A tAlE OF BlOOO. 1 1*7 



Wfere searched ineffectively. A council of war was held hy the re- 

 fessemhled menials ; fear presided over their deliberations, and gave an 

 edge to their speeches — they talked of dragging all the ponds, sinks, 

 and sewers in the city, and were debating its propriety when the Hunts- 

 inan — a shrewd, clever, grey-headed fellow — thought of a plan which 

 would, he averred, bring forth the stag, dead or alive, " so be that th^ 

 ■(vitches had not wickedly conjured it o'er the sea." In short, he threw 

 himself on his knees before the Governor, and craved his permission to 

 unkennel the hounds, and give them the scent, offering to lay down his 

 life if his device did not succeed. The Governor assented, with a 

 etrifying volley of oaths ; and in less than five minutes the streets ot 

 russels resounded with the tumultuous yellings of the largei^t pack 

 ever maintained by the quiet citizens for the pastime of their puissant 

 ilulier. The dogs behaved with strange lack of courtesy, rushing into 

 shops, upsetting apple-women, throwing down booths, ramming their 

 heads into fish-baskets, making desperate innovations on pri\^te domi- 

 ciles, terrifying old ladies, and effecting hasty revolutions in the antient 

 ^economy of many a tea-table, as they scoured on in their erratic career. 

 ^Suddenly they paused, and snuffing the ground eagerly for a moment, 

 ■^et up a tremendous baying, and joining in close body, never stopped 

 till they leaped simultaneously into Crepu's beautiful garden, and laifl. 

 dead siege to his dwelling. Here was a consummation no^ to be wished I 

 And where was Crepu — unfortunate Crepu ? In his studio, for the ci- 

 devant soldier of Spain, was now an artist — and one of repute — a 

 flower-painter whose enchanting groups, scarcely less valuable than 

 those of Van Huysum, were sought far and near, and conferred value 

 and ornament on the cabinets of crowned heads. Fixed at his easel, 

 with Hans at some little distance occupied in sketching from a bouquet 

 in a goblet of crystal, and surrounded by models in wax, festoons and 

 chaplets, colours and pigments, oils, and varnishes, slabs, mullers, 

 phials, and bottles of all sizes and shapes, the military votary of the 

 Arts, in a flowered robe-de-chambre, capped and pantouffled, was 

 giving its last tint and loveliness to a moss-rose, sprinkled with dew, 

 when the din of the hounds startled him out of his very senses. He 

 glanced thrillingly at his apprentice. " It is discovered — concealment 

 is impossible," said the latter. " We shall be torn in pieces, like Jeze- 

 bel !" cried Crepu, and flinging down palette and pencils, he upset his 

 easel, rent his garment in twain in his precipitancy, and flying like a 

 frightened leveret up a narrow stair-case, rushed through a low-roofed 

 attic, enriched with a truckle-bed and a broken-backed chair — the 

 dormitory of Karl — tore out the leaden-framed lattice, and putting him- 

 self through the aperture, got out on the roof. Finding the next window 

 accommodatingly open he made an entre, sans ceremonie, much to the 

 discomfiture of an old woman who sat in the chamber. But apology 

 was out of the question — tumbling down her spinning-wheel he passed by 

 like a spectre, fled down stairs, and flung himself upon the generosity of 

 his neighbour, confessing that he had committed a deed of blood. 

 Protection was entreated and given, and, hid in the wine cellar, Crepu 

 listened, in cold agonies, to the clamour in his own vault, and found 

 that a full developement had ensued. The pickled venison was drawn 

 forth, the skin torn from its strong hold, and with these mementos of 

 the departed favorite, the incensed huntsman and his hounds withdrew 

 to the Palace. 



The governor's rage was unbounded ; he swore most imperially, and 

 threatened Crepu like a bravo ; but he was a lover of pictures, and » 

 patron of the artist j he had some dozen of his works in possession, and 



NO. II. R 



