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Page 39
The count had laid down his burden; the old woman and he took it up
together, swung it for a moment over the edge of the precipice, then the
long shroud floated over the abyss, and the imaginary murderers in
silence bent forward to see it fall.
That long white sheet floating in the air is still present before my
eyes. It descends, it falls like a wild swan shot in the clouds,
spreading its wide wings, the long neck thrown back, whirling down to
earth to die.
The white burden disappeared in the dark depths of the precipice.
At last the cloud which I had long seen threatening to cover the moon's
bright disc veiled her in its steel-blue folds, and her rays ceased to
shine.
The old woman, holding the count by the hand and dragging him forward
with hurried steps, came for a moment into view.
The cloud had overshadowed the moon, and I could not move out of their
way without danger of falling over the precipice.
After a few minutes, during which I lay as close as I could, there was a
rift in the cloud. I looked out again. I stood alone on the point of the
peak with the snow up to my knees.
Full of horror and apprehension, I descended from my perilous position,
and ran to the castle in as much consternation as if I had been guilty of
some great crime.
As for the lord of Nideck and his companion, I lost sight of them.
CHAPTER X.
I wandered around the castle of Nideck unable to find the exit from
which I had commenced my melancholy journey.
So much anxiety and uneasiness were beginning to tell upon my mind; I
staggered on, wondering if I was not mad, unable to believe in what I had
seen, and yet alarmed at the clearness of my own perceptions.
My mind in confusion passed in review that strange man waving his torch
overhead in the darkness, howling like a wolf, coldly and accurately
going through all the details of an imaginary murder without the omission
of one ghastly detail or circumstance, then escaping and committing to
the furious torrent the secret of his crime; these things all harassed my
mind, hurried confusedly past my eyes, and made me feel as if I were
labouring under a nightmare.
Lost in the snow, I ran to and fro panting and alarmed, and unable to
judge which way to direct my steps.
As day drew near the cold became sharper; I shivered, I execrated Sperver
for having brought me from Fribourg to bear a part in this hideous
adventure.
At last, exhausted, my beard a mass of ice, my ears nearly frostbitten, I
discovered the gate and rang the bell with all my might.
It was then about four in the morning. Knapwurst made me wait a terribly
long time. His little lodge, cut in the rock, remained silent; I thought
the little humpbacked wretch would never have done dressing; for of
course I supposed he would be in bed and asleep.
I rang again.
This time his grotesque figure appeared abruptly, and he cried to me from
the door in a fury--
"Who are you?"
"I?--Doctor Fritz."
"Oh, that alters the case," and he went back into his lodge for a
lantern, crossed the outer court where the snow came up to his middle,
and staring at me through the grating, he exclaimed--
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