Recently Published. A CHARMING NOVEL. By the Author of this Volume. Tie ili iai'selle's %uni AFTER THE GERMAN OF E, MARLITT, BY MKS. A. L. WISTER. lUvno. Bound in £^ne Cloth. ^Plnce $1.75. "A more charming story, and one which, liaving once com- menced, it seemed more difficult to leave, we have not met with for many a day." — The Round Table. " It is one of the most intense, concentrated, compact novels of the day." — Oolumbus Journal. For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent by mail, postage free, on receipt of price by J, B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., Publishers, 715 and 717 Mci/rJcet Street, Philadelphia. Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924075572622 aOLD ELSIE CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 075 572 622 IfROlVC THE <3-EE,M:A.N E. MARLITT AUTHOR OF "the OLD MAM'SBLLE'3 SECRET." MES. A. L. WISTEK. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 1868. Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, hy J. B. LIPPINCOTT A CO., In the Clerk's Office ui* the District Court of the United States in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. GOLD ELSIE CHAPTER I. It had been snowing all day long, — so steadily that the roofs and window-sills were covered deep with spotless white cushions. And now the early twilight fell, bring- ing with it a wild gust of wind that raged among the falling snow-flakes like some bird of prey among a flock of peaceful doves. Although the weather was such that the comfort-loving inhabitants of any small town would hardly have sent their dogs out of doors, not to mention venturing their own worthy persons, yet there was little difi'erence to be seen in the size of the crowd that usually frequents the streets of the large Capital, B , between the hours of six and seven in the evening. The gas lamps were an excellent substitute for those heavenly lights which would not make their appearance. Carriages were whirling around corners in such tempestuous haste that many a pe- destrian rescued life and limb only by a sudden leap aside, while curses both loud and deep were hurled after the coachmen enveloped in their comfortable furs, and the elegant coaches which contained behind their glass doors charmingly dressed women, whose lovely flower-crowned heads, as they peeped from among masses of muslin and tulle, certainly had no suspicion of the fire and brimstone (3) 4 GOLD ELSIE. called down upon them. In the warm atmosphere, be- hind the huge shop windows, elaborately curled and frizzed wax heads, surrounded by blond and black scalps, stared out upon the passers-by. Smiling shopmen dis- played their fascinating merchandise, and withered old flower-sellers stood among their fresh-blooming bouquets, which exhaled beauty and fragrance beneath the light of the lamps that shed a brilliant glare upon the slippery pavement and upon the flood of human life streaming by, revealing the pinched, blue features and the desperately uncomfortable movements of all, old and young. But stay, — not of all ! A female figure has just entered one of the principal streets from a narrow by-way. A small threadbare cloak closely envelopes her slender form, and a worn old muff is pressed against her breast, con- fining the ends of a black lace veil, behind which two girlish eyes are glowing with the sunlight of early youth. They look out joyously into the whistling snow-storm, rest lovingly upon the half-open rosebuds and dark purple violets behind the glass panes of the shop windows, and only veil their light^beneath their long dark lashes when sharp hail stones mingle with the driving snow-flakes. Whoever has listened while childish fingers, or some- times fingers no longer childish, confidently begin upon the piano a well-known melody, which goes bravely on for a few bars, then is arrested by a frightful discord fol- lowed by a wild grasping after every key on the instru- ment except the correct ones, while the patient teacher sits by, ceasing to attempt to evoke order out of chaos by the usual steady marking of the time, wearily waiting until the panting melody is seized again and carried on with lightning rapidity through several easy bars as over some level plain, — whoever has thus had his ears stretched upon the rack, can understand the delight with which OOLD ELSIE. 5 this young girl, who has just given two music lessons in a large school, offers her hot cheek to the wind as to an energetic comrade, whose mighty roar can breathe won- drous melodies through the pipes of an organ or over the strings of an ^olian harp. Thus she passes lightly and swiftly through the storm and crowd ; and I do not for an instant doubt that if I should present her now upon this slippery pavement to the gentle reader as Friiulein Elizabeth Ferber, she would with a lovely smile make him as graceful a courtesy as though they both stood in a ball-room. But this intro- duction cannot take place, — and we really do not need it, for I forthwith intend to relate to the reader my hero- ine's antecedents. Baron Wolf von Gnadewitz was the last scion of a famous house whose remote ancestry could be traced baclj into the dubious twilight which even preceded that golden age when the travelling merchant, journeying through some sequestered pass, was forced to surrender his costly stuffs and wares to a knightly banner and shining steel- clad troup of retainers as often as to the buff-coated high- way adventurer. From those illustrious times there had been handed down, in the crest of the Gnadewitzes a wheel, upon which one of these same noble ancestors had breathed out his knightly soul in consequence of having spilt rather too much ignoble trading-blood in one of the above-mentioned assaults upon his merchant prey. Baron von Gnadewitz, the last of his race, was cham- berlain in the service of the Prince Royal of X , and possessor of various orders and large estates, as well as of those peculiarities of character and disposition which were, in his estimation, befitting the high-born, and which he was accustomed to designate as " distinguished," be- cause all common men, bound by work-a-day moral con- 1* 6 GOLD ELSIE. siderations, and compelled by the stern necessities of life, lose all taste for the inimitable grace and elegance of vice. Baron "Wolf von Gnadewitz was as fond of pomp and show as his grandfather, who had forsaken the old castle Gnadeck upon a mountain in Thuringia, the cradle of his line, and had built him in the valley below a perfect fairy palace in the Italian style. The grandson allowed the old castle to fall into decay, while he enlarged and improved the modern mansion considerably. Yes, it seemed as though he entertained not the smallest doubt but that his latest descendant would be found occupying this favourite palace at the day of judgment, for the old castle was quite dismantled in order that the vast chambers of the new abode might be thoroughly furnished. But be reckoned without his host. Wolf von Gnadewitz had a son, 'tis true, — a son who, at twenty years of age, was so complete and thorough a Gnadewitz that the illustrious image of his ancestor who had perished upon the wheel paled before him. This promising youth one day, upon the occasion of the great autumn hunt in the forest, struck one of his whippersin a fearful blow upon the head with the loaded handle of his hunting-whip — a fearful blow, but a perfectly just punishment, as every one of the guests invited to the hunt declared, for the man had stepped upon the paw of a favourite hound so clumsily as to render the ani- mal entirely useless for a whole day. And thus it hap- pened that, a short time afterward, Hans von Gnadewitz was to be found not only upon the boughs of the gene- alogical tree in the hall of the new castle, but suspended by a rope around his neck to a bough of one of the actual trees in the forest. The beaten whipper-in expiated the deed upon the scaffold, but that could not bring the last of the Gnadewitzes to life again, for he was dead, — irre- GOLD ELSIE. t vocably dead, the physicians jaid ; and the long tale of robber-knights, wild excesses, hunting orgies, and horse- racing came to an end. After this terrible catastrophe. Wolf von Gnadewitz left the castle in the valley, and indeed that part of the country, and dwelt upon one