rter of an hour after another passed away.

A light breeze rose, and gradually the tops of the rushes began to
shine, and the leafage before, beside, and above her to glitter in the
silvery light.

The water was no longer calm, but furrowed by countless little ripples,
on whose crests the rays from above played, sparkling and flashing
restlessly. A web of shimmering silvery radiance covered the edges of
every island, and suddenly the brilliant full moon was reflected in
argent lustre like a magnificent quivering column upon the surface of
the water, now rippled by the evening breeze.

The time during which Ledscha could repeat "When the moon is over
Pelican Island" was past; already its course had led it beyond.

The island lay behind it, and it continued its pilgrimage before the
young girl's eyes.

The glittering column of light upon the water proved that she was
not mistaken; the time which she had appointed for Hermon had already
expired.

The moon in calm majesty sailed farther and farther onward in its
course, and with it minute after minute elapsed, until they became a
half hour, then a whole one.

"How long is it since the moon was over Pelican Island?" was the
question which now pressed itself upon her again and again, and to
which she found an answer at every glance upward, for she had learned to
estimate time by the position of the stars.

Rarely was the silence of the night interrupted by the call of a human
being or the barking of a dog from the city, or even the hooting of an
owl at a still greater distance; but the farther the moon moved on above
her the fiercer grew the uproar in Ledscha's proud, cruelly wronged
soul. She felt offended, scorned, insulted, and at the same time
defrauded of the happiness which this night of the full moon contained
for her. Or had the demons who promised happiness meant something else
in their prediction than Hermon's love? Was she to owe the bliss they
had foretold to hate and pitiless retribution?

When the midnight hour had nearly arrived she prepared to depart, but
after she had already set her foot on the edge of the boat she returned
to the grassy seat. She would wait a little longer yet. Then there would
be nothing which could give Hermon a right to consideration; then she
might let loose upon him the avenging powers at her command.

Ledscha again gazed over the calm landscape, but in the wild tumult of
her heart she no longer distinguished the details up