The dank mists of evening fell thickly on the mountain, the vesper bell must presently ring, Donatus had been listening for it all the way.
"Boy, do you see no lights in the convent."
"No," said the lad, "all is dark."
"And yet it must be late," said Donatus, panting but hurrying still more up the steep ascent.
"Aye, it is late," said the boy.
At this moment the vesper bell rang out and up from Burgeis; now they will ring here too--
He listened, his heart throbbed once, twice, thrice, all was still.
What had happened? A shudder ran through him, the cold night wind blew down from the peaks and chilled his very marrow. The vesper bells rang out, each in a separate note, from the valleys far and near; only up here was it dumb.
"Can you see the convent yet?" asked the blind man.
"Yes, there it is," said the lad indifferently.