The sky was covered with red, fiery clouds, except those in the east whose edges were tinged with the bright rays of the morning sun as they strove to hide its glory with their dark veil of vapours, now all beauty and radiance by the golden lines of light which streaked their gloomy surface beneath this storm-portending sky; and, far off, to the westward rose two tremendous rocks whose summits were enveloped with black clouds rolling one above another with an awful magnificence well-suited to the land of wilderness and mountain which they canopied. Gliding along in the air between these two rocks was a chariot of light. In the chariot sat a figure the expression of whose countenance was that of the old man, armed with the majesty and might of a spirit. O’Donell stood at the mouth of the cave watching it till it vanished, and then, calling Delancy, he related the circumstance to him. Some years after this, Alexander went out one morning in search of the fruit on which they subsisted. Noon came, and he had not returned; evening, and still no tidings of him. O’Donell began to be alarmed and set out in search of him, but could nowhere find him. One whole day he spent in wandering about the rocks and mountains, and in the evening he came back to his cave weary and faint with hunger and thirst. Days, weeks, months, passed away, and no Delancy appeared. O’Donell might now be said to be truly miserable. He would sit on a rock for hours together and cry out: ‘Alexander! Alexander!’ but receive no answer but the distant echoing of his voice among the rocks. Sometimes he fancied it was another person answering him, and he would listen earnestly till it died away. Then, sinking into utter despair again, he would sit till the dews of night began to fall, when he would retire to his cave to pass the night in anguish, broken slumbers, or in thinking of his beloved comrade, whom he could never see more. In one of these dreadful intervals he took up a small parcel. Opening it, he saw lying before him two locks of soft, curly hair, shining like burnished gold. He gazed on them for a little time, and thought of the words of those who gave them to him: ‘Take this then, that you may remember us when you dwell with only the wild beasts of the desert, or the great eagle of the mountain.’ He burst into a flood of tears. He wrung his hands in sorrow, and in the anguish of the moment he wished that he could once more see them and the mighty warrior King, their father, if it cost him his life. Just at that instant a loud clap of thunder shook the roof of the cave. A sound like the rushing of wind was heard, and a mighty Genius stood before him. ‘I know thy wish,’ cried he with a loud and terrible voice, ‘and I will grant it. In two months’ time thou returnest to the castle, whence thou camest hither, and surrenderest thyself into my power!’