afford at present--ten rixdollars!"