“ Gertrude! ” cried Arnold in a beseeching tone,
She hesitated for a minute and then suddenly threw her arms
about his neck and pressed her ice-cold lips against his. But she
immediately tore herself away and was hastening back towards
the village while Arnold stood as if spell-bound on the spot to
which she had led him. He noticed for the first time how the
weather had changed in a few hours. The wind howled through
the trees, the sky was covered with storm-clouds, and rain was
beginning to fall in large drops. He could still see the lights
of the inn and he could occasionally distinguih strains of music,
but at the first stroke of twelve, it ceased, and the storm became so
wild that he was thrown to the ground. On the ground beside
him, he found his knapsack which Gertrude must have placed
there beforehand. The hurricane had died out, but he could no
longer see any lights, and he could no longer hear the howling
of dogs, and a heavy, damp mist rose from the earth.
“ The time is up,” murmured Arnold as he threw his knapsack
over his shoulder, ‘‘and I must see Gertrude again. The dance
is over and I ought to meet her on her way home if she is no
longer at the inn. But can I find my way in the dark? ”
He walked cautiously down the gentle slope up which he and
Gertrude had come, but he found tangled bushes instead of the
broad, white road which had been there a few minutes before.
The ground was soft and swampy, and he sank into it over the
ankles of his thin boots. No matter how he turned, he sank
deeper and deeper into the treacherous ground until he finally
reached a dryer spot where he decided to remain until the clock
struck one, thinking that the sound would furnish a clue as to
the direction in which the inn lay. The bushes had torn his
hands and face as well as his clothes. But not a sound came to
him from the village. Wet through and through, and almost
overcome with cold, he made his way back with difficulty to the
mound where Gertrude had first left him. After several futile
attempts to reach the village, he gave up in despair and sought a
tree under which to spend the remainder of the night. And how
slowly did the hours drag by! He tried to sleep, but 1 he always
imagined that he heard the bell.
At last the darkness began to dispell in the east and the clouds
disappeared, disclosing a clear, starry sky, and the awakened
birds sang blithely in the trees. In vain did he look in all direc-