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objection; I would accompany him, no matter whether to the woods or to the village ale-house. Nor shall any of you have reason to repent sparing my life. You are in a well-stored mansion, but it is impossible you should be acquainted with all its secret corners. These I will show you, and if I do not make you richer by six thousand dollars, then serve me as you have done my chamber-maid."

Robbers of this kind are certainly villains, but nevertheless they are still men. The wholly unexpected tendency of the Baroness's address, the unaffected tone with which she spoke, her more than ordinary beauty, altogether produced a powerful effect on men whose hands were yet reeking with the blood they had shed. They all stepped aside and consulted together in a low tone for some minutes. The Baroness was left quite alone, but she betrayed not the least wish to escape. She heard two or three thus express themselves: "Let's despatch her, and the game will be up." She, however, scarcely changed colour, for the opposition of the others did not escape her acute ear. One, who was probably the captain of these banditti, now advanced towards her.

He asked twice or thrice whether they might absolutely rely on the truth of what she had said; whether she actually wished to be released from the tyranny of her husband and go with them; and whether she was ready to resign herself to one of them, to himself for instance? Having replied in the affirmative to all these questions, he at length said, "Come along then and lead us round. The devil trust you ladies of rank, but we'll however venture for once. But let me tell you beforehand, that, were you ten times as handsome, this weapon shall cleave your skull, the moment we observe the least disposition to escape or to betray us."

"Then it will be safe enough; and were this the only condition of my death, I should outlive you all, and even the wandering Jew himself." The Baroness smiled as she pronounced these words, hastily snatched up the nearest light, as though she had been as anxious as any of them to collect the plunder and be gone; conducted the whole company through every apartment; opened unasked, every door, every drawer, and every chest; assisted emptying them and packing up the valuables; joked with the utmost vivacity; jumped with indifference over the mangled bodies; spoke with the familiarity of an old acquaintance to each of the horrid troop, and willingly aided with her delicate hands, in the most laborious occupations.

Plate, money, jewels, clothes, and other valuables were now collected together, and the captain of the banditti was already giving the order for their march, when his destined bride suddenly caught him by the arm. "Did I not tell you," said she," that you should not repent making a friend of me and sparing my life. You may indeed have your fling in places that you find open; but 'tis a pity that you cannot so easily come at treasures that are somewhat more concealed."

"Concealed!-What?-Where is something more con

cealed ?"

"What, do you suppose, that among coffers so full of the most valuable effects, there are no secret places? Look here, and then you will be convinced of the contrary."

She pointed to a secret spring in the Baron's writing-desk. They pressed upon it, and out fell six rouleaus, each containing two hundred dollars.

"Zounds!" cried the leader of the robbers, "Now indeed I see that you are an incomparable woman. I will keep you for this like a little Dutchess."

"And perhaps better still," rejoined she, laughing," when I tell you one thing more. I am well aware that you must have had spies who informed you of the absence of my tyrant but did they not tell you of the four thousand guilders which he received the day before yesterday ?"

"Not a syllable; where are they ?"

"O, safe enough! under a half a dozen of locks and bolts. You would certainly not have found them and the iron chest, in which they are deposited, had it not been for me. Come along comrades; we have finished above ground, and now we'll see what is to be done under it. Come along with me, I say, into the cellar !"

The robbers followed, but not without precaution. At the entrance of the cellar, provided with a strong iron trap-door, a man was posted as a centinel. The Baroness did not take the least notice of this. She conducted the whole troop to a vault at the very farthest extremity of the cellar. She unlocked it,

and in a corner of this recess stood the chest she had described. "Here," said she, giving the captain the bunch of keys, "here, unlock it, and take what you find, as a wedding gift, if you can obtain the consent of your companions as readily as you have gained mine."

The robber tried one key after another, but none would fit. He grew impatient, and the Baroness appeared still more so. "Lend me them," said she," I hope I shall find the way sooner. Indeed, if we do’nt make haste, morning might over

take. Ha! only think, the reason neither of us could unlock it is clear enough. As welcome as your visit is to me, yet I. have no scruple to confess that the unexpected arrival of so great a pleasure has flurried me a little. I have brought the wrong bunch of keys. A moment's patience, and I'll soon set that to rights."

She ran up stairs, and presently they heard her coming down again; but she went more slowly, as if out of breath with the haste she had made. "I've found them! I've found them!" cried she at a distance. She was now within about three steps of the centinel placed at the entrance of the cellar ; when she made a spring at the wretch, who as little expected the dissolution of the world as such an attack. A single push with all her strength tumbled him down the stairs from top to bottom. In a twinkling she closed the trap-door, bolted it, and thus had the whole company secure in the cellar. All this was the work of a single moment. In the next, she flew across the court-yard, and with the candle, set fire to a detached pig-stye. It blazed like a heap of straw. The watchman in the neighbouring village perceiving the flame, instantly gave the alarm. In a few minutes all the inhabitants were out of their beds, and a crowd of farmers and their servants hastened to the mansion. The Baroness waited for them at the gate of the court-yard. "A few of you," said she," will be sufficient to put out this fire, or to prevent it from spreading. But now provide yourselves with arms, which you will find in abundance in my husband's armoury; post yourselves at all. the avenues of the cellar, and suffer not one of the murderers and robbers shut up in it to escape."

