CITY GATE.
The maiden ascended the hill to the very rock from which the student had first seen the town, and under which he had rested.
“Sit you here,” she said, “and do not leave the place until the cocks crow for morning. A true heart never perished with the untrue. My duty is done. Farewell!”
“But the tempest?” said the student. “This is no place of shelter. Let me return with you, only until to-morrow.”
There burst upon the hill a terrific thunder-gust. The maiden was gone, the black cloud swept over the moon, and Lek could no longer discern the town in the valley. Everything around him grew dark. The air seemed to turn into a thick inky darkness.
Fearful flashes of lightning and terrific thunder followed. The wind bent the forest before it; but not a drop of rain fell.
There was a moment’s silence. The bell in the mysterious steeple smote upon the air. It was midnight.
Another hush, as though Nature had ceased to breathe. Then a thunder-crash shook the hills, and seemed to cleave open the very earth.
Lek crossed himself and fell upon his knees. The cloud passed swiftly. The moon came out again, revealing the lovely valley. The village was gone.
In the morning a cowherd came up the hill at the rising of the sun.