moothed with a mechanical caress the ringlets of chestnut hair that lay
upon her forehead, while her large brown eyes gazed into the depths of
the clouds from which the lightning was flashing, and with which they
vied in brilliancy. A poet would have said it was Miranda evoked by the
tempest.

The stranger parted the branches before him to get a better view; at the
same instant he was blinded by a terrible flash which lighted the whole
valley and was immediately followed by a terrific crash. When he opened
his eyes the chateau which he believed to be at the bottom of the river
stood still upright, solemn, and firm as before; but the lady in the
rose-colored gown had disappeared.

CHAPTER II

THE CASTLE OF BERGENHEIM

The appearance of the room into which the lady had precipitately entered,
when startled by the thunder, corresponded with the edifice to which it
belonged. It was a very large room, longer than it was wide, and lighted
by three windows, the middle one of which opened from top to bottom like
a door and led out upon the balcony. The woodwork and ceiling were in
chestnut, which time had polished and a skilful hand had ornamented with
a profusion of allegorical figures. The beauty of this work of art was
almost entirely concealed by a very remarkable decoration which covered
every side of the room, consisting of one of the most glorious
collections of family portraits which a country chateau of the nineteenth
century could offer.

The first of these portraits hung opposite the windows at the right of
the entrance door and was that of a chevalier in full armor, whose teeth
gleamed from under his long moustache like those of an untamed tiger.
Beginning with this formidable figure, which bore the date 1247, forty
others of about the same dimensions were placed in order according to
their dates. It seemed as if each period had left its mark upon those of
the personages it had seen live and die, and had left something of its
own character there.

There were more gallant cavaliers cut after the same pattern as the
first. Their stern, harsh faces, red beards, and broad, square military
shoulders told that by swordthrusts and broken lances they had founded
the nobility of their race. An heroic preface to this family biography! A
rough and warlike page of the Middle Ages! After these proud men-of-arms
came several figures of a less ferocious aspect, but not so imposing. In
these portraits of the fifteenth c