Page:Lays and Legends of Germany (1834).djvu/269

 whom the nobleman would have waged battle; the horseman, however, dragged him up upon his horse and rode with him into the court-yard, while the soldier chased the servant down the mountain. The nobleman was never more seen.





The following story was related by a soldier, to whose grandfather it happened. His grandfather, it appears, had gone to the forest to cut wood, accompanied by another old man, and by a third person, which third person was always looked upon with a suspicion that all was not quite with him as it ought to be; yet no one knew, of a certainty, ought that could be told against him.

After they had all there been at work for some time, and were growing weary, this third one asked, whether they should not take a short sleep to refresh themselves. Upon this suggestion, they all three threw themselves on the grass that they might sleep; but the soldier’s grandfather only pretended to sleep, and kept his eyes a little open. As soon as the third person had looked well-about him, to see whether his companions were asleep, and had convinced