whistles, which are used to call the flocks together, in the neighbourhood of which one is in danger to lose one's hearing for ever, completed, by their shrill notes, the harmony of the whole. Several other instruments I did not know; however, the whole concert was of such a nature, that it would have been able to resuscitate the dead, and to reduce nervous people to the brink of the grave.
We were amused for some time: however, the Count took, at length, a pocket pistol out, and having extracted the ball, fired it over their heads. It caused a louder report than I had expected, and the music was silenced in an instant. The young gentlemen, who had not conceived the most distant idea of the serious consequences which might attend their frolic, did not think proper to finish their serenade, and left us suddenly to our reflections.
The Count continued to laugh immoderately, and I was infected by his merryhumour.
