The most he could do was to hobble on slowly with the help of
his staff, now losing his way, now finding it, whenever the moon peeped
out to light up his path, then losing it again when the moon hid itself
behind a cloud, till he began to despair of ever finding anything in the
shape of a roof to shelter him from the night air during sleep, and he
more than half made up his mind to encamp on the spot, but just then he
felt a large drop of rain on his face, then another, and another. It had been a broiling hot day, and the air was still sultry. Presently
a flash of vivid forked lightning danced before his eyes, followed by a
clap of thunder so terrific that it bid fair to burst the drum of his
ear. The storm was now overhead; the flashes grew more frequent and more
vivid, and the thunder growled more fiercely than ever. In a few minutes
the rain poured down in torrents, and the English student was drenched
to the skin. "Here is a nice situation for a man on a pleasure trip!" muttered my
ancestor to himself. "Lost, in the dead of night, in the midst of a
thunderstorm, in an open plain without shelter, drenched like a drowned
rat, as hungry as a wolf, and hardly able to crawl, from a sprained
ankle!" His reflections were anything but of a pleasing sort, as you may
imagine, yet he hobbled on as best he could, endeavouring to comfort
himself with the vague hope of finding some sort of shelter for the
night as soon as the storm should pass off. After dragging on his limbs with exemplary patience for another
half-mile, it being then about midnight, he perceived a light from a
cottage window not very far distant. His courage began to revive, and
with halting gait he made for the door of the cottage. He knocked loudly, but no one answered. Thinking that he had not been
heard for the rumbling of the thunder, he knocked again and again. Still
no one came to the door. "I mean to lodge here for the night," said the Englishman to himself,
"if I have to break the door open to effect an entrance." And he kept up
a furious knocking for about three-quarters-of-an-hour. At length he
heard a harsh, grating voice within break out in a string of choice
Teutonic oaths, and the word "schweinhund" (pig-dog) pronounced once or
twice. Footsteps were then heard descending the stairs, and the next moment a
quaint-looking personage appeared at the door in dressing-gown and
slippers, with night-cap on head and candle in hand, and demanded in a
surly tone what the "teufel" he wanted at that hour of night. My ancestor apologised with much courtesy for having roused up so worthy
an individual at such an unearthly hour, but pleaded that he was a poor
benighted traveller, hungry and soaked to the skin. "Then you should have moved further on," was the curt reply. "But whither?" asked my relative. "To the township. This house is not a 'wirtshaus.'" "How far distant is it?" "A mile." By this he meant a German mile--equal to four English miles. "A mile!" exclaimed the Englishman. "I could not walk a mile to save my
life. I've sprained my ankle and can't move a step further. I'm sorry to
put you to such inconvenience, my good fellow, but I really must put up
here." "But there is no accommodation," growled the inmate. "No matter. I dare say you have a little straw; if not, the bare ground
will do." The inmate sulkily suffered the traveller to enter, and showing him into
a parlour on the ground-floor, was about to leave him to himself. "Stop a bit, my good host," said the student. "I must beg to remind you
that I am as hungry as a wolf, and as cold as an icicle. If you could
find me something in your larder to keep soul and body together, and
light me a nice little fire to dry my clothes, you will make me your
friend for life." "Food! Fire! at this time of night!" exclaimed the host, with a look
that seemed to say, "Is the man mad?" "My dear friend," said the Englishman, putting his hand in his pocket
and passing a Reichsgulden into the hand of his host, "I do not want
you to do anything for me gratis. Make me as comfortable as you can for
that--on my departure I'll give you more." "Oh, mein Herr!" said our host, softening at the touch of the bright
metal, "that alters the case entirely. You shall have everything you
want. I am sorry I haven't another bed, but you can have some straw, and
a fire to dry your clothes. I'll go and see directly what there is in
the house by way of refreshment, for you must be hungry indeed!" Our host left the apartment, and returned shortly with some firewood and
a heap of straw. To light a fire and arrange the straw for the traveller in a corner of
the room was the work of a moment. He then hurried off to get supper
ready, and returned soon afterwards with a dish of sausage, some black
bread, some strong cheese and a bottle of "schnaps." "Our fare is homely, you see, sir," said the host, apologetically; "but
it is all we have in the house. We are poor people, and not accustomed
to entertain travellers." "Never mind that, mine host," said the student, "as long as there is
plenty of it, we'll excuse the quality." So saying, he began to strip himself and to hang his clothes before the
fire. Then taking from his knapsack a clean shirt and another pair of
hose, he donned his slippers and drew his chair close to the table. The host, after trimming a lamp and lighting it, placed it in the centre
of the table, and was just about to return to his bed, when the student
called out with his mouth full of sausage, "What! mine host, will you
not honour me with your company whilst I discuss my supper? Company
helps digestion, you know, and I'm sure you wouldn't like to have my
undigested supper on your conscience." The host returned with a grunt, saying that he couldn't stop long, as he
had to rise early on the morrow. "Oh, so have I, good mine host," said my ancestor, "so we are equal. Come, sit down here, and let me see you toss off a glass or two of this
most excellent schnaps. It will keep out the cold and give you pleasant
dreams, besides adding a still richer tint to that glorious nose of
yours." "Humph!" replied the host, little pleased at this personal allusion; but
he drew a chair to the table and made an effort at being sociable. My ancestor until now had hardly had time to give more than a cursory
glance at the features of his host, but finding himself now at table
opposite him, he took a minute survey of his countenance in all its
details. The exterior of our host was striking, to say the least. He was a man of
about five-and-forty, of middle height, broad rather than tall. His neck
and chest might have served as a model for the Farnese Hercules. His
hair and beard, which were matted and unkempt, were of a flaming red,
and he was just beginning to turn bald. His brow was low, knotted, and
streaked with red.