on-nerved men never anticipate danger until it is close at
hand,' said the maiden; 'and then it is too late to avoid it.'

'Go on in advance, Lotek,' said the Bohemian to one of his companions.
'Beat the path a little where the snow lies too deep; announce to the
worthy pastor that I bring him guests, and kindle a good fire in my
quarters, that the lady may be rendered comfortable on her arrival.'

Lotek threw his musket upon his back, whistled to his wolf-dog, stepped
off with long strides, and soon disappeared among the rocks.

'Now, if agreeable, we also will start,' said the Bohemian. 'The sun is
tolerably high, and I would not willingly remain abroad, in open day.'

'Come, my child,' said Oswald, offering his arm to Faith, which she
took with a sigh, and they briskly entered among the rocks. The
procession was led by the Bohemian, closed by his armed companions, and
flanked by the hounds.

'These masses are frightfully high,' said Faith, looking anxiously up
at their summits.

'They appear so to you,' said the Bohemian, looking back. 'These,
however, are but small affairs. We are now only in the suburbs. In the
city you will see rocks worth talking about.'

'Heaven take pity on us!' sighed Faith, wandering on until she came to
an open space. Here towered up, solitary and frightful, a single
monstrous gray rock, formed like an inverted cone with its base
stretching high up into the clouds and its apex imbedded in a lake of
ice.

'Do not go so near, Oswald,' said Faith. 'This large rock must in the
next moment tumble over.'

'Fear it not,' said the Bohemian. 'This is the Sugarloaf, which has
been standing thus upon its head for thousands of years, and will
surely retain its position long after we are in our graves.'

They were still advancing, when Faith, who was somewhat ashamed to
exhibit her fears to the Bohemian, whispered to Oswald, 'only see that
horrible gray giant's head projecting over us from between those high
towers. I can plainly discern a monstrous, solemn looking face,
surrounded by flowing gray locks.'

'That is the burgomaster,' said the laughing Bohemian, who well
understood the whisper. 'So is this sport of nature called, and it is
the most beautiful of any here. You need not fear him, for he is the
only burgomaster on earth who never troubled any one.'

They continued to proceed farther and farther, until at length they
were interrupted by a purling mountain stream. Beyond it, stood