Startled and taken
by surprise, the ground seemed to him to sink under his feet. He
instinctively caught hold of some branches to keep himself from
falling, pricking his hands with the thorns, and breaking a slender
bough, finally rolling in company with dust and earth, torn-out
bushes and stone, down a steep declivity of several feet to a little
grass plot at the bottom. He heard a slight scream near him, and a
girlish form sprang up and cried in an anxious voice:
"Have you hurt yourself?"
Wilhelm picked himself up as quickly as he could, brushed the earth
from his clothes, and taking off his cap said, "Thanks, not much.
Only a piece of awkwardness. But I am afraid I have frightened you?"
he added.
"A little bit; but that is all right."
They looked at each other for the first time, and the lady laughed,
while Wilhelm blushed deeply. She stopped again directly, blushed
also, and dropped her eyes. She was a girl in the first bloom of
youth, of particularly fine and well-made figure, with a beautiful
face; two dimples in her cheeks giving her a roguish expression, and
a pair of lively brown eyes. A healthy color was in her cheeks, and
in the well-cut, seductive little mouth. Her luxuriant, golden-brown
hair, in the fashion of the day, was brushed back in long curls.
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