The private gardens of each ran into the lake.
Directly across from the palaces stood the cathedral, a relic of
five centuries gone. On the northwest corner stood the
Continental Hotel, with terrace and parapet at the water's edge,
and a delightful open-air cafe facing the Platz. September and
October were prosperous months in Bleiberg. Fashionable people
who desired quiet made Bleiberg an objective point. The
pheasants were plump, there were boars, gray wolves, and not
infrequently Monsieur Fourpaws of the shaggy coat wandered
across from the Carpathians.
As to the lower town, it was given over to the shops and markets,
the barracks, the university, and the Rathhaus, which served as
the house of the Diet. It was full of narrow streets and quaint
dwellings.
Up the Konigstrasse the guide led the Englishman, who nodded
whenever the voluble chatter of the German pleased him. When
they began the descent of the hill, the vista which opened
before them drew from the Englishman an ejaculation of delight.
There lay the lake, like a bright new coin in a green purse; the
light of the sun broke on the white buildings and flashed from
the windows; and the lawns twinkled like emeralds.
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