"But what has all this to do with your master's illness?" I interrupted.

"Let me go on--you will soon see. At that cry the count suddenly gathered
himself together with a shuddering movement, his eyes became fixed with a
glassy stare, his cheeks were bloodless, and he bent his head forward
just like a hunter catching the sound of his approaching game. I went on
warming myself, and I thought, 'Won't he soon go to bed now?' for, to
tell you the truth, I was overcome with fatigue. All these details,
Fritz, are still present in my memory. Scarcely had the bird of ill omen
croaked its unearthly cry when the old clock struck eleven. At that
moment the count turns on his heel--he listens, his lips tremble, I can
see him staggering like a drunken man. He stretches out his hands, his
jaws are tightly clenched, his eyes staring and white. I cried, 'My lord,
what is the matter?' but he began to laugh discordantly like a madman,
stumbled, and fell upon the stone floor, face downwards. I called for
help; servants came round. Sébalt took the count by the shoulders; we
removed him to a bed near the window; but just as I was loosening the
count's neckerchief--for I was afraid it was apoplexy--the countess came
and flung herself upon the body of her father, uttering such heartrending
cries that the very remembrance of them makes me shudder."

Here Gideon took his pipe from his lips, knocked the ashes out upon the
pommel of his saddle, and pursued his tale in a saddened voice.

"From that day, Fritz, none but evil days have come upon Nideck, and
better times seem to be far off. Every year at the same day and hour the
count has shuddering fits. The malady lasts from a week to a fortnight,
during which he howls and yells so frightfully that it makes a man's
blood run cold to hear him. Then he slowly recovers his usual health. He