"'Now, my lads,' said Albert Podiebrad, 'we must to work. Go you to the fields, and I with my family will seek inspiration in the woods.'
"'You will come back again at night,' said the peasants.
"The Zingara made them a kind gesture, which they mistook for a promise. The two youngest daughters, who as yet knew nothing of danger, cried out with infantine joy, 'Yes, yes;' and the peasants dispersed. Zdenko sat on the steps of the cottage, and saw with satisfaction the people fill a large bag, which the boy held, with a dinner for the family. The Zingara then bade us follow, and away we went with the itinerant musicians.
"We had to ascend the ravine. My master and I each took in our arms one of the girls, and we had thus an opportunity to speak to Trismegistus, who did not before seem aware of our presence.
"'You think me a dreamer,' said he. 'I am sorry to leave my friends and the old man behind me. To-morrow they will search the forest for me. Consuelo, however, will have it so, as she fancies we would be in danger were we to remain here any longer. I cannot think that any one now fears or envies us. But her will has always been mine, and to-night we will not return to the hamlet. If you be my friends in reality, you will return thither and tell them so. We did not say adieu, for we did not wish to vex them. As for Zdenko, you need only say to-morrow, he never thinks of any longer time; all time, all life to him, is in the word to-morrow. He has divested his mind of the received ideas of time, and his eyes are now open to the mystery of eternity, in which he seems always absorbed, and at any time prepared to put off the mortal coil in exchange for the glorious immortal. Zdenko is a sage, and the wisest I ever knew.'
"Our journeying had an effect on this family which is worthy of remark. The children lost their bashfulness before us, and listened most attentively to the oracles that Trismegistus propounded, which were replete with heavenly wisdom, and highly calculated to exalt their ideas above the things of this life, while at the same time they forcibly dwelt on the necessity of humility. The noble boy, who watched his father attentively, and noted down every word that he said, would have been much offended, had any one said that his beloved parent was insane. Trismegistus rarely spoke, and we observed that neither his wife nor his children expected him to do so, except when urgently necessary. They respected his reveries, and La Zingara continually watched him, as if she was afraid of him suffering in those silent moods. She had studied the oddities of his character, and did not consider them as foolish. I would not think it right to use the word 'folly,' in reference to such a man as Trismegistus. When I first saw him, I thoroughly understood the veneration of his peasant friends, who are philosophers and theologians without being aware of it, resembling in this respect the eastern nations, who make gods to themselves, objects of adoration, as if it were by instinct. They know that, when not harassed by ridicule, his abstraction becomes a faculty divinely poetical. I do not know what would become of him, did not his friends encircle him with their love and protection. Their conduct towards him is an attractive example of the respect and solicitude which is due to the invalid, or by the strong to the weak, in every instance where heaven in its wisdom may punish or chastise."
"The family walked with such ease and activity that we soon found ourselves comparatively exhausted. Even the youngest children, when not in the arms of some of the party, seemed to get over the ground with as much ease as do the finny tribe in their natural element. La Zingara, in her anxiety for her son, would not allow him to burthen himself with any of the little ones, alleging that he was too young for such labor, and that it might injure his voice, which had not reached its climax. She took the gentle and confiding little creatures on her own shoulders, and carried them with the same ease that she would her guitar. Physical power is a blessing conferred more on the poor artisan or travel-toiled wanderer than on the easy and luxuriant.
"We were very much fatigued when through many rugged paths we reached a place called the Schreckenstein, which is most romantic in its appearance. As we drew near, we observed that Consuelo looked with anxiety at her husband, and kept close to his side, as if she feared some danger was near, or an outburst of violent emotion; but nothing seemed to disturb him, as he sat himself on a large stone, from which he had a complete view of the arid hills around. In the aspect of this place there is something terrible. The rocks are in disorder, and by their falling the trees underneath are frequently crushed. They seem to have but slight root in the ground, and the shepherds avoid the spot, leaving it to the wild boar, the wolf, and the chamois. Albert dreamed for a long time on this spot. He then looked at the children who played at his feet, and at his wife, who sought to read his emotion on his brow. He arose suddenly, knelt before her, and bidding his children follow his example, said—
"'Kneel to your mother—a consolation vouchsafed to the unfortunate—the peace promised of God to the pure of heart.'
"The children knelt around the Zingara, and wept as they covered her with kisses. She, too, wept, as she pressed them to her bosom; and bade them turn around and do the same homage to their father. Spartacus and I also knelt with them.