of his many estates in Silesia. He took into his house to nurse him a young female relative, the last survivor of one of the collateral branches of his house. This young relative proved to be a girl of angelic beauty, at sight of whom the old baron entirely forgot the object for which he had invited her beneath his roof, and at last determined to clothe his sixty years in a wedding- garment. To his exceeding indignation, however, he now learned that there might come a time, even to a Gnadewitz, when he could no longer be regarded as a desirable parti, and he fell into a violent rage when his young relative confessed that, in utter forgetfulness of her lofty lineage, she had given her heart to a bourgeois officer, the son of one of his foresters. The young man possessed no worldly gear, only his sword and a remarkably fine manly person ; but he was rich in mind, accomplished, amiable in disposition, and of stainless character. When Wolf von Gnadewitz, in consequence of Marie's confession, turned her from his doors, young Ferber carried her home with delight as his wife, and for the first ten years of their married life would not have exchanged his lot with that of any king on earth. Still less would he have made such an exchange in the eleventh year, for that was the eventful 1848; but with it came fierce struggles for him, and an entire altera- tion in his circumstances. He was obliged to decide be- tween two duties. One had been inculcated while he was in his cradle by his father, and ran thus: "Love your neighbour, and especially your German brother, as your- 8' GOLD ELSIE. self;" the other, which he had in later years impos( upon himself, commanded him to draw the sword in h master's interest. In this strife the teachings of l childhood conquered entirely. Ferber refused to dra the sword upon his brethren; but his refusal cost hi his commission, and with it all assured means of subsii ence. He retired from the army, and soon afterwar in consequence of a severe cold, was stretched upon sick-bed, which he left only after years of disheartenii weakness. He then moved with his family to B where he obtained quite a lucrative situation as boo keeper in an extensive mercantile establishment. It w high time, for his wife's small property had been lo shortly before by the failure of a bank, and the rem tances of money which came to the distressed fami from time to time from Ferber's elder and only broth* a forester in Thuringia, were all that kept them from e treme poverty. Unluckily this good fortune was of short duratio Ferber's chief was a pietist of the most severe deseri tion, and spared no ofte in his zeal for proselytism. H efforts to convert Ferber to his own narrow dogmas we met by such quiet but decided resistance, that the pioi spirit of the saintly Herr Hagen was seized with ho horror. Remorse at the thought of affording protectii and subsistence to such an avowed free-thinker, ga him no peace by night or by day, until he had freed hi) self from such a burden of guilt, by a note of dismiss! which banished the tainted sheep from his fold. About the same time Wolf von Gnadewitz went hor to his ancestors, and as during his earthly career he h; strictly conformed to the Gnadewitz custom of leavii no insult, fancied or otherwise, unavenged, no worthi conclusion to his life could be found than the will whi GOLD ELSIE. 9 he drew up with his own hands shortly before he de=- scended into the narrow chamber of lead which was to contain for all futurity his noble bones. This manly document, which constituted sole heir to his large estates a distant relative of his wife's, con- cluded with the following codicil: "In consideration of the undeniable claim which she has upon my property, I bequeath to Anna Marie Ferber, born von Gnadewitz, the castle of Giiadeck in the mount- ains in Thuringia. Anna Marie Ferber will understand my benevolent intention in her behalf in leaving to her a mansion crowded with memories of the noble race to which she once belonged. In full remembrance and consideration of the good fortune and many blessings which have always hovered above this ancient pile, I hold it entirely superfluous to increase my legacy further. But if Anna Marie Ferber, blind to the value of my gift, should wish to sell or exchange it in any way, her right to it must be abdicated in favour of the orphan asylum of L ." And thus, with the utterance of a biting satire. Wolf von Guadewitz betook himself to his funeral bed of state. Ferber and his wife had indeed never seen the old castle, but it was notoriously a crumbling heap of ruins, which the hand of improvement had not touched for fifty years, and which, when the modern abode in the valley was completed, had been stripped of furniture, tapestries, and, in the case of the main building, even of the metallic roofing. Since that time the ponderous oaken door of the princi- pal entrance had remained closed, and the dusty, rusty bolts and bars had never once been withdrawn. The huge forest trees which were growing before it spread abroad their mighty branches, and drooped them among the thick 10 GOLD ULSiJS. brushwood at their feet, so that the deserted castle la behind the green impenetrable wall like a coffined mumm} The lucky heir, who was greatly annoyed by seein so large a part of his woodland possessions in strange hands, would gladly have purchased the old castle at high price, but the cunning clause at the conclusion of th codicil forbade any such transaction. Frau Ferber laid the copy of the will which had beei sent her, and upon which there dropped from her e3'es few tears of regret, upon her husband's desk, and thei took up her work, — some delicate embroidery, — with re doubled, almost feverish industry. In spite of his exer tioDS Ferber had been unable to procure another situation and was now doing his best to maintain his family b; translating, a labour but poorly paid, and even by copying law papers, while his wife eked out their scanty means b; the proceeds of her needle, which she plied night and day But dark as were the heavens above the strugglinj pair, one star rose quietly among the black clouds am seemed not unlikely to indemnify them by its radianc for all the storms with which fickle fortune had over whelmed them. A presentiment of this gentle ligh which was to beam upon his gloomy path possessei Ferber when he stood for the first time beside the cradl of his first-born, a daughter, and gazed into the lovel; eyes which smiled upon him from the baby face. All Frai Ferber's friends had been unanimously of opinion tha the little girl was a charming creature, a wonderfull; gifted child ; indeed, they had declared it did not look ii the least like an ordinary baby, did not appear to belong t the class of miserable little wretches, who, red as lobsters seem determined to scream their way through the world but, — here they had broken off; and it was intimatei that were it not for fear of the sneers of their lieg GOLD ELSIE. 11 lords, and the utterly prosaic tendencies s^ the nineteenth century, they should certainly suspect that some benevo- lent fairy had been at work in this case. They contended as to who should be so far favoured as to hold the little creature at the baptismal font, and should show the deepest tenderness for the little god- daughter, declaring that the day of her baptism could never be effaced from their remembrance ; but this demand upon their memories was altogether too great, for when Ferber fell into difficulties, selfishness passed its finger over the recorded day, and no tracfe of it remained in their minds. This change, which little Elizabeth experienced in the ninth year of her existence, disturbed her not at all. Her probable fairy protectress had, in addition to other rich gifts, endowed her in her cradle with an invincible joy- ousness of temperament and great force of will; so she took from her mother's hand her scanty evening meal as gratefully and gaily as she had once received the in- exhaustible delicacies presented to her by admiring god- parents ; and when on Christmas-eve the room was adorned only by a poor little Christmas-tree hung with a few ap- ples and gilded nuts, the child did not seem to remember the time when friends had crowded around to deck its boughs with all imaginable toys. Ferber educated his