THE OESTER BERG. 271 



an apple to take with me ; for I am going up the Oester 

 Berg, and dry bread makes a rather insipid meal. So 

 now for the punishment : come along to the storeroom 

 and put some of your best into my rucksack, for part 

 with your rosy apples you must." 



What a storeroom that was ! well worthy of belong- 

 ing to the richest man in the village, and a post-master 

 and landlord withal. It was a large stone-paved room, 

 light and cheerful and cool ; and round the walls were 

 bright copper moulds, for making jellies and cakes; 

 and a store of spoons, and plates, and jolly-looking tan- 

 kards, with huge flagons beside them, that had many a 

 time descended into the earth, and returned thence foam- 

 ing and sparkling and bright with the rich treasures laid 

 up there. And there were mighty stone bottles stand- 

 ing on the dresser, in which it was evident some rebelli- 

 ous spirit was enthralled, for to make egress quite im- 

 possible the corks w r ere bound firmly down ; and moun- 

 tains ,of butter on fair white boards, and eggs in abun- 

 dance ; and binns broad and deep, filled with coarse meal, 

 and finer, and the very finest flour. Loaves of freshly- 

 baked brown bread were piled on the shelves, each a good 

 five-pounder ; and tongues shrivelled and smoked, with 

 fat sides of bacon, hung from a row of hooks ; and sugar- 

 loaves, and dried fruits, and glass jars filled with lusci- 

 ous syrups and preserves ; golden apricots and red cran- 

 berries, with pots of lucent Tyrolian honey — all was 

 there in generous overflowing abundance. The fat of 

 the land, dropping into many channels, had been made 

 to pour out its unctuous richness here. It was worth 

 seeing, that storeroom, — a rich granary where the wealth 

 of the earth was garnered up ! 



A good road leads a considerable distance up the 

 mountain : at last, between the hills a green valley is 



