She looked up, and saw on the
pathway above her a tall, large-framed young man, his skin dyed red
with sun and wind, in odd contrast with his pale shaggy hair,
moustache, and beard, as though the weather had tanned the one and
bleached the other. His dress was a still shabbier buff suit than
her father had worn, but with a richly-embroidered belt sustaining a
hunting-horn with finely-chased ornaments of tarnished silver, and an
eagle's plume was fastened into his cap with a large gold Italian
coin. He stared hard at the maiden, but vouchsafed her no token of
greeting--only distressed her considerably by distracting her
father's attention from her mule by his questions about the journey,
all in the same rude, coarse tone and phraseology. Some amount of
illusion was dispelled. Christina was quite prepared to find the
mountain lords dangerous ruffians, but she had expected the graces of
courtesy and high birth; but, though there was certainly an air of
command and freedom of bearing about the present specimen, his
manners and speech were more uncouth than those of any newly-caught
apprentice of her uncle, and she could not help thinking that her
good aunt Johanna need not have troubled herself about the danger of
her taking a liking to any such young Freiherr as she here beheld.
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