Page:German Stories (Volumes 2–3).djvu/9



CHAPTER I.

So the fire-works were burned out, and the fête champetre was at an end! The scene of these short-lived joys was filled with a dense black smoke, and the company all prepared for departure. The valets shouted for the different carriages—the coachmen’s voices were as loud in return—the riders galloped about, terrifying the foot-passengers, while the torches that were intended to give aid, rather increased the confusion, by the flickering shadows that were cast from the trees.

In the midst of this bustle, there was heard, all of a sudden, a lamentable shriek; for a coach, in which there were three ladies, had struck on the