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ef with the whole team!" till the foam flew on all sides, the iron-clad heels of the steeds rang like hammer upon anvil on the frozen ground, and sparks scintillated in the air! Meanwhile, however, the effect of this rapid motion on the Burgomaster's family was anything but exhilarating. Now that the bustle of setting out was at an end, they one and all began to feel afraid of their strange guide, and to think there was something more than common in their adventure. "He's a very odd-looking man, after all," whispered the Burgomaster's wife; "how do we know what sort of a fellow he is, and if he is taking us to Ole's at all? I, for my part, believe he's in league with some robber band, and we shall all be murdered." "Potstausend! it looks very much like it!" exclaimed the Burgomaster, who, although so big a man, was mighty chicken-hearted. "I wish Max had not been so confoundedly hasty in accepting his advice." "I beg thy pardon there, father-in-law," returned Walther; "it was thou who bade him come in." The Burgomaster was about to make some peppery reply, when Max suddenly broke upon the whispered conversation by exclaiming: "Since you are so good, sir, as to drive us, perhaps you will inform us to whom we are obliged." But the stranger, who, before this, had been the noisiest of the party, appeared to have become suddenly dumb, for he answered not a word. "Come, sir," repeated Walther, "tell us who you are." No answer. Max now half jumped from his seat, exclaiming, "But we insist on knowing, sir, and, furthermore, I should like to know if you are taking us to Ole's or not." The stranger turned at this, and with a smile that displayed his glittering teeth, replied: "My good people, I am taking you just where you are destined to go. As to my name, that is my affair. Remember, your safety depends on me; certainly, you had better not provoke me, or----" here his speech suddenly came to an end, and a fresh series of yells followed to the excited horses, which all this time were tearing along as though a troop of fiends were in pursuit. "It must be the Evil One himself!" cried the Burgomaster, trembling in every limb, while the ladies screamed and clung together. "Not quite so bad as that, I hope," said Walther, half laughing, yet excited, and, to tell the truth, somewhat alarmed also. "We are all fools if we allow this thing to go on!" shouted Max, who had suddenly recovered his spirits.
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