daughter himself. She never at- tended a school of any kind, an omission in her training which cannot, unfortunately, in the present age, be re- garded as anything but an advantage, when we see how many young girls leave school with far more knowledge upon some subjects than is at all desirable or pleasing to the anxious mother, who strives at home to preserve un- soiled her child's purity of mind and heart, and often does not dream how her tender care is made of no avail by the taint which one -impure nature in the school will 12 aOLD ELSIE. communicate, and which may perhaps colour an entii after-life. Elizabeth's pliant mind was finely developed beneal the control of her gifted parents. Thoroughly to unde stand the study which occupied her, and to approprial its results in such a manner as to make them inaliei ably her own were duties which she most conscientious! fuliilled. But she gave herself to the study of mus with an ardor that inspires a human being only when ei gaged in a pursuit felt to be especially his own. Sb soon far outstripped her mother, who was her instrui tress, and as when a child she would often leave her plaj things if she saw a cloud upon her father's brow, t sit on his knee and divert him with some tale of woi der, thus, as a girl, she would charm away the demo of gloom from her father's mind by strange and del cious melodies which lay like pearls in the depths of h€ soul, until she brought them to light for the first tim for his relief and enjoyment. And this was not the onl; blessing springing from her rare talent for music. Th exquisite touch upon the piano, in the garret in which th family lived, attracted the attention of several of the mor aristocratic inhabitants of the house, and Elizabeth soo: had two or three pupils in music, and had lately bee: employed in a large school as teacher of the piano, thu sensibly increasing the means of subsistence of the family Here let us resume the thread of our story, and we shal not shrink, I hope, from the trouble that we must take ii following our heroine through the wet streets upon thi stormy evening to her home and her parents. GOLD ELSIE. 13 CHAPTER II. Even during the long walk through the streets, alter- nately straight and crooked, gloomy and bright, Elizabeth enjoyed in imagination the delicious sensation of comfort that the sight of the cosey room at home always caused her. There sat her father at his writing-table with its little study-lamp, ready to raise his pale face with a smile when Elizabeth entered. He would take his pen, which had been travelling so busily over the paper for hours, in his left hand, and with his right draw his daughter down be- side him to kiss her forehead. Her mother, who, with her work-basket at her feet, usually sat close beside her husband that she might share the light of his study-lamp, would welcome her with tender loving eyes, and point to Elizabeth's slippers, which her care had placed by the stove to warm. Upon the stove apples would be roast- ing with a cheering hiss, and in the warm corner beside it was the sofa-table, where the tea-kettle would be singing merrily above its spirit-lamp, whose weak, blue light illumined the regiment of tin soldiers, which her only brother, Ernst, a child six years of age, was busily drilling. Elizabeth mounted to the fourth story before she reached the dark, narrow passage which led to her father's rooms. Here she hastily took off her bonnet and placed upon her lovely fair hair a boy's cap, trimmed with fur, which she drew from under her cloak. Then she entered the room, where little Ernst ran toward her with a shout of joy. But this evening the light shone from the sofa-table in 2 14 GOLD ELSIE. the usually dark corner by the stove, while the writin table was left neglected in the gloom. Her father si upon the sofa, with his arm around her mother's wais there was a joyous light upon the countenances of botl and, although her mother had evidently been weepin Elizabeth instantly perceived that her tears had been tea of joy. She stood still upon the threshold of the doi in great astonishment, and must have presented a mo comical appearance with the child's cap surmounting hi amazed countenance, for both father and mother laughe aloud. Elizabeth gaily joine_d in their laughter, an placed the fur cap upon her little brother's dark curls. "There, my darling," she said, tenderly taking hisros face between her hands and kissing it, " that is yours and there is still something left to help on your hous keeping, mother dear," she continued, with a happy smiL as she handed her mother four shining thalers. "The gave me my first five thalers of salary at school to-day.' "But, Elsbeth," said her mother, with the tears i her eyes, as she drew her down to kiss her, " Ernst's lai year's cap is still quite respectable, and you needed a pa of warm winter gloves much more. " "I, mother? just feel my hands; although I ha\i been in the street for an hour almost, they are as wan as if I had been holding them before the fire. No; ne gloves would be a most superfluous luxury. Our boy growing taller and stouter, and his cap has not kept pac with him ; so I consider the cap a necessary expense." "Ah, you good sister!" cried the child Avith delighl "even the little baron on the first story has not such charming cap as this. How fine it will look when I g hunting, hey, papa?" "Hunting!" laughed Elizabeth; "are you going t shoot the unfortunate sparrows in the Thiergarten ?" GOLD ELSIE. 15 " Oh, what a miserable guesser you are, Madam Elsie I" the boy rejoined, gleefully. " In the Thiergarten, indeed!" he added, more seriously; "that would be pretty sport. No, in the forest, — the real forest, — where the deer and hares are so thick that you don't even have to take aim when you want to shoot them." "I should like to hear what your uncle would say to this view of the noble chase," said his father with a smile, taking up a letter from the table and handing it to Eliza- beth. "Read this, my child," said he; "it is from your 'for- ester uncle,' as you call him, in Thuringia." Elizabeth glanced over the first few lines, and then read aloud : " The prince, who sometimes prefers a dish of bacon and sauerkraut at my table to the best efforts of his French cook in the castle of L- , passed several hours with me at my lodge yesterday. He was very condescending, and informed me that he purposed employing an assist- ant forester, or rather forester's clerk, for he saw that my duties were too onerous. I seized upon my opportunity, — the game was within shot, and if I missed I had no- thing to lose but a couple of charges fired into the air; now was my time. " So I told him how the jade, fortune, had played the very devil with you for this many a year, and how, in spite of your fine talents and acquirements, poverty had knocked at your door. My old master knew well wh'at I was driving at, for I spoke, as I always do, in good German. Thus far in my life every one has understood what I had to say. It is only the fops and fools of his court who fawn around him, who would persuade him that good, honest German is too coarse for royal ears, and that he must always be addressed in French. Well, my old mas- 16 GOLD ELSIE. ter said tTiat he would like to offer you this situation e forester's clerk, because he thought that with regard t myself,— and here he said a couple of things that you nee not hear, but which delighted me,— old fellow as I am,- quite as much as when in old times, upon examinatioi day, the schoolmaster used to say, ' Carl, you have dor yourself credit to-day.' Well, his highness has commi sioned me to write to you, and he will arrange matter Three hundred and fifty thalers salary, and your fue Now think it over ; it is not so poor an offer, and th green forest is a thousand times pleasanter than yoi confounded attics, where the neighbours' cats are forev* squalling, and where your eyes are blinded by the smol of a million chimneys. " You must not think that I am one of those wheedling parasitical fellows who use their master's favour \ benefit all their own kith and kin. No ; I can tell yc that if you were not what you are, that is, if you we: not really talented and well educated, I would bite m tongue out before I would recommend you to my maste: and, on the other side, I should always try to secure i his service such an honest, capable fellow as yourse] No offence ; you know I always like a plain statement i a plain case. "But there is another matter to be considered. Yc ought to live with me, and it could be very easily a ranged if you were a bachelor, whom four walls wou content, with a chest for his solitary wardrobe. But, u fortunately, there is no possible room in my lonely o rat's-hole of a forest-lodge for an entire family. It is rather a tumble-down condition, and has needed a doct for some time, but I suppose the authorities will do n thing for it until the old balconies come crumbling abo my ears. The nearest village is half a league, and t GOLD ELSIE. 