"The dreary desolated court-yard appeared to us a paradise, the dazzling splendour of the bright morning sun, and the pure air which we now inhaled, filled our hearts with the strongest sensations of bliss. We congratulated each other on our resurrection from the dreary abode of mortality, where we were doomed to be entombed alive, and shook each other by the hand half frantic with joy.
"We went now to the hall in search of the Lieutenant's servant; the table and everything was in the same condition we had left them, but John was not there. We went through the whole gloomy fabric shouting and hallooing, discharging our pistols, but no sound was heard except the hollow echo repeating our shouts and the reports of our pistols all over the dreary building.
"Very likely he is returned to the inn," said the Lieutenant, "and we shall find him there."
"We left that dangerous abode of black horror, praising God again and again for our deliverance.
"As we entered the inn we beheld the landlord surrounded by a number of villagers, who were come to inquire whether we were returned from the castle. They were very much surprised when we entered the room, and, respectfully taking off their hats, told us, that the uproar at the village last night had been more tremendous than ever. Every one was impatient to know the particulars of our adventure, but the Lieutenant having then no inclination of amusing himself with their simplicity, gave them a short answer, and asked the landlord where his servant was.
"I have not seen him since yesterday," replied he.
"It is impossible," resumed the Lieutenant; "where are the horses?"
"They are in the stable," replied the landlord, "I have just been looking after them."
"The Lieutenant gave us an apprehensive look, and begged the gaping peasants to look after him, all over the village and the adjacent places: they all were very willing to do it, and left the inn.
"It was nine o'clock when we entered the inn, and it struck twelve when our honest villagers returned, with the disagreeable news that they could find poor John nowhere.
"The Lieutenant thought it not prudent to remain any longer at that fatal place; the Baron likewise wished to depart and I too was impatient to be gone. As soon as we had finished our scanty dinner, we departed a second time; the tears started from our landlord's eyes, and from those of the good villagers, when we bade them farewell, after having made them a small present, and they saw us depart with regret.
"The Lieutenant knew the ways through the Black Forest pretty well, he rode by our chaise leading his servant's horse with one hand, and we reached without any farther accident the limits of that dreadful forest. We parted company at the close of the second day, bidding each other a tender adieu.
"I thank you, gentlemen," said the Lieutenant, as we were getting into our chaise at the door of the inn. "I thank you for your kind and faithful assistance in the most dreadful adventure of my life; if I should be so fortunate to get at the bottom of the mystery which hangs over that castle, as I shall endeavour to do, I will take the first opportunity to apprise you of my success. farewell, remember now and then the 20th of September, 1750, and do not forget your friend."
"The postilion smacked his whip, and we went different roads. On the fifth day we arrived, without any further accident, at the castle of Baron R----, the father of my pupil.
"And here," added Herman, "my narration is finished. A letter which the Baron wrote me, and a manuscript sent me by the Lieutenant, contains everything that has happened afterwards. But these papers you shall not get before your departure."
Though Elfrid's curiosity had been spurred very much, yet he could not but consent to his friend's proposal, and spent a fortnight more with him in uninterrupted pleasure.
The days rolled swiftly on, shortened by the conversation of his friend, by hunting and other diversions, and he at length was obliged to bid his host adieu.
Before he parted with his Elfrid, he gave him the above-mentioned manuscript, assuring him that he would have given it him sooner, if he had been able to find it amongst a great many papers. He added, that he had searched for it in vain several days, and would have given him the continuation and conclusion of those mysterious adventures, by way of narration, if he could not have found the manuscript, but he had fortunately traced it out the day before his departure amongst a number of old musty papers. Herman cleaned it from the dust and gave it to his friend, saying to him, "Take, brother, take here the continuation of my tale, and if thou thinkest the publication of it will amuse and benefit the world thou art welcome to publish it."
Then they parted, alas! for ever. Herman's wish was accomplished, he had seen once more the faithful friend of his younger days, and soon after went to that better world where good men will meet again the friends of their bosom, never to part again. Elfrid, too, is awaiting the solemn morn of resurrection in his grave, and he, before he died, set down in writing the foregoing narration. Now let us see what the writings which his friend had given him contain.
END OF THE FIRST PART
PART II
CHAPTER I
----
"B----, . 11, 1772.
", --It is with the greatest pleasure I am going to communicate to you a remarkable incident I met with this summer, when at Pyrmont. I would have given you the following account some time ago, if it had not been for some papers which I was obliged to wait for; they are arrived at last, and here I send them, beseeching you to remit them to me as soon as you shall have perused them.
"I had been three weeks at Pyrmont, when I one time went to the promenade on a very beautiful evening, there I happened to meet a gentleman whose features interested me very much though they were unknown to me. Walking slowly on I soon saw him come after me, he passed me with hasty steps, and turning suddenly stared me in the face; I did the same, being surprised that I also had attracted the notice of the stranger. He went on, but soon after turned round once more, directing his steps towards me and staring again at me. I stopped and did the same. He moved his lips as if he wanted to speak to me, just when I was going to ask him whether he wanted something; however, we both remained silent, pursuing our walk. That pantomime we repeated several times, neither of us uttering a word, at length it began to grow dark and I went to my lodgings.
