Algernon Blackwood

“ Karl fairly gasped. His heart sank within him.
“Wait here a moment,” she added: “I will go and put on my nailed boots and climbing skirts. “Then I'll tell you all about it!” She had seen the blank look of dismay that had come into his face, and, for the first time, she felt in her heart a feeling of sorrow for him.
“Poor Karl Ott!” she thought; “but he is such a simple boy, and has so much to learn. He surely could not have imagined that I might care for him!” ”

“ NIEDERWALD was a little village situated in a deep valley among the Alps, and it was generally conceded by the inhabitants that Karl Ott was the most obstinate man in it.
He was not only held to be such because his motto in life was “Never give in even if you are wrong,” but also because he had for three years proposed to the daughter of the English lady with amazing perseverance, and, in the face of equally persevering refusals, still persisted in renewing his offer. ”

“ One day in the early spring, when Karl Ott went to the little post office, he met the English girl there. The snow was still lying low down on the mountain sides. In the air was that indescribable sweetness that is only known in the neighbourhood of pine forests at a certain elevation.
She held some letters in her hand and was stamping them for England. Karl suggested a ramble on the heights of the Kronenberg, and the girl was pleased.
“Yes,” she said; “and if you think the snow is sufficiently melted, we will go by way of the Devil’s Rocks. I should like to see them once more.” ”

“ Karl Ott owned a large vineyard, and made money by it. His Wienese were always successful, and his grapes sweeter and juicier even, than those that grew in sunny Italy, on the other side of the great white peaks.
He had seen the English lady and her daughter when they first came to Niederwald, and his father, as pastor, went with him to ‘call upon them. While his father stumbled along in his broken English with the mother, Karl conversed with the beautiful daughter in German. He welcomed her to Niederwald. She had travelled with her father before he died, and had seen much. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1951, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 72 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”