17 nearest town a league from the lodge ; you cannot pos- sibly walk these distances every day, in the miserable weather that we have here sometimes. " Now old Sabina, my housekeeper, who was born in the nearest village, has made a wild suggestion which I here- with impart to you. Old castle Gnadeck, the deceased Baron Gnadewitz's brilliant legacy to you, is, as I have told you, situated at about a rifle's shot distance from the lodge. Well, Sabina says that when she was a strong hearty girl, — which, by the way, must have been some- thing beyond a quarter of a century ago, — she was a cham- bermaid in the Gnadewitz household. Then the new castle was not entirely furnished, and did not suffice to ontain the crowd of guests yearly invited to the great hunt. And so part of the building connectmg the two principal wings of the old castle was somewhat repaired and furnished. Sabina had to make and air the beds and attend to the rooms, to her great terror, and no wonder, — her old brain is perfectly crammed with all sorts of vifitch and ghost stories, — for the rest she is a most respectable person, and rules my household with a steady rein. " She maintains most firmly that this part of the castle cannot be in a crumbling condition, for it was then in an excellent state of preservation, and would, she is sure, aflbrd a capital shelter for you and yours. May be she is right; but are your children bold enough to brave the ghostly inhabitants that are said to haunt those old walls ? ' You know how vexed I was about your worthless legacy, and that I have never once been able, since the death of the sainted Wolf von Gnadewitz, to induce myself to visit the old ruin. But after hearing Sabina's tale yesterday afternoon, I made one of ray men climb a tree which stood upon the only spot which could give you a glimpse into the robber's nest, and he declared that every- 2* 18 GOLD ELSIE. thing had fallen into decay there. And this morning I have been to the authorities in the town, but they would not give me the keys of the castle without special permis- sion from your wife, and made, besides, as much fuss about it as if the treasures of Golconda lay hid in the mouldy old rooms." None of those who placed the seals upon the doors could tell me what sort of a place it was, for they never entered it, under the impression that the ceiling might fall and dash out their prudent brains, but contented themselves with placing a dozen official seals as large as your hand upon the principal entrance door. I should very much like to investigate matters with you, so pray decide quickly and start with your family as soon as possible." Here Elizabeth dropped the letter and looked with sparkling eyes at her father. " Well, how have you decided, father dear?" she asked hastily. "Ah," he replied gravely, "it is quite a hard task to tell you our resolution, for I see by your face that you would not for the world exchange this gay populous city for the loneliness and quiet of the Thuringian forest. Still, you must know that my application to the Prince of L for the place in question lies sealed in that en- velope. However, it is only reasonable that your wishes should be consulted in some degree, and we can be in- duced to leave you here in case " "Ah, no ; if Elizabeth will not go I would rather stay here, too," interrupted the little boy, clinging anxiously to his sister. " Never fear, my darling," she said to him with a laugh; " I shall find a place in the carriage, and if I could not, you know I am as bold as a soldier, and can run like a hare. My longing for the greenwood, which has been the fairy- OOLD ELSIE. 19 land of my imagination ever since I was a very little child, shall be my compass, and I shall get along bravely. What will papa do when, some evening, a weary way-worn trav- eller, with ragged shoes and empty pockets, prays for admission at the gate of the old castle?" "Ah, then, indeed, we must admit you," said her father, smiling, " if we would not draw down upon our crumbling roof the hostility of all good spirits who protect courage and innocence. But you will have to pass by the old castle if you wish to find us, and knock at some modest peasant hut in the valley, for the ruined old pile will scarcely afford us an asylum." "I am afraid not, indeed," said his wife. "We shall work our way laboriously through wild hedges and thick underbrush, like the unfortunate suitors of the Sleeping Beauty, to find at last " " Poetry itself!" cried Elizabeth. " Why, the first de- licious bloom will be brushed from our woodland life if we cannot live in the old castle I Certainly there must be four sound walls and a whole roof in some one of its old towers, and with heads to plan and strong willing hands to execute, the rest can be very easily arranged. We will stop up cracks with moss, nail boards over door- ways that have lost their doors, and paper our four walls ourselves ; we can cover the worm-eaten floors with homemade straw mats ; declare war to the death upon the gray-coated, four-footed little thieves who would in- vade our larder, and soon banish all cobwebs by a good broom skilfully wielded." With glowing looks, quite carried away by her dreams of the future home in the fresh green forest, she went to the piano and opened it. It was an old, worn-out instru- ment, whose hoarse, weak tones harmonized perfectly with its shabby exterior; but, nevertheless, beneath 20 GOLD ELSIM. Elizabeth's fingers Mendelssohn's song, "Through the dark green Forest," rang deliciously through the little rooQi. Her parents sat quietly listening. Little Ernst dropped asleep. Without, the howling of the storm was lulled, but the snow was driving noiselessly past the uncurtained window in huge flakes. The opposite chimneys, no longer smoking, had put on thick white night>caps, and looked stiffly and coldly, like peevish old age, into the little attic room, which enclosed, in the midst of the snow-storm, a perfect spring of joy and gaiety within its four walls. CHAPTER III. Whitsuntide ! A word that will thrill with its magic the human soul as long as trees burst into leaf, larks soar trilling aloft, and clear spring skies laugh above us. A 'word which can awaken an echo of spring in hearts en- crusted with selfishness and greed of gain, chilled by the snows of age, or deadened by grief and care. Whitsuntide is at hand. A gentle breeze flutters over the Thuringian mountains, and brushes from their brows the last remains of the snow which whirls mistily into the air and leaves its old abiding-place in the guise of lumin- ous spring clouds. Freed from their wintry garments, the mountains deck their rugged brows with wreaths of young strawberry vines and bilberries. In the valley below, the rippling trout-stream is flowing forth from the dark forest directly across the flower-strewn meadow. The lonely saw-mill is clacking merrily, while its low GOLD ELSIE. 