Among other amusements, Bertha was especially delighted with a certain mirror, which, surrounded by strange talismanic characters, was placed against the wall of a retired chamber. When the Druda, for the first time, withdrew the dark red curtain by which it was covered, she said to the damsel,--“There, child, divert yourself for a space with the varied imagery which you will behold in that glass. For the present I have serious duties to perform.” Bertha then stood alone before the mirror, trembling and doubtful what she was to expect to see there; but in a few minutes a new world seemed starting into life within its sphere; landscapes, men and women, towns and castles. At one time the scene presented a wide sea, on which ships were sailing for purposes of merchandise or warfare, now under a bright smiling sky, now amid storms and dark thunder-clouds. Then she beheld long church aisles full of people assembled in prayer, or great squares of a city, with enclosed lists, and knights engaged in desperate encounters. These last Bertha was unwilling to look upon; for they forced her to reflect on the combat between the Chevalier de Montfaucon and Count Archimbald von Waldeck, whence arose all her sufferings. Again, however, the mirror changed the scene to the interior of a magnificent castle, where a great king was seated on a throne, and around him were many knights and ladies. Then there were visible Moorish towns, with their strangely-attired inhabitants, in long dresses, on the streets. Of all the pictures, however, that by which Bertha was most interested was a wild rocky country, answering to the descriptions which she had oftentimes heard of Norway and Sweden. On one of the highest cliffs, there was an old moss-grown watch-tower, from which, through a single window, there gleamed a steady light, pale indeed, like departing moonshine; and on this object the damsel could have gazed for hours together, believing, that in that lonely abode she might yet find consolation for all her misfortunes. These thoughts she often described to the Lady Minnatrost, who answered her,--“That solitary watch-tower, by which your attention has been thus attracted, lies far remote in the cold climate of the north. I must very soon make a journey thither; but, alas! you cannot go with me!” Such discourse only made those northern realms to the damsel more and more interesting; and never was she so calm and contented in spirit, as when the rocky landscape with the pale beacon-light came before her in the mirror.