before the end of the sermon, but in Mela’s case it only just began, the prayers at the end giving fresh ardour to her devotion; and she invariably joined in them, never failing to recommend the young traveller both to his and her own patron saint.
Protected by these invisible patrons, and attended by the warm good wishes of the lovely Mela, Frank, meanwhile, pursued his way towards Antwerp, where his father’s debtors chiefly resided, and where he hoped to recover some considerable sums. Such a journey from Bremen to Antwerp was, in those days, more formidable than one from Bremen to Kamschatka in the present. The peace just proclaimed by the Emperor Maximilian was so little observed, that the public roads were in all parts infested with nobles and knights, who invariably despoiled the poor travellers who refused to purchase a safe pass from them, and frequently subjected them, in subterraneous dungeons, to a cruel and lingering death. Our hero nevertheless succeeded, in spite of these obstacles, in reaching his destination, having encountered only one solitary adventure.
As he was crossing over the sandy and deserted plains of Westphalia he was overtaken by night, before he could reach any place of sojourn. The day had been uncommonly sultry, and darkness came on with a terrific thunderstorm, and heavy showers, which drenched him to the skin. This