21 thatched roof shines white with the fallen blossoms of the sheltering fruit trees. Before the windows of the scattered huts of the wood- cutters and of the villagers many an accomplished bull- finch was singing in his little cage the airs which were the fruits of a course of instruction in high art, during the winter in the hot, close rooni of his master. And his brothers in the forest were trilling wilder but far sweeter lays, for their little throats inhaled the clear air of freedom. Where, a few weeks before, the melted snow had foamed down from the mountain tops in a bed created by its own torrent, beautiful moss was now weaving a soft carpet, that would soon quite conceal the scarred breast of the mountain, while here and there through the thick green the silver thread of some little stream glittered in the sunlight. Upon the highway running through a charming valley of the Thuringian forest the Ferbers were travelling, in a well-packed carriage, toward their new home. It was very early in the morning ; the beil from a distant church-tower had just tolled the hour of three, where- fore only the shabby old sign-post by the roadside and a herd of stately stags were permitted the sight of a happy face that looked upon this lovely forest for the first time. Elizabeth leaned far out of the window of the dark car- riage, and inhaled deep draughts of the invigorating air, which she maintained had already cleared away from her eyes and lungs all the dust of the city. Ferber sat oppo- site, sunk in thought. He too was refreshed by the beauty and tender grace of the forest ; but he was more deeply moved by the delight in the eyes of his child, who was so susceptible to the charms of nature and so un- 22 OOLD ELSIE. speakably grateful for the change in their circumstances. How busy her hands had been since the Royal answer to Ferber's application for the new office had been received 1 There had been much to do. She had shared faithfully in all the cares which their departure from the city brought upon her parents. It is true the prince had sent his new official a considerable sum of money for travel- ling expenses, and the forester uncle, too, had shown his usual generosity ; but with the greatest economy it did not suffice, and therefore Elizabeth had employed every hour which she usually had for recreation in sewing for a large ready-made linen establishment, — occupying herself thus with her needle for many a night, after her unsuspecting parents were sleeping soundly. There had been one bitter experience amid all the busy hurry, which had cost the young girl many tears. She had seen her dear piano borne off upon the shoulders of two strong men to its new possessor. It had to be sold for a few thalers, because it was old and frail, — too frail to be transported to the new home. Ah, it had been so true a friend to the family ! Its thin, quavering voice had sounded in Elizabeth's ears tender and dear as the voice of her mother. And now, probably, unfeeling children would thrum upon its venerable keys, and tease the old instrument to speak more strongly, until it should be mute forever. But this sorrow was past, and lay behind her, with much beside which she had sacrificed and en- dured silently ; and as she sat looking out into the morn- ing twilight, with eyes sparkling with delight, — eyes that seemed to read behind the misty veil of the dawn all kinds of brilliant prophecies for the future, — who could have discerned in that figure, glowing with the elas- ticity of youth, one trace of the fatigue of the last busy weeks ? GOLD ELSIE. 23 For another half hour the travellers drove along the smooth, level highway, and then turned aside into the thick forest by a well-kept carriage-road. The sun was just rising in the eastern sky, and shot his rays upon the earth in splendid amazement at the diamonds with which she had adorned herself during his absence. In the night a heavy shower had come up, much rain had fallen, and the large drops were still hanging upon twig and leaf, falling pattering upon the roof of the carriage whenever the postillion touched one of the overarching boughs with his whip. What a glorious forest ! From the thick un- derbrush at their feet the trees reared their colossal truniis, and above, their boughs intertwined in a fraternal embrace as though determined to defend their peaceful, quiet home from light and air as from two deadly enemies; Only here and there a slender, green-tinted sunbeam would slip from bough to bough down upon the feathery grass and the little strawberry-blossoms, sprinkled every- where like snow-flakes, even laying their little white heads impertinently upon the road. After a short drive the wood grew less dense, and soon the retired Lodge appeared in the midst of a meadow in the heart of the forest. The postillion sounded his horn. A tremendous barking of dogs was heard; and with a loud whirr a large flock of doves soared, terrified, into the air from the pointed gable of the house. A man in a hunting uniform was standing at the open door, — a gigantic figure, with a huge beard that almost covered his breast. He shaded his eyes with his hands as he looked keenly at the approaching carriage, but sud- denly running down the stepo, he tore open the door, and threw his arms around Ferber, as the latter sprang out. For one instant the brothers stood in a close embrace ; then the forester gently released the slender figure of the 24 GOLD ELSIE. younger, and, holding him by the shoulder at arm's lengl gazed searchirigly into his pale worn countenance. " Poor Adolph !" he said at last, and his deep voi trembled with emotion. " Has fate brought you to thii But wait awhile, we will have you sound and well agaii it is not too late. A thousand welcomes to you 1 Ai now let us stick together until the last great trumpet ca when we shall not be asked whether we will stay t gether or not." He tried to master his emotion, and helped his sist( in-law and little Ernst, whom he embraced and kissed, descend from the carriage. " Well," said he, " you must have been knocked up an early hour, I must say, and that's hardly the thing f women." "What can you be thinking of, uncle?" cried Eliz beth. "We are no slug-a-beds, and know exactly how i. sun looks when he says good morning to the world." " Halloa !" cried the forester with a laugh of surpris " Who is that quarrelling with me in the corner of t carriage ? Come out instantly, little one." " I, little ? Well, sir, you will be finely surprised whi I do get out and you see what a tall, stately maiden I am With these words Elizabeth sprang down from the hij carriage and stood on tiptoe, drawing herself up to h full height beside him. But although her slender, gra( ful figure was something above middle size, she seem* at this moment like a pretty king-bird measuring itsi with an eagle. " Look," she said, in a rather disappointed tone, "la nearly up to your shoulder, and that is more than ti enough for a respectable girl." Her uncle, holding himself as erect as possible, look down upon her with a roguish smile of great self-satisft GOLD ELSIE. 25 tion for a moment, then suddenly picked her up in his arms as though she had been a feather, and amid the laughter of the others carried her into the house, calling in a voice of thunder — " Sabina, Sabina, come here, and I will show you how the wrens look in B ." He put his terrified burden down in the hall as gently and carefully as though he were handling some brittle plaything, took her head tenderly between his large hands, kissed her forehead again and again, and said, " That such a queen of Liliput, such a moonshine elf, should dream of being as large as her tall uncle I But, forest fairy as you are, you know all about the sun, for your head is covered with its beams." As she was carried into the house upon her uncle's arm the girl's hat had fallen from her head, revealing a mass of fair hair, the golden colour of which was all the more remarkable as her delicately pencilled eyebrows and long lashes were coal black. In the mean while an old woman entered from a side door, and at the head of the first flight of stairs several boyish faces appeared, which, however, vanished as soon as they found themselves perceived by the forester. " Oh, you need not run away," he cried, laughing. "I have seen you peeping. They are my assistants," he turned to his brother ; " the fellows are as curious as sparrows, and to-day I really cannot blame them," and he glanced archly at Elizabeth, who, standing aside, was binding her loosened braids around her head. Then he took the old woman !:y the hand and presented her, with an air of comical solemnity: "Fraulein Sabina Holzin, Minister of the Interior to the Forest Lodge, High Constable in all stable and farm affairs, and to every one therein concerned, and, lastly, absolute monarch in the kitchen department. 