St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, October 1878, No. 12Various
General
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, October 1878, No. 12
Various
Children's literature -- Periodicals; Children's periodicals, American
The next consideration was a resting-place. They had been warned that
they would get nothing but hay, so it was no surprise when the "senner"
led the ladies out to one side of the house, where, mounting a short
ladder, he placed his lantern in the center of a large hay-loft, one
side of which was open to the free air of heaven, which blew in, fresh
and cool, as also it did from numerous chinks in the roof, through which
the clear moonbeams shone, rendering the lantern a matter of form. The
man proceeded to arrange the hay in heaps, so that each person could
recline or sit, as most conducive to rest. Only those accustomed (as,
indeed, most mountain climbers in Bavaria are) to spending a night
half-buried in hay, can sleep. The hours of the night were spent by the
ladies in laughing at one another and discussing the absurdity of
spending a night ranged against the sides of a hay-loft, with heads tied
up in handkerchiefs, like wounded soldiers in a hospital.
Meantime, the gentlemen sat outside enjoying their cigars by moonlight,
and relating their hunting adventures. "Ah," said the Baron, after one
of the stories, "that reminds me of a northern friend of mine who was
staying with us some years ago. He was very short-sighted, but
passionately fond of a hunt, so we made up several parties, at which he
appeared in spectacles, to the great amusement of us all. He took our
jokes in good part, and enjoyed himself without doing any mischief for a
time. One unlucky day, however, I missed our path, and had to descend
the mountain in search of some landmark from which to start afresh.
Suddenly, with the exclamation: 'Hush! a chamois!' he leveled his rifle,
and before I could say one word he had shot----a goat! He was too much
vexed to laugh, so I had it all to myself, and it was some minutes
before I could assist him to raise the little animal, whose leg was
broken. The flock was not far off, and the herd-boy was evidently
searching the wood, having heard the shot. Now it never would have done
to let such an unsportsmanlike event get wind, so we carried the goat to
some distance, when, meeting a peasant, we paid him to leave it at a hut
on a neighboring Alp, and request it should be taken down to the valley
at the first opportunity. I never mentioned the subject to any one but
my brother Heinrich. Some time after, he was hunting in the same
locality, and came upon a lad who was crying, with a regular mountain
voice, for the loss of that very goat, for which it seemed his mother
had to pay. I must confess, the consequence of kidnapping the animal for
a time had never struck me, and I was therefore glad to know that my
brother had given the lad money enough to pay all damages. But come, it
is time we tried our hay-berths, for if we can't sleep we can rest."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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