The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 3, September 1843Various
General
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 3, September 1843
Various
Periodicals
will be remembered, that GIANT DESPAIR found them sleeping in his
grounds, and with his 'grievous crab-tree cudgel' drove them before
him into 'a very dark dungeon' of Doubting-Castle.
But let us come to the adventure to which we have alluded. Perhaps
some of our readers will remember a work published in England a
half century or more ago, entitled 'The Adventures of HUGH TREVOR,'
written by THOMAS HOLCRAFT. At the recommendation of a friend, on
whose literary opinion we place the firmest reliance, we obtained
the volumes; and not without difficulty, there not being a copy
of the work to be found in any of the metropolitan libraries,
nor indeed any where short of that unequalled _omnium gatherum_,
'BURNHAM'S,' of the modern Athens. From this work, of which we may
have more to say hereafter, we condense the following striking
scene. It should be premised that TREVOR and his companion, a man
named CLARKE, after a variety of reverses of fortune, are on their
way on foot from a town in one of the retired shires of England
to the great metropolis. At nightfall they find themselves on the
borders of a forest. As they proceed, they meet with a countryman,
who learning their destination, informs them that by striking a
little out of the road they may save themselves much travel; that
he is going part of the way himself, and that the remainder is too
plain to be mistaken. Accordingly they place themselves under his
guidance. But suppose we now permit the narrator to tell the story
in his own words:
'THE sun had been down by this time nearly an hour and a half.
The moon gave some light; but the wind was rising, she was
continually obscured by thick, swift-flying clouds, and our
conductor advised us to push on, for it was likely to be a
very bad night. In less than a quarter of an hour his prophecy
began to be fulfilled. The rain fell, and at intervals the
opposing clouds and currents of air, aided by the impediments
of hills and trees, gave us a full variety of that whistling,
roaring, and howling, which is heard in high winds. The darkness
thickened upon us, and I was about to request the countryman
to lead us to some village, or even barn, for shelter, when he
suddenly struck into another path; and bidding us good night,
again told us 'we could not miss our road.' We could not see
where he was gone to; and though we repeatedly called, we called
in vain; he was too anxious to get shelter himself to heed our
anxiety, and was soon out of hearing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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