we stopped, and, with a mutual consent, hastened to seat ourselves beside the trunk of a tree which appeared to have been blown down in the recent gale. It was a most pleasant resting-place, and very favourable for conversation. My guide required little persuasion to talk, and he said he never before had met any foreigner who was so well able to understand and to reply to his speech. I pointed out the advantages I had had in having learnt German from Count Z.'s sister.

"How charming she must be" (the reader of the present day will hardly believe that the flattery was very sweet to me) "if she is like the Count, as I am sure that she must be!" And then he spoke at length, and with a real heartfelt affection, of all the good deeds of my uncle during his residence amongst them. How different now were all the lower orders, both in their manners and in their conduct! How tender and thoughtful was his care for them all! How admirable his example!

I then told him how little I had really anticipated his mode of life, and his position amongst them; that before I had only known him through such fragments of his rare letters as had been read to me from

my boyhood upward; and that though I had been much impressed by the glimpse I had had yesterday, yet I must own I had been annoyed at being left alone in this foreign land, immediately on my

entrance to it.

The priest smiled and said, "That he was sure there was no cause for real annoyance,-first, because the Count would never put off a positive duty for mere civility, even to any stranger, and such he would not consider his sister's son; secondly, because the Count certainly expected

me to be his guest for many days; and, thirdly,"-here he rather hesitated.

"Well," I said, "and the thirdly, because

He answered, " And, thirdly, because the Count never does any action without wise reason. He is famous for his intuition into character, and he may have thought that it was best for you that you should spend your first day here alone."

"What can my uncle know about my character?" I replied, rather testily.

My companion smiled, and I struck then upon a new vein of thought, and continued

"Do you know that strange fellow that he keeps about him?—a sort of half artisan, half attendant, with a very ugly look in his countenance; I think they call him Ulric."

"We all know Ulric the watchmaker," was the guarded reply.

"Yes, I daresay you all know him, for he seems difficult to forget," I said, in an ill-tempered way; "but that is hardly an answer to my question. What I asked was, Do you know why such a good man as my uncle should like to have such a creature near him."

My companion looked at me with much surprise, and said, rather stiffly, "For a new-comer, sir, you take aversions somewhat rapidly. It is not for me to meddle with the Count's private affairs, but I do not object to state one obvious reason which it hardly requires an Aristotle to suggest-namely, that benefactors are apt to feel regard for those whom they have benefited."

It occurred to me that Fritz had made much the same remark to me two days before; so I asked

"And has Count Z. bestowed

any great benefaction on this Ulric?"

"Yes; the greatest. He reclaimed him altogether. In his youth the man was led astray by the wildest notions of right and wrong. His mechanical ability was extraordinary, and he was a quick scholar; but unhappily he had fallen into godless hands. His life was reckless. Religion he had none. Dark deeds against the laws were imputed to him, as well as offences against the whole code of morality. It is said-but perhaps I ought not to repeat an unproven story. But, at all events, the rumour was, that had the Count chosen to disclose all the plot which he discovered formed against himself, and of which Ulric was the head, it would have gone very hard against Ulric; and if it had not cost him his life, it would have cost him his liberty all his days. But your uncle did more than forgive him; he taught him-drew out and fostered each spark of good which was left in his character; trained him to turn to proper uses his singular abilities in his own line; instructed him in religion and its obligations; and the result is that he is altogether a reformed character. His gratitude to Count Z. is boundless, and he shows it in every way in his power. His conduct now is exemplary, and for years there has not been a whisper against him. He married four or five years ago, and has one child of singular beauty, to whom he is quite devoted. He brings her to the church, and she leads him with her hand. It is like some little angel leading in one that has erred, and who is lost in wonder at the purity and excellence of his guide. The Count allows them to live at his little farm here on the mountain. We shall pass presently at no great distance from it."

"I was not far wrong, then, after all. I had an instinct that this Ulric was a bad fellow; I turned from him in disgust when I ran against him at Dusseldorf. I certainly have an instinct about such fellows."

Such a fellow as Ulric may also have an instinct,". replied my companion; and then there was a dead pause in our conversation. It would have been absurd to have quarrelled with one of his calling, and on the very territory of his duties; but I was much annoyed.

The priest was the first to break silence, and said, "Forgive me, sir, if I spoke too keenly, and upon such a short acquaintance. Shall we prolong our walk, and will you bear with me a little longer? you would now hardly discover by yourself the short way to your uncle's house." The great heat of the day was past, and the mountain air was delightful. As we both rose to our feet, I felt that my ill-humour was evaporating.

"I am quite ready," I replied, "but almost regret that there should be a quick path home in such scenery, and in such weather."

"That is well said,” rejoined my guide, patting me kindly on the shoulder. "Bear with one who is used to sit in the chair of reproof, and who is so much your elder in years: only," he added playfully, "perhaps we had better not take the turn by the fountain of St. Boniface."

