The old man sat silent for a few minutes, and then in a voice full of emotion began singing part of a beautiful English hymn which touchingly expresses the instability of all human affairs:—
"Change and decay on all around I see: O Thou that changest not, abide with me."
While he was singing, two children, hearing him, came close up behind him, and when he had finished began to cough in order to attract his attention. For some time he took no notice, but at last he turned, and saw two nicely-dressed children, a little boy and girl, who wished him good evening and made a bow. He was about to speak to them, when their father, who had also heard him singing, came up, and supposing him to be an Englishman, said to him in English, "Although, sir, we are strangers, it is true, those beautiful words you were singing, which I am sure come from your heart, prove to me that we both look up to one common Father in heaven. I am the pastor of the little village you can see down there, at the foot of the mountain. But it is growing dark, and if, as I presume, you are a stranger in these parts, I can gladly offer you the simple accommodation of my cottage for the night."
The stranger answered in German: "Your kind invitation is very welcome, sir. An old sea-captain like me is not much in the habit of paying compliments; I can only say I gladly accept your hospitality."
Guided by the last glimmer of twilight, they took their way at once towards the peaceful village, the steeple of which was just peeping up above the trees. On their way the captain told the pastor that he bad only arrived at the neighbouring village of Aurbach that afternoon. "But," said he, "I could not rest, tired as I was with my day’s travelling, until I had been up here to look at the old castle, which I have not seen for forty years."
The Children’s Expectation Disappointed—The Scapegrace—The Forester’s House—Curiosity of the Villagers—Their Remarks—The Captain’s Luggage.
"I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled Above the green elms, that a cottage was near; And I said, ’If there’s peace to be found in the world, A heart that was humble might hope for it here.’
"It was noon, and on flowers that languished around, In silence reposed the voluptuous bee; Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree." —MOORE.