The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

4 THE BRON nior indicative of less estimable qualities in that face of perfect masculine beauty. He wore no rnoustache; his whiskers, which were crisp, glossy, and naturally curling, met beneath his chin, upon which their growth was not however permitted ‘o encroach in the shape of a beard. ‘Thus | his countenance formed a complete oval, ee | the Olympian dignity and classical mien Sa of which would have constituted a fine | study for the sculptor or the painter. | The age of this distinguished cavalier was about seven-and-twenty. His attire | was composed of good material, but was | plain and unpretending in respect to orna- Fi meot. A poniard and a sword, fastened to | the belt that girt hig waist, were his weapons eh of defence: the spurs that he wore upon the heels of his buff boots were of gold, Knighthood, if not more elevated ;—and a ‘at crimson plume waved gracefully from the Ei front of his velvet cap. Such was the traveller whom we find wending his way along the border of the vast Bohemian furest, while the shades of night were rapidly deepening around him. iin aie PP it was evident that he was a complete a stranger in this district: for from time to Fe time he reined in his steed and swept his eyes over ail the open part of the country which lay to his right; and when no glim. mering ofa lamp from some cottage win- dow met his looks, he muttered to himse/f ‘1 was wrong to pursue my path without a ; guide. And perhaps I have mistaken my road altogether,’ a Then, as he spurred his horse onward Pi again, he would say, after a few moments’ * reflection, ‘No—I have not wandered | from the right path. The good peasant at the cottage where [ last halted, directed - me to keep the road skirting the border of the forest. But he must have miscalculated the distance-—-or I must have misunderstood him: for ere this, according to his state- ment, ought 1 to have reached the Castle of Altendort,’ Again would he glance around to seek for some human habitation where he could either obtain fresh and accurate directions to guide him, or where he might repose until morning: but not a twinkling light broke through the deepening darkness; -and the silver moon, rising above the trees, found the traveller still pursuing that ap- parently endless road, Suddenly a piercing shriek came vibrat- - Startled ear: and this was immediately fo}- fowed by the sounds of men’s voices, ex- hanging rapid observations, but the pur- port «f which did not reath him-—for although the sentences thus uttered were indicating his rank to be at Jeast that of ing from the interior of the forest on his} ZE STATUE, emphatic and ejaculatory, they were brief and subdued intone. ‘Then came another 'shriek, more stifled, as if a hand were paced over the mouth that gave vent to it; ‘and there was a struggling amidst the trees at a short distance from the spot | where the traveller had abruptly halted on | hearing the first indication of female an- guish., Jo spring to the ground and fasten his horse by the bridle to a low projecting bough was the work of a moment with our traveller ;—and, loosening his sword in its sheath, he dashed into the forest—taking the direction whence the screams and the voices had appeared to emanate. Ina few minutes he heard the quick rustling of the foliage, and the sharp snapping of the small branches at a little distance; and following those evidences of the rapid passage of persons through the thickets of the wood, he suddenly encountered three men, bear- ing the inanimate form of a woman amongst them. The moonbeams penetrated just suffi- ciently through the verdant canopy of the forest to enable the traveller to perceive this much ;—but his own approach had not been overheard by the party of men, the rustling of the underwood caused by them- selves having drowned that produced by his progress. Without an instant’s hesitation, he sprang upon the foremost of the three and hurled him violently upon the ground, where he lay either dead or senseless ;— ejaculations of terror instantly burst from the second, who, dropping the inanimate female, plunged into the depths of the forest and disappeared—doubtless imagin- ing that there was a number of assailants springing to the rescue, instead of a single champion. All this had taken place in a twentieth part of the time which has been occupied by us in describing it;—and the third indivi- dual, giving vent to a hasty but bitter im- precation against the cowardice of the fu- gilive, drew his sword and rushed upon the traveller. But scarcely had the blade glanced in the moonbeams ecross the eyes of the latter, when his weapon was likewise snatched. from his sheath, and the two brands clashed together, Our traveller labored under a disadvan- lage, Inasmuch as the rays of the planet of night streamed full upon his owncoun- tenance and developed to the eyes of the oiner every movement that he made and every feint that he attempted ; whereas his toe, shaded by the overhanging drapery of boughs, presented only a dark and ill-de- fined form, of whose features it was impos- | sible to obtain a glimpse, and whose mode 'of fence and attack it was impossible to 5) 2 ; a'%