Copyright, 1889, by J. B. Lippincott Company.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | |
| I.-- | [A Mountain Home] |
| II.-- | [A Morning Call] |
| III.-- | [Explanatory] |
| IV.-- | [The Last Thurgau] |
| V.-- | [The Lover and the Suitor] |
| VI.-- | [At President Nordheim's] |
| VII.-- | [A New Scheme] |
| VIII.-- | [Another Clime] |
| IX.-- | [The Herr President Speaks] |
| X.-- | [A Professional Visit] |
| XI.-- | [On the Alm] |
| XII.-- | [The Bale-Fire] |
| XIII.-- | [An Outraged Wife] |
| XIV.-- | [Midsummer Blessing] |
| XV.-- | [A Betrothal] |
| XVI.-- | [Suspicions] |
| XVII.-- | [Unforeseen Obstacles] |
| XVIII.-- | [A Mountain Ramble] |
| XIX.-- | [Nemesis] |
| XX.-- | [Blasts and Counterblasts] |
| XXI.-- | [A Challenge] |
| XXII.-- | [An Unexpected Visit] |
| XXIII.-- | [A Jealous Lover] |
| XXIV.-- | [The Avalanche] |
| XXV.-- | [Not all Despair] |
| XXVI.-- | [The Kiss of the Alpine Fay] |
| XXVII.-- | [Midsummer-Eve again] |
THE ALPINE FAY.
CHAPTER I.
[A MOUNTAIN-HOME.]
High above the snow-crowned summits of the mountains gleamed a rainbow. The storm had passed; there was still a low mutter of thunder in the ravines, and masses of clouds lay encamped about the mountainsides, but the skies were once more clear, the loftiest peaks were unveiling, and dark forests and green slopes were beginning slowly to emerge from the sea of cloud and mist.
The extensive Alpine valley through which rushed a considerable stream lay far in the depths of the mountain-range, so secluded and lonely that it might have been entirely shut off from the world and its turmoil; and yet the world had found the way to it. The quiet mountain-road, usually deserted save for an occasional wagon or a strolling pedestrian, was all astir with bustle and life. Everywhere were to be seen groups of engineers and labourers; everywhere measuring, surveying, and planning were going on; the railway, in a couple of years, was to stretch its iron arms forth into this mountain seclusion, and preparations were already making for its course.
Some way up the mountain-road, on the brink of a hollow whose rocky sides fell away in a steep descent, lay a dwelling-house, which at first sight did not appear to differ much from others scattered here and there among the mountains; a near view, however, soon made plain that it was no peasant's abode situated thus on the spacious green slope. The house had firmly-cemented walls of blocks of stone, and low but broad doors and windows; two semicircular projections, the pointed roofs of which gave them the air of small towers, lent it a stately appearance, and above the entrance there was artistically carved in the stone a scutcheon.