Page:The Necromancer, or, The Tale of the Black Forest Vol. 2.djvu/215

 when I found amid this gang of robbers the most beautiful female figures my eyes ever beheld. Margaret, the eldest and handsomest of the two, was called Miss, and could not be much above eighteen; her language was very licentious, and her looks still more so. Maria, the youngest, was married, but had run away from a husband who had treated her ill; her form was superior to that of my other neighbour, however she was pale and of a delicate constitution, and in the whole less striking at first sight than the lively Margaret. They seemed to rival who first should kindle my desires; the beautiful Margaret strove to dispel my timidity by wanton jokes, however I soon conceived an invincible dislike to that woman, and the modest Maria fettered my heart for ever."

"You see, brother,' said the man who had been my conductor to that place, 'you see how we live here, and every day passes like the present: Is it not true, comrades?'