in her memory, and from a hundred places her disturbed fancy pictured
the glaring eyes of savage monsters which she imagined were in the act of
springing upon her. From these she would turn in affright, and hasten away
as fast as her trembling limbs could bear her. In this way her confusion
became more aggravated, until, finally, every trace of knowledge as to
distance or courses, was obliterated in her mind, and she wandered without
method or aim, save that she always went in an opposite direction to that
from which the last sound proceeded. But this indefinite way of fleeing
from harm did not answer her wishes; for soon she heard the baying of
wolves in her rear, and the constancy of their howling, and the directness
of their movements convinced her that she was pursued! What a thought was
that! Alone, and lost in the wide wilderness, and the fiercest and most
daring of its ferocious inhabitants on her track!

No sooner was this conviction fixed in her mind, than she flew rather than
ran, tearing her clothes and lacerating her flesh against the brush and
thorns which beset her way. She scarcely felt the wounds and thought as
little of the destruction of her garments, but kept on, on, on, she knew
not whither, and cared not, so that she escaped from her dreaded pursuers.
All would not do. Ever and increasing, nearer and nearer, came the dismal
sound! How her heart died within her, as the increased loudness of the
baying of the wolves told her they were fast overtaking her! In vain she
exerted all her remaining strength, and taxed every nerve and muscle to its
utmost capacity! There was no help! As unerring as mistakeless instinct,
and as certain as the decree of fate came the blood-thirsty pack! Despair
began to settle down upon her spirit, and she was almost ready to wish
herself back in the cave. But at this juncture, a sound seven-fold louder
than any thunder she had ever heard, broke with stunning violence through
the solemn forest, and at the same moment, far in the distance, flashed up
a column of fire sparkling and scintillating, and sending a gleam, as of
lightning, among the shades of the dim wilderness. It was the knell and
funeral light of the cave.

Instantly everything was as hushed as the chamber of death; not a sound
disturbed the stillness of the deep solitude that reigned around her, and
Eveline herself paused, and held her breath in alarm and wonder. The
illumination lasted but for a moment, and all wa