Having once more awoke, she found herself reclining on the turf,--her brother kneeling beside her, and anxiously employed for her recovery. Still she heard the same wild murmuring of voices and clang of weapons from the main land, and then looking at the boat which had brought them across, “Thank Heaven,” said she, “that we are now in the island!” “Ay, truly,” said her brother, “we are safer here; for, on account of the thundering noises and frightful sights at the Druda’s castle, the people have all risen up in arms, partly to assist the lady, whom they supposed in danger, and partly to attack each other, since the disturbance in her hitherto silent and peaceful abode seems like a signal for the renewal of their contentions. That is indeed no longer a fitting habitation for a timid damsel; and we must endeavour to remove from it as far as possible.” “Wherefore then should we leave this island?” said Bertha; “here surely we might remain in peace and joy. Follow me, for I already know whither we should go.” With these words, she stept boldly onwards into the green thickets, convinced that she should find there the hermitage of her lover, Sir Otto von Trautwangen, according to the visionary prospect which she had beheld from the window of the lady’s castle. Her brother thought, that what she had now said might be the result of secret information received from the Lady Minnatrost, and went silently after her into the woodland coverts. There, however, they found no flowery parterres, nor gravel walks, nor aught which she had expected at her lover’s habitation. Bertha, however, was not discouraged, but persisted in her search. She was even tempted to call aloud on Sir Otto by name, only that she was afraid of rousing her brother to anger. Meanwhile, the branches of the trees became always more and more densely interwoven; their roots always made the damp ground more uneven; serpents, too, and other reptiles, disturbed by the unaccustomed tread of human visitors, were visible, writhing or crawling among the tall grass. At length the clear light of the ocean waves appeared once more on the other side of the island; and on reaching the shore, Bertha only found a wild country, where the evening sun was now shedding his rays upon old Runick tombs and monuments, and the wind rustled mournfully among the luxuriant moss and tall grass by which they were covered. Weeping bitterly, the disappointed damsel sat down on one of these old tomb-stones, and, with a painful feeling of resignation, exclaimed,--“So then, all that I was destined to find on this island was but a grave!” The more that her brother questioned and tried to console her, the more her affliction increased. She felt all the bitterness of disappointment and shame at the self-confidence which she had just before shewn.