e future, to catch back the tones
which strike in unison with our desires.'

"'_Our_ future?' whispered Bolko.

"'Say _thine_, if it likes thee better,' answered Auriola, filling her
hand anew with water, and once more urging the sparkling fluid towards
her finger-ends. Bolko perceived a horseman galloping across a gloomy
heath, and looking back with horror. This apparition, like the former,
shone distinctly for a time, and then, in the same manner, vanished by
degrees, and expired.

"'And what is this?' asked Bolko.

"Auriola shook her head in silence, poured water again into her hand,
and blew it again along her fingers into the air. A lofty,
many-towered castle was visible. A rope-ladder was fastened to a
gallery. A man was climbing up. As soon as he reached the gallery, the
vision was lost.

"'It is the castle of my ancestors!' cried Bolko.

"'Thou art mistaken,' answered Auriola. 'But tell me--canst thou
love?'

"Her voice was again mournful.

"The youth drew the fair questioner to his heart. His lips fastened on
hers, and hallowing fire streamed through his frame.

"Auriola heaved a melancholy sigh, and once more filled her hand with
water. At the usual signal there arose a brilliantly illuminated hall.
Dancers, gaily dressed, were in happy motion. Music was heard, and
then the strains and the colours died away in the twilight.

"'I smart!' exclaimed Bolko. 'I am tortured! My soul is gnawed with
agony!'

"'Hush, and listen,' said Auriola, in a tone of command--filling her
hand, and impelling the crystal water into the air, as before. A
roaring was heard, like the course of a hurricane sweeping through a
forest. The air grew black. Then the moon broke through night and
mist, and lit up a hilly region, surrounded by wood and cliff. Out of
the wood issued a carriage and four, making at full speed for a
solitary open space, that looked dismal and deserted. The form of a
maiden floated before the carriage, her painfully smiling countenance
ever turned towards it until she evaporated, like a cloud, in the
wood. A flash of lightning from the murky sky struck a beech-tree,
near whose flames the carriage slowly disappeared into the ground.

"This vision at an end, Auriola bent her head, and tears fell upon her
bosom.

"'Lovely enchantress,' said Bolko, 'why perform these miracles if they
afflict thee?'

"'Because there is no longer love upon the earth.'

"'Say not so!' exclaimed the youth. 'Love still