3 26 GOLD ilhlSlM. While she is putting the dinner on the table do just as she tells you, and all will go well with you ; but, if she begins with her stock of old proverbs and ghost stories, get out of her way as quickly as possible, for there is no end to them. And now,"— he turned to the smiling old woman, who was a miracle of ugliness, and who yet pre- possessed all in her favour by her honest eyes, by an ex- pression of roguery and fun that lighted up her face, and especially by the spotless cleanliness of her attire, — "now bring us as quickly as you can whatever pantry and cellar will afford. I know you baked our "Whitsuntide cakes earlier than usual, that our travellers might have something to refresh them after their fatigue." With these words he opened the door opposite to the one from the kitchen through which the old woman dis- appeared, and showed his guests into a large apartment with bow-windows. But Elizabeth lingered behind, looking through the door which led into the court-yard, for, between the white picket fences which shut in the feathered tribes on each side of the enclosure, she saw gay beds of flowers, while three or four late-blossoming apple trees stretched their rosy bloom-laden branches over one corner of the space. The garden was large, climbing a short distance up the mountain side by terraces, and even enclosing within its realm a beautiful group of old beeches, outlying members of the forest. While Elizar beth, entranced, stood thus in the hall, the door of a side wing of the house opened and a young girl stepped out into the court-yard. She was strikingly beautiful, al- though her figure was rather diminutive, a defect for which nature had seemed to wish to indemnify her by gifting her with a pair of large eyes that glowed like dazzling black suns. Her abundant dark hair was arranged evidently with an eye to coquettish effect, and several charmingly curled GOLD ELSIE. 27 locks had escaped just above the pale forehead. Her dress, too, although of simple material, betrayed in its arrangement the greatest care, and the observer could not but suspect that the skirt was so artistically looped not merely that the hem might be kept from the dust, but also with an eye to the neat little boot which it revealed, and which certainly was not made to be hidden beneath the heavy woollen stuff of the dress. She had in her hand a bowl full of grain, and threw a handful upon the stones at her feet. A great noise en- sued; the doves fluttered down from the roof, the fowls left their roosts and nests with loud cacklings, and the watch-dog felt it his duty to assist in the universal clamour by barking loudly. Elizabeth was astonished. It is true, her uncle had been married, but he never had any children, as she knew ; who then was this young girl, of whom no men- tion had been made in his letter ? She descended the steps that led to the court-yard, and approached the stranger : " Do you live at the Lodge ?" she asked, kindly. The black eyes were riveted searchingly upon her for one moment, with a look of unmistakable surprise, then an expression of annoyance flitted across her delicate lips, which closed more tightly than before; the eyelids fell over the glittering eyes, and she turned silently away, as though entirely unconscious of the presence or address of any one, and continued feeding the fowls with the grain. Just then Sabina passed through the hall with the coffee-tray. She beckoned confidentially to Elizabeth, who stood amazed, and, when she drew near, bade her follow her into the house, saying: "Come, child, you can do nothing with her." In the sitting-room, Elizabeth found all as comfortable and happy as if they had lived together for years. Her 28 GOLD ELSIE. mother was sitting in a large arm-chair, which the forester had pushed near a window that commanded a lovely view down one of the vistas of the forest. A large striped cat had sprung confidingly into her lap, where it was purring with satisfaction beneath the small hand that was gently stroking it. And for little Ernst, the four walls of the room were a perfect museum of all imaginable curiosities. He had climbed into one chair after another, and was then standing in speechless admiration before a glass case con- taining a gorgeous collection of butterflies. The two men were seated, side by side, upon the lounge, in deep con- sultation concerning the future abode of the family, and, as Elizabeth entered, she heard her uncle say, " Well, if the old ruin on the mountain cannot afford you shelter, you must stay here with me. I can move my writing- table and all my other matters out of your way for awhile, and then I will besiege the authorities in the town until they consent to add another story to the right vring of my old house." Elizabeth took off her travelling cloak, and assisted old Sabina to set the table. The first shadow had fallen upon the enjoyment that had filled her soul. Never before had any advance of hers been met with unkindness. That she owed this exemption from the ill humour of others to her beauty, the charm of her manner, and the childlike purity of her nature, which exercised an unconscious in- fluence upon all around her, had never occurred to her. She had taken it for granted that she should experience only kindness from all, since she was conscious of mean- ing well by all the world. Her disappointment at the re- pulse was all the greater, because the sight of a young girl of about her own age had caused her such surprise and joy; and the beautiful face of the stranger had in- terested her deeply. The studied arrangement of the GOLD ELSIE. 29 girl's dress Ijad not struck her, as she herself had never yet known the desire of heightening her attractions by the aids of the toilet. Her father and mother had always assured her that no time spent in the cultiva- tion of mind and heart was lost, and that if they were what they should be, her exterior could never be unat- tractive, whatever might be the form with which nature had endowed her. The thoughtful expression of Elizabeth's face did not escape her mother's notice. She called her to her, and her daughter began an account of the meeting ; but at the first words the forester turned towards her. A deep wrinkle appeared between his bushy eyebrows, and made his face dark and gloomy. " Indeed," he said, "have you seen her already ? Well, then, let me tell you who and what she is. I took her into my house some years ago, that she might assist Sabina in her housekeeping. She is a distant relative of my deceased wife, and has no parents, brothers nor sisters. I wished to do good, but I have provided myself with a perpetual scourge, — although I do not deserve it. She had not been here a month before 1 discovered that she had not a single healthy thought in her entire com- position; she is a mass of exaggerated ideas and incon- ceivable arrogance. I had half a mind to send her back to the place she came from, but Sabina, who has still less cause than I to love her, entreated me not to do it. Why, I cannot tell, for the girl gave her a great deal of trouble, and was insolent. I did all I could to tame her haughty spirit by giving her regular duties to perform, and for awhile matters went on pretty well. But about a year ago a certain Baroness Lessen came to live over at Lindhof, — that is the name of the former Gnadewitz property, which the heir-at-law sold to a Herr von Walde. 3* 30 OOLD ELSIE. The possessor himself, who has neither wife nor child, is a kind of antiquary, travels a great deal, and leaves his only sister under the charge of the aforesaid baroness, more's the pity, for she turns everything upside down. Tears ago, when I used to hear great piety spoken of, all my veneration was excited, and I wished at least to take my cap off; but now, when I hear of such things, I clench my fist and pull my hat down over my eyes, for the world has greatly changed. The Baroness Lessen be- longs to those pious souls who grow cruel, hard, and narrow-minded out of what they call pure fear of the Lord ; who persecute a fellow-creature who does not cast his eyes down hypocritically, but lifts them to heaven where God dwells, as persistently as a hound hunts down game. This is the herd to which my excellent niece be- longs ; there could not be a better soil for all the weeds that her brain generates, and all sorts of annoyances are the consequence. She made acquaintance with a lady's- maid over there, and spent all her leisure time with her. At first I was content enough, until all at once she began with her plans, — for our conversion, as she calls it. Sa- bina was a miserable sinner, because she would not leave off work, at least ten times a day, to pray; the poor old thing, who never misses church every Sunday at Lindhof, even through wind and rain, and often with rheumatism racking her old bones, and who has lived a faithful, laborious life, infinitely more religious than sixty years of idleness spent upon her knees. And then my fine moralist attacked me; but there she found her match, and contented herself with a single effort. Then I forbade all intercourse with Lindhof; but my prohibition was of little use, for whenever my back is turned she takes oc- casion to slip over there. Of course, there can be no question of any gratitude toward.s me; I have no bond GOLD ELSIE. 