o
to sleep at midnight, here where I was deserted. You are a stranger,
I see. You belong to the world; every day has its to-morrow. Go
away, away to your own people, and to your own life of to-morrows.
This is no place for you here."

Again the bell sounded. The hurrying people stopped again in the
street, and waved their hands wildly, and cried,--

"Haste, haste, good men, all, good women, all. The hour is near.
Good men, all, good women, all, hurry!"

[Illustration: OLD PEASANT COSTUMES.]

It was night now; but the full moon rose over the long line of
hills, and behind it appeared a black cloud, from which darted
tongues of red flame, followed by mutterings of thunder.

The moon ascended the clear sky like a chariot, and the cloud seemed
to follow her like an army,--an awful spectacle that riveted Lek's
gaze and made him apprehensive.

"A storm is coming," he said. "I must stay here. Tell me, good
maiden, where can I find food and shelter?"

"Have you a true heart?"

"I have a true heart. I have always been true to myself; and he who
is true to himself is never unfaithful to God or his fellow-men."

"Then you will be saved when the hour comes. They only go down with
us who are untrue. All true hearts have to-morrows."

The moon ascended higher, and her light, more resplendent,
heightened the effect of the blackness of the rising cloud. The
lightnings became more vivid, the thunder more distinct.

"You are sure that your heart is true?" said the maiden.

"By the Cross, it is true."

"Then I have a duty to do. Follow me."

She rose and walked towards the hill from which Lek had come. Lek
followed her. As he passed out of the town the bell sounded: it was
the hour of eleven.

The people stopped in the streets as before, waving their hands, and
crying,--

"Good men, all, good women, all, hurry! The hour is near. Good men,
all, good women, all, hurry!"

[Illustration: CITY GATE.]

The maiden ascended the hill to the very rock from which the student
had first seen the town, and under which he had rested.

"Sit you here," she said, "and do not leave the place until the
cocks crow for morning. A true heart never perished with the untrue.
My duty is done. Farewell!"

"But the tempest?" said the student. "This is no place of shelter.
Let me return with you, only until to-morrow."

There burst upon the hill a t