"'I smart!' exclaimed Bolko. 'I am tortured! My soul is gnawed with agony!' "'Hush, and listen,' said Auriola, in a tone of command--filling her hand, and impelling the crystal water into the air, as before. A roaring was heard, like the course of a hurricane sweeping through a forest. The air grew black. Then the moon broke through night and mist, and lit up a hilly region, surrounded by wood and cliff. Out of the wood issued a carriage and four, making at full speed for a solitary open space, that looked dismal and deserted. The form of a maiden floated before the carriage, her painfully smiling countenance ever turned towards it until she evaporated, like a cloud, in the wood. A flash of lightning from the murky sky struck a beech-tree, near whose flames the carriage slowly disappeared into the ground. "This vision at an end, Auriola bent her head, and tears fell upon her bosom. "'Lovely enchantress,' said Bolko, 'why perform these miracles if they afflict thee?' "'Because there is no longer love upon the earth.' "'Say not so!' exclaimed the youth. 'Love still exists--deep, eternal, holy love. I feel it now. Auriola, I, whose arms never encircled maiden yet--I love thee, Auriola, with every fibre of my body--with every faculty of my soul. I will be thine--thine for ever; be thou mine, my Auriola!' "'BE CONSTANT!' The words were uttered in the clear voice of Auriola; as if from the air. Bolko saw the lovely form grow pale, felt her vanishing, at his heart. The brilliant cloud of butterflies arose from the spring, and flew towards heaven by a hundred roads. A thin misty streak sank into the grotto. Bolko was alone upon the barren moor. Sultry vapours were exhaling in the twilight. Indescribable sensations preyed on the soul of Bolko, as he remembered that he had given his heart to one who was no longer a dweller upon earth--that he had plighted his faith to the Maiden of the Moor. He hurried from the scene of his unhallowed engagement, to seek from the wisdom of his Hubert consolation for the peace of mind which had been so sadly disturbed, if not for ever taken from him. * * * * *