31 of union with her as her guardian, and that makes my task of guiding and guarding her doubly difficult. God only knows what insane idea has taken possession of her now, but for two months she has been perfectly dumb, not only here at home, but everywhere. For that space of time not a single word has passed her lips. Neither sternness nor gentle entreaty produces the slightest effect upon her. She attends to her duties just as she used to do, eats and drinks like every one else, and is not one whit less vain or wise in her own conceit. But because she grew pale, and did not look very well, T consulted a physician, who had formerly known her, with regard to her health. He assured me that her physical health was excellent, and advised that she should be treated with gentle firmness, as the minds of several of her family had previously been somewhat affected. He said, too, that she would grow tired of her entire silence, and would begin talking some fine day like a magpie. I am content to wait ; but in the mean time it is a sore trial to me. All my life I have longed to have happy faces around me, and would rather eat bread and salt with cheerful people than the costliest dainties with morose com- panions. Come, my Fair one with the golden locks," he concluded, stroking Elizabeth's head with his huge hand, "push your mother's arm-chair up to the table, tie a nap- kin round the neck of that little rogue who is staring his eyes out at my case of rifles, and let us breakfast together, for you all need repose, and must rest your weary limbs after your long journey. After dinner we must begin to think of Castle Gnadeck; but first strengthen your eyes with a little sleep, lest they should be dazzled by the splendour which will flash upon them up there." After breakfast, while her father and mother were asleep and little Ernst was dreaming in a large bed of the won- 32 GOLD ELSIE. ders of the forest-lodge, Elizabeth unpacked in the upper room, which her uncle had resigned to her, all that was , necessary for the coming night. She would not for the world have gone to sleep. She went repeatedly to the window and looked across to the wooded mountain which arose behind the lodge. There, above the tops of the trees, she could see a black streak, which stood out distinctly against the clear blue sky. That was, as old Sabina said, an ancient iron flag-staff upon the roof of Castle Gnadeck, from which in times long gone by the proud banner of the Gnadewitzes had flouted the air. Was there behind those trees the asylum for which she longed, where her parents might rest their feet, weary with long wandering upon foreign soil ? And then her eyes sought the court-yard below, but the dumb girl did not appear again. She had not come to breakfast, and seemed to wish to avoid all intercourse with the guests at the lodge. For this Elizabeth was very sorry. Although her uncle's account had not been promising, a youthful spirit is not quick to re- sign its illusions, and would rather be undeceived by the bursting of its gay bubble than admonished by the expe- rience of age. The beautiful girl, who could so deter- minedly conceal her secret behind closed lips, became doubly interesting to her, and she exhausted herself in conjectures as to the cause of this silence. aOLD ELSIE. 33 CHAPTER IV. After a most cheerful dinner, Sabina brought from the cupboard a pipe, which she filled and handed with a match to the forester. " What are you thinking of, Sabina ?" he said, rejecting it with a comical air of displeased surprise. " Do you think I could find it in my heart to sit here and smoke a quiet pipe while Elsie's little feet are dancing with impa- tience to run up the mountain, and she is longing to poke her little nose into the magic castle ? No, I think we had better start at once upon our voyage of discovery." All were soon ready. The forester gave his arm to hia sister-in-law, and they started off through the court and garden. After they had gone a little way, they were joined by a mason from the neighbouring village, whom the forester had sent for that he might be at hand if necessary. They walked up the mountain by a tolerably steep and narrow path through the thick forest, but this path grad- ually broadened, and at last led to a small open space, on one side of which arose what seemed like a tall gray rock. "Here I have the pleasure," said the forester to his brother, with a sarcastic smile, "of revealing to you the estate of the lamented Baron von Gnadewitz in all its grandeur." They were standing before a lofty wall, which looked like one solid block of granite. They could see nothing of any buildings that might be behind it, because the sur- rounding forest was too thick and close to allow of a suf- 34 GOLD ELSIE. ficiently distant point of observation. The forester led the way along the wall, at the base of which thick un- derbrush was growing, until he reached a large oaken door with an iron grating in the upper half of it. Here he had had the matted growth of underbrush cleared away, and he now produced a bunch of large' keys which had been handed over to Frau Ferber as she had passed through L the day before. The utmost exertions of the three men were necessary before the rusty locks and bars would move, but at last the door creaked, or rather crashed upon its hinges, and a thick cloud of dust floated up into the air. The ex- plorers entered and found themselves in a courtyard bounded on three sides by buildings. Opposite them was the imposing front of the castle, with a flight of broad stone steps, and a clumsy iron balustrade, leading to the entrance door upon the first story. Running from each side of the main building were gloomy colonnades, whose granite pillars and arches seemed to defy the tooth of time. In the centre of the court-yard a group of old chestnut trees stretched their aged boughs above a huge basin, in the midst of which couched four stone lions with wide open jaws. Formerly four powerful streams of water must have poured through them from the bowels of the earth, filling the entire basin ; but now there was only a small stream trickling through the threatening teeth of one of the monsters, sufficing to sprinkle with moisture the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of the stone basin, and, by its low, mournful ripple, giving a faint suggestion of life in this wilderness. The outer walls of the structure and the colonnades were all that could be regarded without terror in this space. The win- dow frames, from which ev.ery pane of glass had been broken, showed the sad desolation within. In some OOLD ELSIE. 