Many a village maiden wished that day she held the place of Clothilde, and that she, too, might have such champion as the brown-haired Conrad.
A rich cap of lace, worked by the village hands, was round the forehead of Clothilde; and, to humor the pride of the old man, her father, she had added the fairest flowers which grew by the cottage-door. But, fair as the flowers were, the face of Clothilde was fairer.
She sat between the old herdsman and the curé, upon one of the rustic benches which circled the plateau of green, where the village sports were held. Tall poles of hemlock or of fir, dressed with garlands of mountain laurel, stood at the end of the little arena, where the valley champions were to contend. Among these were some whose strong arms and lithe figures promised a hard struggle to the hopeful Conrad; and there were jealous ones who would have been glad to humble the pretensions of one so favored by the village maidens, as the blue-eyed hunter, Friedland.
Many looks turned curiously toward the bench, where sat the village belle, whose fortunes seemed to hang upon the fate of the day; but her brow was calm; and there, as ever, she was watchful of the comfort of the old man, her father.
Half of the games had passed over, indeed, before she turned a curious look upon the strife. Conrad, though second in some of the lesser sports, had generally kept the first rank; and the more vigorous trials to come would test his rivals more seriously, and would, it was thought, give him a more decided triumph.
When the wrestlers were called, there appeared a stout herdsman from the valley of Grindelwald, who was the pride of his village, and who challenged boldly the hunter, Conrad. He was taller and seemed far stronger than Conrad; and there were those—the old herdsman among them—who feared greatly that a stranger would carry off the prize.
But the heart of the brave hunter was fired by the sight of Clothilde, now bending an eager look upon the sports. He accepted the challenge of the stout herdsman, and they grappled each other in the mountain way. The stranger was the stronger; but Conrad, the more active. For a long time they struggled vainly, and the vil-