Her directions were obeyed, and not one of them escaped the punishment due to their crimes.

THE ROBBER.

Family affairs obliged me to undertake a journey to the mountainous region of Bohemia, and I arrived without the slightest accident at the estate of my uncle in that kingdom. There I used generally to spend the evening in walking. In one of these perambulations night overtook me in a wood bordering on my uncle's domain, and extending on the contrary side to a chain of mountains. My imagination was so occupied with the idea of my native land, and the dear objects I had left behind, that I wandered unconsciously from the path. On awaking from this delicious dream, I found that I had totally lost my way; all my endeavors to regain the right track were unavailing, and such was my situation, when I heard a

sudden rustling near me in the thicket. On raising my eyes, a man stood by my side, and inquired whither I was going? I replied that I had lost my way, and at the same time mentioned the name of my uncle's mansion, requesting him to conduct me the nearest road to it. He paused for a few seconds, and then answered :-" "Tis a great way, and I cannot possibly conduct you now; but if you will accept of a night's lodging in my house, follow me."

"Yes,

I hesitated not a moment to accept this proposal. He walked along by my side in profound silence, answered none of my questions, and appeared to be quite absorbed in thought. At length he said, "You have not been long in this kingdom." No, replied I, but who made you acquainted with my situa"Yourself." I stood still, and looked at him with the "Myself, cried I, in amaze. is frequented by robbers, and you seem Why should I be afraid, I have nothing about me that can be of any value to robbers. grasped my hand with eagerness. "Young man," said he, " you have nothing to fear; the robbers in this wood never commit murder."

tion ?
utmost astonishment.
yourself; this wood

not to be afraid,."

He now

Amidst this conversation we arrived at the door of a habitation concealed in a deep recess of the wood. My companion knocked three times; a rough voice cried from within, "Who is there?" "A son of night," was the reply of my conductor. The door opened; I saw myself, by the light of a lamp, in a spacious apartment, painted black; the walls were decorated with arms; a few chairs, and two tables, composed the whole of the furniture. One of them stood beneath a looking-glass, was covered with a white cloth, and upon it lay a human skull. "Jacob," said my companion to a man with a frightful physiognomy, " make a fire in the chimney, and bring provision for my guest." In a few moments a fire blazed on the hearth; he took me by the hand, and we seated ourselves before it.

I had now for the first time an opportunity of examining this extraordinary man. I must candidly confess that I never beheld a more perfect model of manly beauty, but never were the characters of the most profound sorrow and affliction so legibly inscribed on any brow.

No sooner did our conversation commence, than esteem and astonishment took possession of my soul; never had I met with a man who combined such a variety of attainments; he passed with perfect ease from one subject to another, and it appeared as though he had devoted a whole life to the study of each. Meanwhile, a clock that stood in the next room struck

twelve, and at the same time I heard the report of a gun from without. I started. "That is the signal for dinner," said my host; "we turn day into night, and night into day. You will sit down with the refuse of mankind, with a band of robbers, but you have nothing to fear. At the table of kings you may often eat with greater villains, and the rights of hospitality are with us sacred and inviolable."

He took me by the hand; a table was spread beneath a moss-gray oak in the front of the hut. I seated myself beside my host; eighteen other persons partook of the simple repast, seasoned only by the narratives of the leader. All listened attentively to him; there was nothing that could be construed into the slightest breach of decorum, but the conversation was such as you scarcely expect to find in the most polished private houses.

The repast being finished, I returned with my former companion alone to the apartment we had quitted. Our conversation was renewed, but not with the same vivacity. My host had become more grave, and all that he now said bore the character of gloomy misanthropy. I was struck with the unusual colour of his room, and at length asked, "Why did you choose black, that colour makes one sad, and it is our duty to be cheerful." "You are right," replied he, in a sarcastic, but by no means offensive tone. "You are right if you speak of yourself, but as for me, I know joy only by name; to me that sensation has long been a stranger. You look at these walls; their black colour excites your surprise. It is the colour of my fate, and—Oh! that it were also the colour of my heart!-An extraordinary wish!-It only appears so to you. With a black heart I had perhaps been happy, now I am wretched, inexpressibly wretched! all my riches consist in yonder skull, (at the same time pointing to it with a terrific look and distorted features.) It is my all continued he; when in the hours of serious meditation I stand before it, and the thought that I too shall cease to exist arises in my soul, then alone am I rich, richer than your princes, or the greatest of fortune's favourites. They lose, I gain; to them death is terrible, to me it is a blessing. To die never to wake more, what a delightful thought, on which I can never contemplate enough! I shall once sleep, and those serpents with me that prey upon my vitals! Whoever shakes my faith in annihilation, robs me of felicity! Oh, there are moments in which it would be happiness to be deprived of reason, a fearful truth, which in the days of prosperity I could not have believed. Sorrow and, anguish impress deeper wrinkles on the brow than the tooth of time; but they are not mortal."

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