Wyseby

56 WYSEBV: A LKGEND
had passed heavily ; and now we sat by the fire lis-
tening listlessly to the raging tempest. The door
flew open : wild, distracted, Ardin the huntsman
burst into the room. 'Save! save!' he cried, and
fell senseless on the floor.
"' Poor Ardin !' cried Sir Esecal, 'what can have
befallen him ?' At that moment the huntsman raised
his head, and shouting wildly, « Back, accursed wa-
ters! Spare her —spare her! — she is my only child ;
and so good too — spare !' — he sank insensible again.
"' Ah !' cried Esecal, 'I see all. To horse — to
horse ! Follow me.' A few minutes, and a dozen fear-
less horsemen were dashing along the mountain way,
through night and tempest, on, on. The bridge of
the Weardon is near. A flash of lightning revealed
the angry waters.
" ' Halt !' shouted Esecal. The knight discovered,
in the momentary light, that the bridge was gone
— swept away with its ivy tendrils, the growth of
thrice a century. The storm had now reached its
height: the thunder crashed through the waste of
night, and the blue lightning gleamed on the waters,
as if some demon, resting on its broad wings, look-
ed with its fearfully lurid countenance and great
glaring eyes into the secret bosom of the troubled
deep ! But no living soul, no cottage, was visible ;
the lightning revealed nothing but water, water ;
and if the valley contained a living being still, what
earthly power could render aid? In a pause of the
wind, an agonised shriek burst across the howling
waste ; and a prolonged flash of lightning revealed
a female form on the centre of the rising ground,
surrounded by the mad elements ; wild and piercing
came her screams.