Page:The German Novelists (Volume 3).djvu/84

 ideas, before Frank’s courage could find a single answer.

To protect himself against sudden surprize, he first locked and bolted the door, seated himself on a stone bench at the window, then opened it and looked out, to divert his mind with a view of the heavens, and the silvery queen of night. Gradually the street below grew quite silent, contrary to mine host’s assurance, that his people were always stirring. Frank heard one door closed after another, the lights were extinguished, and the whole inn was buried in profound repose. The watch going his round, told the hour and the state of the weather; besides beginning, to Frank’s great consolation, to sing an evening hymn directly under his window. Had he not feared that the man would be terrified away, if he heard himself spoken to from the haunted castle, he would gladly have entered into conversation with him.

Perhaps, in a noisy populous town, where a man meets with numbers of silly people, he may feel happy in retiring to some secluded spot, and think of the pleasures of solitude. He fancies it would be extremely soothing to the mind, dwells upon all its advantages, and sighs for its enjoyment. This is a different kind of solitude to that met with in the island of Juan Fernandez where once a shipwrecked sailor passed many years; or that of being quite alone, in a deep forest at midnight, or in some