The friends, whose taste had led them to select this dilapidated
dwelling as a place of conference, were two in number, both women,--one
of them no other than the minister's servant, the drear-faced Ulrika.
She was crouched on the earth-floor in an attitude of utter abasement,
at the feet of her companion,--an aged dame of tall and imposing
appearance, who, standing erect, looked down upon her with an air of
mingled contempt and malevolence. The hut was rather dark, for the roof
was not sufficiently destroyed to have the advantage of being open to
the sky. The sunlight fell through holes of different shapes and
sizes,--one specially bright patch of radiance illumining the stately
form, and strongly marked, though withered features of the elder woman,
whose eyes, deeply sunken in her head, glittered with a hawk-like and
evil lustre, as they rested on the prostrate figure before her. When she
spoke, her accents were harsh and commanding.
"How long?" she said, "how long must I wait? How long must I watch the
work of Satan in the land? The fields are barren and will not bring
forth; the curse of bitter poverty is upon us all: and only he, the
pagan Gueldmar, prospers and gathers in harvest, while all around him
starve! Do I not know the devil's work when I see it,--I, the chosen
servant of the Lord?" And she struck a tall staff she held violently
into the ground to emphasize her words.
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