"The next morning I awoke with the first ray of the sun, and went again to the promenade, to inhale the salubrious breeze of the morning air, and to hail the rising king of the day under the canopy of heaven. I was no sooner seated on a bench beneath a majestic beech-tree, admiring the greatness of the Creator so striking in the beautiful scenes of a fine summer's morning, when I once more beheld the stranger who had interested me so much the preceding evening. He came nearer, saluted me, and took a seat on the bench where I was sitting. We both admired, in profound silence, the beautiful scene around for a quarter of an hour. Every object which surrounded us pronounced the greatness of God: numbers of feathered songsters hailed the rising sun; diamonds and rubies sparkled on the leaves of the trees, loaded with the pearly drops of dew. Now the sun darted his warming cheerful rays all around, and the stranger looked at me with an inquisitive eye. "Sir," he at length began, "you will excuse me if I should be mistaken. I think I have had, some years past, the pleasure of being in your company somewhere or other."
"It is possible," replied I, "that I have had that honour. Will you favour me with your name?"
"My name is B----, and I am Major in the service of the King of Denmark."
"B----! I think I remember that name, yet I cannot recollect where I have had the honour of seeing you."
"Perhaps I may," replied he, "if you will be so kind to favour me with your name."
"My name is R----."
"Did not you return from your travels to Germany in the year 1750?"
"I replied in the affirmative.
"Then I am not mistaken," said he smiling, "don't you remember the adventure at the Haunted Castle on the skirts of the Black Forest, and that villanous Necromancer?"
"I was str
uck with amazement, "How," exclaimed I, "is it you? Do I not dream?"
"Yes, dear friend, it is I," he replied, "you are not mistaken. How strangely and how unexpectedly do friends meet sometimes in this world! I am at present governor to a young prince who is on his travels. We are here incognito, yet I could not resist the ardent desire of making myself known to you. Did you never wish to get some further intelligence of the mystery of that terrible castle and its strange inhabitants? With the greatest pleasure I would have communicated to you what came to my knowledge since we parted, had I but known the place of your residence; I travelled on purpose to your native town as soon as I had finished my recruiting business, but I was told you had been sent by your prince to England on affairs of state."
"Your kindness deserves my warmest acknowledgment, and I am very sorry that I had the misfortune of being absent when you intended to do me the honour of seeing me."
"Your absence vexed me very much," he replied, "because it not only deprived me of the pleasure of seeing once more an old friend, but also prevented me from performing the promise I had given you when we parted. This happy meeting affords me, therefore, the greatest pleasure, and if you will favour me with your company, at my apartments, I can give you a satisfactory account of several accidents which happened before and after our adventure at the castle, and which are nearly connected with what we have encountered."
"I accepted his kind invitation, and went with him to breakfast in his apartments. On the way he inquired after you, and was rejoiced to hear that you are well and happy, blessed with the love of a dear and virtuous wife. He particularly seemed to be pleased with my little narrative of your matrimonial bliss--I forbore to inquire after the reason of it, fearing to renew the pains, which perhaps the recent loss of a dear beloved object might have inflicted upon him, and gave our conversation another turn until we arrived at his apartments.
"After we had breakfasted we seated ourselves by the window, and he began a tale which took an unexpected and a most wonderful turn, but the accidents were so various and many, that he only could give me a short sketch, which being interspersed with many episodes, was rather confused. He was himself sensible of the defects of his narrative, and promised to send me a written account of those wonderful accidents as soon as he should have finished his travels.
"I spent five happy days in his company, and then we parted reluctantly. Two months after he sent me the enclosed continuation of his adventures, which will strike you with astonishment.
"Major B---- sends you his best wishes, he longs ardently to see you once more.
"farewell, and remember
"Your faithful,
R----."
CHAPTER II
ADVENTURES OF LIEUT. B----
"I was lost in profound meditation after I had parted with my companions; all the horrid scenes of the adventure at the castle hovered before my imagination; I fancied myself at the inn, in the ruinous hall, and then in the cellar, still beholding the Necromancer and the phantoms, seeing the flashes of lightning, and hearing the roaring of the thunder, and the hollow voices of the spectres. My fancy renewed all the horrors which had rushed upon me when shut up in the cellar, as well as the joy I felt when we had the good fortune to find an outlet from our infernal dungeon; my restless fancy painted all these pictures with the strongest colours, painted them so grisly, that I sent up to heaven the most fervent thanksgiving for my delivery from that infernal abode.
"These horrid dreams vanished at length, giving room to contemplations of a more serious cast. I was every moment reminded of the unhappy fate of my faithful John, and felt an ardent desire to get at the bottom of those mysterious events, that I might be enabled to deliver my poor servant from the clutches of the spirits, or, at least, revenge his death. I was however sensible, that I alone should not be equal to it; the peasants of the village I did not think fit for assisting me in my enterprise, and the whole undertaking too hazardous without the assistance and the counsel of an experienced and resolute man. I therefore was determined to search for such a man, and, aided by his counsel and assistance, once more to encounter those nocturnal sportsmen.
