Benno shook his head; he had not before perceived any symptoms of indisposition. "We had better set out upon our way back," he said. "The fire is going out, and we have a good mile to walk down the mountain."
"You are right; we are going too," said Waltenberg, approaching. "Sepp proposes to take us down by the Vulture Cliff, but that shorter way seems slightly perilous."
"It certainly is by moonlight."
"Then we will give it up. I promised Frau von Lasberg to return early, and I must keep my word. Gronau can descend with the guide by the cliff, since he seems to want to do so. He can meet us on the high-road."
The little party set out together, Gronau and Sepp agreeing to meet it at an appointed spot in the road below. The meadow with the flickering flames soon vanished, and the silence of the mountain-forest replaced the shouting and laughter on the height. Silence also fell upon the descending group; they were obliged to walk heedfully, for the path, although neither steep nor perilous, lay in the shadow of the dense pine forest, which hid the moonlight except for a brilliant ray here and there. Waltenberg walked close beside Erna; the other two followed. Thus descending, they reached the edge of the forest in about half an hour and emerged upon the cleared mountainside.
"The heights all around are still flaming," said Waltenberg, pointing upward, where, upon the other summits, the fires were yet blazing. "The Wolkensteiners lit their pile early. Her Majesty the Mountain-Sprite takes precedence, and she seems actually to mean to unveil in honour of the night."
He was right. The clouds that during the entire evening had hovered about the summit of the Wolkenstein and had veiled its peak were beginning to float away.
"I wonder that Gronau and Sepp are not here," Erna remarked. "They ought to have been here before us, since they took the shorter path."
"Perhaps they have met with some ghostly hinderance," said Benno, laughing. "It is Midsummer Eve, and the mountains are alive with fairies and spirits. I'll wager either that they have encountered some phantom, or that they are now searching for the treasures which rise from hidden depths to the surface on this night in the year. Ah, there they are!"
In fact, Sepp made his appearance on the other side of the road, but he was alone, and the haste of his approach boded ill.