feathers, and who uttered the remarkable prophecy, that when white and red hats were in fashion, a period of general calamity would commence. Like Lazarus Aigner, the waggoner did not tell all he had seen immediately, but kept it a secret till the time of his death approached. The 180 dozen ducats neither increased nor diminished. The manikins of the Untersberg not only receive but also pay visits. At a village wedding near Salzburg, one of them made his appearance, joined the party, danced with such grace as to win the admiration of every body, and gave three batgen to the bridegroom, and as many to the bride, telling them they would be provided for as long as they lived if they put the coins with their other money. He gave three pfennige of similar virtue to a ferryman who rowed him from the spot, together with a little stone which was to secure him against drowning. And sure enough the ferryman afterwards tumbled into the water, and lay beneath its surface for a quarter of an hour without receiving the least damage, while his three coins multiplied so fast that in a single day he had a trough full. These stories of the manikins, and their liberality, are closely connected with others about the enchanted treasures in the Untersberg. One of the most striking of these relates to a citizen of Salzburg, named Hans Gruber, who once eating his supper by the side of a brook near a spot called the "stone wall," saw an iron door in this wall suddenly open. A monk appeared, and asked him three times to go in, but Hans stoutly declined the invitation. The monk then offered him a gold chain which he wore upon his arm, but Hans still refused to enter the door, while at the same time he begged a link of the chain as a present. Liberality is the order of the day in the Untersberg, and the monk flung not one link, but three, which Hans caught in his hat. And lucky it was he was so expert a hand at catching, for if he had made a miss, he would never have been able to stir from the spot. At least, so said the monk. Hans just caught a glimpse of something like a new world, or some such trifle, through the door before the monk slammed it in his face, and three days afterwards was highly delighted to find his three links multiplied into three and thirty pounds of gold. Nor was this the only adventure which befel Hans Gruber in the Untersberg. One day he came to a stone crag, from which gold-dust was falling as in a stream. Putting a pitcher underneath, he filled it with the precious metal, and on this occasion, also, saw an open door, which for a moment revealed to him a new world, illuminated by a daylight of its own. Near the "stone wall," rendered so illustrious by the discovery of Hans Gruber, two woodmen once saw a heap of charcoal shining in the sun. As this was no spot for charcoal-burners, each of them took a few pieces as a curiosity. Passing by a pond on the way home, one of them idly flung his charcoal into the water, and did not a little regret it, for, in a moment, he saw the surface of the water glittering, as though it had been overlaid with liquid gold. The other woodman had observed this phenomenon, and prudently took his charcoal safe home; when, lo! into pure gold every bit of it was turned. The first woodman, perceiving his comrade's felicity, hurried back to the stone wall, but found in the place of the charcoal-heap, a heap of snakes, who looked upon him as indignantly as our readers will look at us, if we inflict upon them any more of the wild tales of the Untersberg. Jan.-VOL. LXXXII. NO. Cccxxv. F |