"This resolution was the result of my meditations on the first morning after my separation from my companions, and I burned with impatient desire to rid myself of that load of uncertainty which lay heavy upon my mind. At length I arrived at the place of my destination, and resumed my recruiting business, assisted by two old serjeants.
"I hastened to return to the skirts of the Black Forest, and went to F----, while there I met with Prussian, Austrian, Hessian, and Swedish recruiting officers, and now and then with an old acquaintance of mine.
"Amongst others I got acquainted with an old Austrian officer, who was highly respected by every one; when he said anything, which happened not often, then everybody listened with the greatest attention, and when, now and then, a quarrel arose, everything was soon settled by his interference.
"A man who thus powerfully could influence a set of people who admit no law but that of superiority soon engaged my admiration in the highest degree, and I concluded he would be the fittest person to assist me in the execution of my design, to unfold the mystery of the Haunted Castle, if I could but gain his confidence; yet I was sensible that it would be no easy task to ingratiate myself so far with him that he should not refuse believing a tale like mine, which bore such glaring marks of fiction. I apprehended a veteran of so much experience, and so serious a turn of mind, would laugh at my narrative, and treat it as a nursery tale.
"I was the more inclined to fear this apprehension might prove true, when I learned by experience that his curiosity was always guided by cool and just reasoning. His cheerfulness never exceeded the limits of moderated seriousness, and his smile was nothing more than an almost imperceptible unfolding of the wrinkles, which contracted his reverend brow; his mirth bore the resemblance of his carriage, and whoever knew him, trembled at his anger, though none of his acquaintances had ever experienced the least mark of passion in his countenance, and much less had he ever betrayed a symptom of unbridled wrath.
"I let slip no opportunity of doing him some little services, and thus endeavoured to gain his favour; however, he appeared to take no notice of my unremitted zeal to please him; I treated him with marks of the highest veneration, whenever I was in his company, but he seemed not to regard it. All my most anxious endeavours to win that strange man over to my interest proved abortive, and, at last, I gave over every hope of engaging his attention.
"Chance befriended me, at length, unexpectedly, and I got by accident what I already had despaired to attain by the most indefatigable endeavours.
"The inn where one of the recruiting officers lodged was reported to be haunted; many strange stories circulated on account of that report, which the then owner of the house endeavoured to laugh off, because he had lived a fortnight in it without perceiving any thing uncommon.
"This subject afforded one evening matter for a serious discourse among the officers. The Austrian veteran maintained, contrary to our expectation, that one ought not to treat with ridicule some events of supernatural appearance, and no argument could make him relinquish his opinion. My heart panted for joy, for now I could hope he would not refuse to credit my wondrous tale.
"I was already going to relate the strange events which I had witnessed at the Haunted Castle, when I suddenly was checked by the apprehension of drawing upon me the laugh of the company, or that some one or other would offer to encounter with me the nightly sportsmen, without being equal to that hazardous undertaking.
"The Austrian spoke with uncommon warmth, his eyes sparkled, and the wrinkles on his brow were contracting closer and closer, and when the company persisted in contradicting his opinion, he offered to enforce his arguments by undeniable facts, which he himself had experienced, requesting to be heard in profound silence, which could not but be granted to a man like him. We expected to hear something very uncommon, and for sometime gazed at him in d
umb expectation, till he at length began as follows:--
"If I maintain that apparitions of supernatural beings ought not wholly to be rejected, then I must tell you, gentlemen, that I do not only mean that it is merely possible that departed souls, or supernatural beings of another class, can appear when and wherever they please; but I also promise to convince you by my own experience, that there are people who can affect apparitions of that kind, at certain times and under certain conditions.
"We stared at each other in silent wonder: the preamble of the Austrian gave us reason to expect some horrid tale, and the seriousness of his looks and the solemn accent of his words commanded general awe. After a short pause, our solemn narrator related the following tale:--
CHAPTER III
THE AUSTRIAN OFFICER'S TALE OF GODFRIED BURGHER'S GHOST
"In a regiment of the garrison in which I served as Lieutenant, about twenty years ago, was a man who gave the most undeniable proofs of the truth of my assertion; he was a serjeant, about forty years old, and of a morose and gloomy appearance; he was respected by his superiors, prompt and exact in the service, and never would brook an affront. The unthinking called him a sorcerer, and people of a more serious cast of mind talked of his connexion with superior beings, taking great care not to offend that terrible man, whose name was Volkert. In the whole he was a very good sort of a man, never offended any body, if not provoked, was averse to company, and fond of solitude.
"He was reported to have performed many strange and wonderful exploits; an ensign, who had severely chastised him for a slight neglect in his duty, was said to have been deprived ever since of the proper use of his right arm; and a captain, who had scolded him without reason, to be afflicted with a deficiency in his speaking organs. In short, strange things were every where related of Volkert, and in so serious a manner, that no impartial man would laugh at those reports.
The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror) Page 121