35 rooms the ceilings had already fallen in ; in others, the joists were bent as though the lightest touch might send them crashing down. Even the stone steps seemed half hanging in the air, — some mossy fragments had already become detached from them, and had rolled into the centre of the court-yard. "We can do nothing here," said Ferber. "Let us go on." Through a deep, dark portal they entered another court-yard, which, although much larger than the first, by its striking irregularity produced an impression of far greater desolation. Here, a dreary, crumbling pile of masonry projected far out, and formed a dark cor- ner never visited by a sunbeam ; there, a clumsy tower shot into the air, throwing a deep shadow upon the wing at its back. An old elder bush, leading a straggling existence in one corner, with its leaves covered with fallen crumbs of mortar, and some dry grasses between the stones of the pavement, made the scene yet more desolate. No noise disturbed the deathlike silence reign- ing here. Even the jackdaws soaring in the air above ceased their chatter, and the echoes of the footsteps upon the stone pavement had a ghostly sound. "Yes, those old knights," said Ferber, almost appalled at the sight of the desolation around him, " have heaped up these piles of granite, and thought that this cradle of their race would proclaim the splendour of their name through all coming centuries. Each has altered and ar- ranged his inheritance after his own taste and convenience, as we see from these different kinds of architecture, and lived as if there were no end to it all." "And yet each lodged here but for a little space," in- terrupted the forester, " and paid his landlord, the earth, for his lodging with his own crumbling bones, — now 36 GOLD ELSIE. turned to dust. But let us go on. Brr— it'!— it makes me shiver. Death everywhere, — nothing but death !" "Do you call that death, uncle?" suddenly exclaimed Elizabeth, who had hitherto been awed and silent, points ing, as she spoke, through a door which was half concealed by an interposing column. There, behind a grating, fresh sunny green was shining, and young climbing roses leaned their blossoms against the iron bars. Elizabeth ran towards the door, and, exerting all her strength, pushed it open. The space upon which she entered had probably been the former flower-garden, but such a name could scarcely be applied to the tangled wilderness of green, where not even the narrowest vestige of a path could be discerned, and where here and there only the mutilated remains of a statue appeared among the mass of shrubs, bushes, and parasitical plants. A wild grape-vine had climbed to the upper story of the building, and taken firm hold there of the window-sills, — its green branches and wreaths falling thence like a shower upon the wild roses and lilac bushes beneath. And in this secluded, blooming spot of ground, a buzzing and humming were heard, as if Spring had assembled here her entire host of winged insects. Countless butterflies flut- tered over the flowers, and golden beetles were running glittering across the broad fern leaves at Elizabeth's feet. And above this little world of bloom and busy life several fruit trees and magnificent lindens waved their leafy crests, while upon a slight elevation were seen the remains of what had once been a pavilion. The garden was surrounded upon three sides by buildings; the square was completed by a high, green wall, which had been constructed of earth, like a dam, and above which the trees of the forest waved a greet- ing to their neighbours within. Here were also the same GOLD ELSIE. 31 signs of decay, — tolerably well preserved outer walls, — complete ruin within. Only one building of two stories, connecting two high wings, attracted attention from its closed appearance. The light did not shine through it, as through its doorless and windowless companions; its flat roof, finished in front and at the back by a heavy stone balustrade, must have bidden defiance to time and tempest, as had also the gray window-panes which peeped out here and there from the tangled growth of vines that cov- ered everything. The forester measured it with a teen glance, and declared that this must be Sabina's famous building, — possibly the interior might not be in as crum- bling a condition as the rest of the castle, — only he could not understand how they were to get into the old swal- low's nest. Certainly, the rank growth around the base of the walls would have obscured all trace of steps or door, even were there any such entrance. They deter- mined, therefore, to venture up into one of the large side wings by a worn but tolerably secure flight of stone steps, and thus attempt to arrive at the interior of the connect- ing building. They succeeded in gaining ingress to the tall wing, although they could keep their footing only by clinging to the uneven walls. They first entered a large saloon which had the blue sky for a ceiling, and whose only decoration was a few green bushes growing through its walls. Remnants of galleries, worm-eaten joists, and various fragments of frescoed ceiling were heaped up in piles, over which the explorers had to scramble as best they might. Then followed a long suite of rooms in the same utterly desolate condition. Upon some of the walls fragments of family portraits were still hanging, upon which, strangely and comically enough, only an eye, or, perhaps, a pair of delicate folded hands, or a mail-clad, theatrically-posed leg, was yet distinctly to be traced. 4 38 GOLD JSLSim. At lengih they reached the last apartment, and stood before a high-arched doorway which had evidently been bricked up. "Aha!" said Ferber, "here they intended to cut off this building from the universal desolation. I think that before wc venture any further upon this break-neck expedition it would be well to knock out these stones." His proposal was at once favourably received, and the mason began his task; he soon penetrated into a recess in the wail, which he assured them was double at this spot. The other two men lent their assistance, and a thick oaken door was revealed behind the masonry that they cleared away. This door was not locked, and yielded readily to the mason's strong arm. They entered an en- tirely dark, close room. One slender sunbeam straying through a crack showed them where to find a window; the bolt of the shutter, rusty from long disuse, resisted for some time the strength of the forester, and the trees upon the outside opposed an additional obstacle to their exertions. At last the shutter yielded with a crash; the golden -green sunlight streamed in through a high bow-window and disclosed an apartment not broad, but very deep, the walls of which were hung with Gobelin tapestry. Upon each of the four corners of the ceiling were painted the arms of the Gnadewitzes. To the sur- prise of all, this room was entirely furnished as a sleeping apartment. Two canopied beds, with hangings dingy with age, that occupied the two long walls of the room, were all made up; the pillows were covered with fine linen cases, and the silken coverlid still preserved its colour and texture. Everything that could conduce to the com- fort of an aristocratic occupant was here, buried, indeed, beneath a mass of dust, but in a state of excellent pre- servation. Beyond this apartment, and opening into GOLD ELSIE. 39 it, was another much larger, with, two windows ; it was also completely furnished, although in antique style, and evidently with furniture hunted up from various other rooms for the purpose. An antique writing-table, its top most artistically inlaid and resting upon strangely carved claw feet, harmonized but poorly with the more modern form of the crimson sofa ; and the gilt frames, in which hung several well-painted hunting pictures, did not accord with the silver mountings of the huge mirror. Nevertheless, nothing was wanting that could complete the solid comfort of the room. A thick, though some- what faded carpet was laid upon the floor, and a large antique timepiece stood beneath the mirror. A small boudoir, also furnished, and from which a door led to a vestibule and a flight of steps, opened from the larger apartment. Behind these rooms were three others of a similar size, with windows looking upon the garden; one of these, containing two beds and pine furniture, was evidently intended for the servants. "Well done !" cried the forester with a smile of satis- faction; "here is an establishment that exceeds the wild- est flights of our modest fancy. If the sainted Gnade- witz could see us now he would turn in his leaden coffin. All this we owe, I suppose, to the neglect of a housekeeper or to the forgetfulness of some childish, old steward." "But do you think we ought to keep these things?" asked, in a breath, Frau Ferber and Elizabeth, who had been silent hitherto from wonder. "Most certainly, my love," said Ferber; "your uncle left you the castle with everything which it con- tained." "And little enough it was," growled the forester. "But in comparison with our expectations a perfect mine of wealth," said Frau Ferber, as she opened a beau- 40 GOLD ELSiJ