"Bah! I am no novice in such attempts. I have climbed higher mountains than your dreaded Wolkenstein."
His tone betrayed the defiant persistence of a man accustomed to danger, apt indeed to seek it. Nordheim was right: he longed only for what was withheld from him, and life had thus far withheld from him little enough. To climb a mountain-summit which no human foot had ever before trod, or to win a beautiful, proud woman who met his advances with coy reserve,--either attempt attracted him. He must win, subdue,--nothing was impossible.
The wind, which was rising, blew the flames to one side; they flickered and leaped, and a shower of sparks fell upon Wolfgang, who hardly noticed it. He remained motionless in the ruddy glare, which did not reveal his extreme pallor. The entire pile was now one mountain of flame, whence huge tongues soared aloft, higher and higher, invading the night with a fiery breath. The cool, dewy meadow, the dark forests, the steep declivities of the Wolkenstein,--all looked strangely transformed in the red, darting light beneath the clouds of smoke rolling overhead.
And there was a reflection of the glowing fire in the face of the man who endured mutely, with compressed lips, the torture that he would not flee. He felt the hot breath of the flames, but he could not tear himself from the spot where those low, half-whispered words reached his ear.
"Take care. It is the legendary stronghold of our mountains; there is a spell upon it. Its ruler permits no human foot to press her throne."
"Until he comes who subdues her. The German legends all end thus. He whose courage wins the summit clasps the enchantress in his arms."
"And dies beneath the Mountain-Sprite's icy kiss. Yes, so runs the legend."
Waltenberg laughed contemptuously: "Yes, the tale may terrify children and simple peasants. Thence comes the inaccessibility of the Wolkenstein,--not from the danger, but from superstition! Nevertheless I hope to make it mine, that mysterious kiss."
"You will not persist?" Erna interposed, between entreaty and command. "Give up so foolhardy an idea!"
"No, no, Fräulein von Thurgau, not even at your command."