CHRISTIAN WINTHER: THE HORSE-DEALER—A TALE OF DENMARK.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Sergeant Jon Svartberg, of the first regiment of Finland horse,
And the worthy man gently ascended
the little eminence. One half
of the huge oak still stood erect, surmounted
by rich green foliage—the
other moiety had been riven away by
the lightning's power—and the whole
interior of the tree was exposed to
view like an open cupboard. It was
melancholy to behold this forest monarch
thus rent and overthrown, his
verdant crown defaced and trailing in
the dust. But this reflection found no
place in the minds of either clergyman
or student—their attention was
engrossed by a variety of objects that
lay in a confused heap in the cavity
of the oak. Upon near examination
these proved to consist of the remains
of a human skeleton, which, to judge
from the position of the bones, must
have stood upright in the tree, its
arms extended upwards. A pair of
large iron spurs, several nails
and brass buckles, a long sword,
nearly consumed by rust, pieces of
iron and brass belonging to a dragoon's
helmet, some coins of the reign
of Charles Gustavus, and finally a
broad gold finger-ring, were also discovered.
Upon the last the initials
J. S. were plainly legible; and on the
hilt of the sword, as on some of the
fragments of metal, were the letters
F.R.F.D., standing for First Regiment
Finland Dragoons.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment