we shall not be able to see ten yards before us."

The forest now thickened and the light decreased. Lenore had some
difficulty in discerning the men before her. The ground grew swampy, and
she sank up to her ankles. "If only no cold be caught," laughed Fink.
"None will," replied she, cheerfully; but the forest expedition no
longer appeared to her the easy matter it had done an hour before.

The man nearest to Fink stood still, his whispered word of command ran
along the whole chain, and all stopped to wait for the Kunau men. The
sky grew still blacker, the wood still darker. The thunder began to roll
in the distance, hollow and muffled, beneath the fir-wood arches. At
first the rain sounded only on the tree-tops, but soon large, heavy
drops came down, till at length all view was shut out by the sheets of
water that fell. Each individual was isolated by darkness and rain, and
when the men called to each other, they were hardly audible.

At that moment Lenore, as she looked at Fink, caught her foot in the
root of a tree, and suppressing a cry of anguish, sank on one knee. Fink
hastened to her.

"I can go no farther," said she, conquering her pain; "leave me here, I
beseech you, and call for me on your return."

"To leave you in this condition," cried Fink, "would be barbarity,
compared to which cannibalism is a harmless recreation. You will be good
enough to put up with my proximity. But first of all allow me to lead
you out of this shower-bath to some spot where the rain is less
audacious; and, besides, I have, already lost sight of our men; not one
of the worthy fellows' broad shoulders can I now discern." He raised
Lenore, who tried to use the injured foot, but the pain extorted another
cry of agony. She tottered, and leaned against Fink's shoulder. Winding
his plaid about her, he lifted her from the ground, and carried her, as
one carries a child, underneath some fir-trees, whose thick branches
spread over a small dry space. Any one stooping might find tolerable
shelter there.

"I must set you down here, dear lady," said Fink, carefully placing
Lenore on the ground. "I will keep watch before your green tent, and
turn my back to you, that you may bind your wet handkerchief round the
naughty ankle."

Lenore squeezed herself in under the fir canopy. Fink stood leaning
against the trunk of a tree.

"Is nothing broken?" said he; "can you move the foot?"

"It hurts me," said Lenore, "but I can move it."

"That