The heathen brothers smiled; and Hongar said, "How wildly sweet the little Christian looks! I make my choice to humble and prepare her for the base slaves of Odin's warlike halls. Go warriors, lock them up in donjon deep, until the hour of midnight, when the rites of Odin shall begin. Then will we send and bring them to the test; and all shall see whose God is most in might, and who must yield. In prison dark the virgins were immured, with sevenfold gates and sevenfold bars shut in. Soon as they were alone, the sisters twain, Marley and Morna, in fond tears embraced their youngest sister, lauded her high soul, and vowed with her to stand, with her to die, unsullied in the faith they had been taught. Then did they kneel on the cold dungeon floor, and one by one offered their fervent prayers at mercy's footstool. But chiefly were their vows made to the Holy Virgin; for they hoped that she would save their pure virginity from sin's pollution. Never did prayers ascend up to heaven with greater fervency. And as the hour of midnight on them drew, they kneeled; and, side by side, with lifted hands, and eyes turned toward heaven, sang aloud this holy simple hymn to their Redeemer. HYMN TO THE REDEEMER. SON of the Virgin, hear us! hear us! Son of the living God, be near us! Thou who art man in form and feature, Yet God of glory, and God of nature. Thou who led'st the star of the East, Yet helpless lay at a Virgin's breast; Slept in the manger, and cried on the knee, Yet rulest o'er Time and Eternity. Pity thy creatures here kneeling in dust; Pity the beings in Thee that trust! Thou who fed'st the hungry with bread, And raised'st from the grave the mouldering dead; Who walked'st on the waves of the rolling main, Who cried'st to thy Father, and cried'st in vain; Yet wept for the woes and the sins of man, And prayed'st for them when thy life-blood ran; With thy last breath who cried'st FORGIVE! When bleeding and dying, that man might live! Over death and the grave hast the victory won, And now art enthroned by the stars and the sun. For thy name's glory, hear us, and come, And show thy power over idols dumb. O leave the abodes of glory and bliss, The realms of heavenly happiness; Come swifter than the gale of even On thy lightning's wing, the chariot of heaven; By the gates of light and the glowing sphere, O come on thy errand of mercy here! But Lord of glory we know not thee, We know not what we say; We cannot from thy presence be, Nor from thine eye away: For though on the right hand of God, Thou art here in this dark and drear abode: Beyond the moon and the starry way Thou holdest thy Almighty sway, Where spirits in floods of light are swimming, And angels round thy throne are hymning; Yet present with all who call on thee In this world of wo and adversity.