Page:Tales of a Voyager to the Arctic Ocean, vol. 3 (1826).djvu/322

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TALES OF A VOYAGER.

monds, her nose hooked, her complexion of a peculiar sallow, and her locks elfish, snake-like, and of a fiery red colour. Her shape, which they had been told was exquisite, they thought too flimsy, and her dress was so gaudy and scanty, that they agreed she resembled one of the lost girls who wandered about the streets of Mentz, to tempt young men to their ruin, more than a modest inhabitant of the district of Brockencragg; and, in fine, they all agreed that she had infused some philter into the wine she had given to Wolfgang and Hendrick, and thereby deprived them of the right use of their senses and understanding. But, what displeased them more than any thing else, was that she refused to tell from whence she came, or who her father was, nor would she listen to any inquiries about her family, saying, that those who liked her need not know her friends, and that those who disliked her should not.

“Wolfgang, as I have already said, was of a temper somewhat impatient, and when he heard that Count Albert purposed calling his friends to assist him, fearing he should lose an opportunity of at once acquiring the beauty, he mounted his horse, and set out on the chase,