Page:The German Novelists (Volume 3).djvu/103

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Musæus.
93

rose bushes; begin to dig close to them, till thou hittest against a stone plate, under which there lies an iron chest full of gold and other precious articles. Be it heavy and unwieldy as it will, heed it not, but lift it out of the hole, for thou wilt be rewarded for thy pains, when the key is found below.”

Our hero stood mute with astonishment, as he listened to the old man’s dream. He would not have been able to hide his agitation, if the darkness had not prevented his companion from seeing his face. He plainly recognized in the old man’s description, a favourite garden that had belonged to his father, and which he had since sold. For the old gentleman had laid out the garden in a very stiff and formal taste, which Frank did not approve; but, for some secret reason, he had deposited there a portion of his wealth.

The cripple now became a very interesting object to Frank; for in him he had met with the very friend whom the spectre had promised. He would gladly have embraced him: he would have called him by the name of father, and of friend, had not prudence suggested another course. He merely said, “Yours was truly a clear dream: but what did you do next morning? Did you follow your good angel’s advice?” “Not I, forsooth!” replied the old man: “you know it was only a dream; and have I not laid awake night after night, when my good an-