36 
Kaspar Hauser. 
and excited, and told the riding-master that he always felt uneasy 
when alone outside of the city. His exhausted state was evidently 
due to mental excitement; for the horse showed no signs of 
having been ridden hard. 
In June, 1829, as he was walking alone in the Plattner Park, near 
Nuremberg, he was startled by a movement in the hedge beside 
his path, as though some person, hidden there, had suddenly stood 
up. He did not stop to look round, but hurried out of the park 
and ran home. 
His friends did not partake of his fears; because the circum- 
stances under which the boy was deserted seemed to imply only 
a wish to get rid of him, and no one suspected that his subsequent 
prosperity could expose him to further persecution. Consequently, 
't was not thought necessary to take any special precautions for 
his safety, and he was allowed to go and come without attendance, 
while strangers who wished to see him were permitted free access 
‘0 the house. 
One afternoon in August, 1829, as Kaspar happened to be 
writing by himself in the parlour, two strange gentlemen were 
announced. One of them had a black beard, and his countenance 
impressed Kaspar disagreeably. They asked him what he was 
doing, and he replied that he was writing an account of his im- 
prisonment and of his arrival in Nuremberg. Upon this, one of 
the gentlemen took the manuscript and glanced through it, while 
the other asked Kaspar many questions about his mode of life, 
especially as to where and when he was accustomed to take his 
walks. Afterwards this man read the manuscript attentively from 
beginning to end, and when he had finished the two went away. 
Kaspar accompanied them downstairs, and as they passed a door 
‘n the court they asked whither it led. Kaspar opened the door 
and showed them the wood-room. They looked in and then 
went on to the outer door. As they took leave Kaspar asked 
them who they were, but they did not give their names, saying 
merely that they came from a great distance, and he would not 
know the place if they should mention it. Even this circumstance 
did not seem at the time suspicious, and the visit was soon forgotten.