“‘I made no compact with evil spirits.’
“‘You did, and if you failed in your vow, you were to meet the vengeance of the spirits. Your children were to perish by the vulture, the wolf—’
“‘Out, out, demon!’
“‘And their bones blanch in the wilderness. Ha!—ha!’
“My father, frantic with rage, seized his axe, and raised it over Wilfred’s head to strike.
“‘All this I swear,’ continued the huntsman, mockingly.
“The axe descended; but it passed through the form of the hunter, and my father lost his balance, and tell heavily on the floor.
“‘Mortal!’ said the hunter, striding over my father’s body, ‘we have power over those only who have committed murder. You have been guilty of a double murder: you shall pay the penalty attached to your marriage vow. Two of your children are gone, the third is yet to follow—and follow them he will, for your oath is registered. Go—it were kindness to kill thee—your punishment is, that you live!’
“With these words the spirit disappeared. My father rose from the floor, embraced me tenderly, and knelt down in prayer.
“The next morning he quitted the cottage for ever. He took me with him, and bent his steps to Holland, where we safely arrived. He had some little money with him; but he had not been many days in Amsterdam before he was seized with a brain fever, and died raving mad. I was put into the asylum, and afterwards was sent to sea before the mast. You now know all my history. The question is, whether I am to pay the penalty of my father’s oath? I am myself perfectly convinced that, in some way or another, I shall.”