Page:Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (Volume 2).djvu/59

Rh inn or place of rest. The day had been unusually sultry, and darkness was accompanied by a thunderstorm and a shower of rain, which soon drenched him to the skin. This was extremely inconvenient to the spoiled youth, who had never been accustomed even to the changes of the weather, and he thought, with actual horror, that he should perhaps be compelled to pass the night in this forlorn situation. When the storm had blown over, he discovered, to his great consolation, a light at some little distance, and on riding towards it he soon reached a miserable hut, which promised him little comfort. It was more like a cattle stall than the habitation of men, and the inhospitable owner even refused him entrance; being just about to share the straw with his oxen, he was too sleepy to light his fire again for the sake of a stranger. Frank first lamented piteously, and seeing he made no impression, he began to curse the Westphalian desarts, and their inhabitants, but with no better success, the peasant extinguished his lamp with the great-