"Hold your tongue, and ride on! Here we have an open space with young woods; I caught a glimpse of something there between the snow-drifts."
"All the saints be with us! We are now on the very spot where the house stood. Do you not see the old fire-place sticking out through the snow? Not a step farther, master!"
"I am not mistaken ... it is the hut."
Bertel and his companion found themselves on very rough ground, where the horses stumbled at every step over large stones, or sank into great hollows covered with snow. Deep snow-drifts and fallen trees made it worse still, as if to obstruct the passage to a dilapidated peasant's hut, which by design or chance was hidden behind two spreading firs, with branches hanging to the ground. The only window of the hut had a shutter, which was at one moment blown open by the wind and then slammed to again, thus causing the light within to show itself and disappear by turns.
Bertel dismounted from his horse, tied it to a branch of the fir, and approached the window to throw a glance inside. A secret hope gave wings to his feet. He took it for granted that unless the fugitives had gone in a northerly direction, they could not have followed the main highway, but had sought to escape their pursuers on the side roads. But in this part of the plain of East Bothnia hundreds of small roads crossed each other at that time, all leading to the new settlements in the East. Who told him that the fugitives would select just this road?
Still his heart beat faster when he approached the window. Of the four small panes two were of horn, which was formerly used in default of glass; one of them was broken and stopped up with moss; only the fourth was of glass, but so covered with ice and snow that at first nothing could be seen. Bertel breathed on the glass, but found to his vexation that the frost on the inside defied his curiosity. Just then his horse neighed.
It seemed ridiculous to Bertel to stand spying into a poor peasant's hut. He was already on the point of knocking at the door, when at that instant a shadow obscured the light, and the frost on the inside of the glass was quickly melted by the breath of a human being, as eager to look out as he was to look in. Bertel was soon able to discern a face with burning eyes, which stared out close to the window, to discover the cause of a horse's neighing so late at night in the wilderness.
The sight of this face had the effect of an electric shock upon the inquisitive captain. With his thoughts on the beautiful Regina, Bertel had expected a sight not involving so great a contrast. But instead he beheld a corpse-like face surrounded by a black tight-fitting, leather hood, and this dark frame made the pale face seem still paler.
Bertel had seen these features before, and when he searched his memory, the picture of a terrible night in the Bavarian woods rose before his mental vision. Involuntarily he drew back, and hesitated for a moment. This motion was observed by Pekka, who had remained on his horse so as to be ready to fly.
"Quick, away from here!" he cried. "I have told you that nobody but the devil himself lives in these woods."