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Kaspar Hauser.
10
making signs as though he wished to hang the glittering metal
upon a horse’s neck. His manner was that of a child only two or
three years old, and the men who watched him were undecided
1s to whether he was an idiot, or a crazy person, or a wild man.
A few were disposed to see in him a skilful impostor, and this
-heory received some support through the discovery that he knew
how to write. By way of experiment, paper, and pen, and ink
were placed before him. He immediately took up the pen, held
t properly in his fingers, and wrote in a firm, legible hand—
KAspArR HAUSER.
He was told to add the name of the town from whence he came;
but he did not appear to understand, and resorted again to the
oft-repeated sentence, ‘I want to be a soldier, as my father was,”
ind the broken utterance, “horse,” “home,” “don’t know.”
As nothing more was to be made out of him, he was sent under
the charge of a police messenger to the Vestner Tower, a place of
arrest for vagabonds and other suspicious persons. The Tower
was close by, but he could scarcely hold himself upright on the
way ; and as soon as he reached the room, where he was confined
with another vagabond for the night, he fell down upon his straw
sed, and sank immediately into a profound sleep.
Kaspar Hauser’s appearance on his first arrival in Nuremberg
was as remarkable as his conduct. A portion of his clothing was
afterwards carelessly destroyed, but a full description of it was
recorded.
He wore a round, coarse, felt hat, lined with yellow silk and
red leather : in the crown was a half-effaced picture of the city of
Munich. His shoes, which were worn out so that the toes of his
stockingless feet protruded, were furnished with heavy nails
around the soles, and the heels were high. A black silk handker-
chief was tied around his throat. His shirt was coarse ; he wore
an old spotted vest, a jacket of grey cloth (which had evidently
been made out of a coat), and grey pantaloons, made double in
the legs, as though for riding. The whole suit looked more like
\