Page:The Necromancer, or, The Tale of the Black Forest Vol. 1.djvu/141

 a serjeant, about forty years old, and of a morose and gloomy appearance; he was respected by his superiors, prompt and exact in the service, and never would brook an affront. The unthinking called him a sorcerer, and people of a more serious cast of mind talked of his connexion with superior beings, taking great care not to offend that terrible man, whose name was Volkert. In the whole he was a very good sort of a man, never of fended any body, if not provoked, was averse to company, and fond of solitude.

He was reported to have performed many strange and wonderful exploits; an ensign, who had severely chastised him for a slight neglect in his duty, was said to have been deprived ever since of the proper use of his right arm; and a captain, who once had scolded him without reason, to be afflicted with a deficiency in his speaking organs, since that accident had happened: In short, strange things were every where related of Volkert, and in