"Now this is extraordinary," I exclaimed; "this is the second time to-day that I have had the warning. I cannot conceive what it means. Is it some idiom of the Black Forest? I only hope you will be able to answer my question, or at least give me a more obliging reply than my uncle's housekeeper, who, when I made the same inquiry this

I am ashamed to say that I had never heard of the saint, and I suppose I looked perplexed, for he went on-"at all events, you have heard of the holy Saxon priest Winfred,* who came from England to preach to us heathens, and who died a martyr to the cause. Ah! if you English know something of the earliest beginnings of Christianity, you never seem to know or care anything about its subsequent history. Well, they say that when St. Boniface came to this part of the Forest, he was accidentally separated from his little band of attendants, and was lost not far from this place during a summer drought. Distracted with thirst, he saw a woman milking a cow, and craved for a drop of milk. The woman, savage as she was, pitied his condition, and was about to supply his need; but her husband suddenly appeared, and brutally withheld her hand. Boniface dragged himself a short distance further on in the direction of the Fallbach, and then sank on the ground from exhaustion. When lo! out of a superb piece of granite rock, at the foot of which he had fallen, there gushed

a stream of delicious water, of which he partook, revived, and gave thanks. The woman, who had followed and watched him, hastened forward with her jug to catch some of the welcome stream. And the saint said, smiling, 'Yes, to you it is granted; but remember, this fount will ever be found dry when approached by the envious, the hating, the unforgiving,'-and so it has been unto this day, and those who harbour unkind thoughts against their neighbour never consciously come to draw water from the spring of St. Boniface."

"And do you really mean to say that you, Herr Pfarrer, with your experience and your education, place any reliance on a tale so unlikely, and indeed so easily refuted?"

The priest shrugged his shoulders.

"And why not?" he said. "What is the difference between us? we both believe in miracles. You suppose that the power of working them ceased after a fixed period; I cannot fix any limit to the supernatural operation. And supposing that man has a right to ask a reason for its being exercised, in this case it is obvious that a great and useful rule of conduct is strengthened by its continuance."

"But," I persisted, "do you yourself believe that this fountain is still endowed with this singular property?"

"I do not disbelieve it; but," he added with a smile, "I confess I have often drunk at the spring and experienced no rebuff."

"Is it far from hence?"

"It is very near the great waterfall; and it is remarkable, if the legend be a true one, that the saint

should almost have reached the inexhaustible supply; and one point is certain-there is no water so wholesome, so refreshing, in all the country round. But oh, sir, is not this a beautiful scene?"

We had reached a large heath, dotted here and there with birchtrees, and free from the universal pine. The elevation must have been nearly 3000 feet above the sea. The plateau was covered with a peat soil, and seemed dressed out not only with the usual characteristics of a wild heath in my own country, but, besides, with carpets of mountain ferns and flowers, some of which were quite unknown to me. The sun's rays slanted obliquely through the surrounding forest, and, where they fell, filled the dark green with sheets of golden haze. The point of view was a very commanding one. We could make out through the sections of the intervening valleys some peculiar mountain-peaks, which must have been not far distant from Baden Baden; but in the other directions rival heights limited the range of our sight.

It was one of those rarer evenings, if yet it might be called evening, which one remembers in afteryears, not for the strangeness of the place only, nor for one's own particular position with respect to it, but for its own sake, for its silent but expressive language for the memories of its fragrant balm.

We both of us felt its magical influence, and did not speak for a few minutes. I believe that I was the first to break the spell.

66

People ought to be very good who dwell on such a spot, and apparently with so few temptations to do evil."

The priest smiled again, but this time sorrowfully. "Ah, young

sir, do you not know that the Evil One adapts his snares both to place and people? Paradise was the scene of his attack upon our first parents; and he chose the lone wilderness for his great onslaught on the Holy One."

"Well," I answered, "I do not know how it is, but I feel better since I reached the top of this mountain,-more contented with myself, and less inclined to find fault with others. Besides, this is not altogether a desert place,there is an Alpine-looking farmhouse in the distance; and here, close at hand, is a cottage.'

"I hope your good-humour will continue," he replied, "for it is the home of your friend Ulric."

I was silent at first; but thinking that I ought to say something, answered at length

"At all events, I shall always feel grateful to the guide who introduced me to such an exquisite landscape. But now I must be thinking how soon I can return to the Tower-house. Surely my uncle's wanderings must by this time have been concluded."

"Do not be too sure of that. Nevertheless, I will show your way across the common into the highroad; and after that you cannot miss your way into our little town. It is only half a German mile distant, and we need not pass the abode of Ulric."

And so again we turned about, and trod the short springy turf with refreshed footsteps; and only too soon, as I thought, we found ourselves approaching the road he had mentioned.

Two or three well-trodden paths seemed to converge here at the corner of the Forest, which skirted the whole road; and on a little mound before the trees there arose another of those tall crucifixes,

which every now and then formed such striking objects on the traveller's way through the country. Before this crucifix a man was kneeling in an attitude of deep devotion.

We had been taciturn for some time, and our approach was noiseless. In any case, perhaps the figure before us would not have moved. My comrade laid his hand upon my arm with a serious gesture, and whispered "It is the Count; let us not disturb him, but strike into the road lower down." I made a sign of assent; but I turned back and gave another look on my mother's brother. A ray of golden sunlight fell upon his tall black form, which was supported by a curious stick of ebony. His umbrageous hat was by his side; his long grey hair hung thickly round his head. His whole frame seemed to adapt itself to his occupation, and he would have formed an admirable study for an artist, though it would have been a sort of sacrilege even for an artist to have made it. I myself

felt that any long gaze would have been an impertinence; and I hurried as gently as I might after the swift steps of my companion, and we were soon at some distance from the cross and the supplicant.

"And now," said my new friend, "that you cannot miss your way, I must leave before night you falls, for my duties lead me in an opposite direction. I am glad to have done any the least service to a nephew of Count Z. Good evening, sir."

was my

"Good evening, sir," answer, and I stretched out my hand, which he took with respect. "Thanks also for a most agreeable as well as profitable conversation."

"Do you indeed say so? then let me add one word of advice. Do not attempt the fountain of St. Boniface this evening; but God send that you may often quaff its soothing waters before you leave these parts. Farewell, if we do not meet again."

And he was quickly lost to me among the trees of the Forest.