Fortune favored me--a cluster of pansies had opened
their blossoms a few inches below the stone,--she saw them,--and, light
as a bird, sprang on it and reached forward to gather them--ah!"--and
the wretched woman clapped her hands and broke into malignant
laughter--"I can hear her quick shriek now--the crash of the stones and
the crackle of branches as she fell down,--down to her death! Presently
the child came running,--it was too young to understand--it sat down
patiently waiting for its mother. How I longed to kill it! but it sang
to itself like the bird that had flown away, and I could not! But _she_
was gone--_she_ was silent for ever--the Lord be praised for all His
mercies! Was she smiling, Olaf Gueldmar, when you found her--_dead_?"
A strange solemnity shadowed the _bonde's_ features. He turned his eyes
upon her steadily.
"Blessing and honor be to the gods of my fathers!" he said--"I found
her--_living_!"
The change that came over Lovisa's face at these words was inexpressibly
awful--she grew livid and her lips twitched convulsively.
Pages:
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961