rn out! Hasten, then, my child, and
save the Vaterland. Thou wilt see the tinder-box and the rags in the
hollow pine-tree beside the faggot. It is wrapped in tow, and will light
at once. Farewell, and Gott guide thee!"

I cannot tell a thousandth part of the dangers and difficulties of that
night's walk: in one place the path, for several yards, is on the brink
of a ravine, eleven hundred feet deep, and so abrupt is the turn at the
end, that an iron hook is inserted in the rock, by which the traveller
must grip; a steep glacier is to be crossed farther on; and lastly, the
torrent of the Kletscher must be traversed on a tree, whose bark, wet
and slippery from the falling spray, would be impossible to all but the
feet of a mountaineer. Each of these did Hans now surmount with all the
precision and care of waking senses; with greater courage, by far, than
in his waking moments he could have confronted them.

Gorges he never gazed on before without a shudder, he passed now in
utter disregard; paths he trembled to tread, he stepped along now in
nimble speed, and at last caught sight of a large dark object that stood
out against the sky--the great heap of fire-wood for the beacon.

As he came nearer, his eagerness grew greater; each minute now seemed an
hour--every false step he made appeared to him as though it might prove
fatal to his mission; and when, by any turn of the way, the beacon pile
disappeared for a moment from his eyes, his heart throbbed so powerfully
as almost to impede his breath. At last he gained the top--the wild
mountain-peak of the Kaiser-fells. The Snow lay deep, and a cold,
cutting wind swept the drift along, and made the sensation far more
intense. Hans cared not for this: his whole soul was on one object;
suffering, torture, death itself, he would have braved and welcomed,
could he only accomplish it. The mist lay heavily on the side by which
he had ascended, but towards Landeck the air was clear, and Hans gazed
down in that direction as well as the darkness would permit; but all
seemed tranquil--nothing stirred, nor shewed the threatened approach.
"What if he should be mistaken?" thought Hans. "What if the lame soldier
should have only fancied this? or could he be a traitor, that would
endeavour by a false alarm to excite the revolt before its time?"

These were torturing doubts, and while he yet revolved them he stood
unconsciously peering into the depth below, when suddenly, close beneath
him--