heard her singing his child to sleep:

"If all the streams were naught but wine,
And all the hills were gems so fine,
And all were mine:
Yet would my darling treasure be
Dearer far than all to me.

"And since we needs must part,
One more kiss before I start.
Thou remain'st, but I must leave,
And parting sore the heart doth grieve;
But, though life drags, we'll not despond,
For longer far is the life beyond."

"But though life drags, we'll not despond, For longer far is the life
beyond." The words sank deep into Hansei's heart, and the fireflies
flitting about in the darkness, or resting on fence and grass, drew his
glance hither and thither, as if they were some new and startling
phenomenon. Hansei's waking dream continued for some time, and when he,
at last, passed his hand over his face, it was wet with the dew. He
felt as if some one must carry him into the house and put him to bed.
But a sudden turn caused the roll of money to touch his hip, and he was
wide awake again. He walked far out along the road, in the same
direction that Walpurga had gone, and at last reached the pile of
stones on which she had rested a fortnight ago. There was still some
hay lying there. He sat down upon it and gazed out at the broad lake,
over which the moon shed its bright rays. It was just as quiet as it
had been a fortnight before; but that was in the daytime, and now it
was night. "Where can my wife be now?" said he, springing to his feet,
so that he might run to her, though it took the whole night. "How glad
she will be to have me come to the palace the very first morning she is
there!" With giant strides he hurried on. But he could not help asking
himself: "How will it be if you have to leave again to-morrow, and what
will the folks at home say, and what will grandmother think, left all
alone with the child?"

And yet he walked on. Suddenly, he became alarmed at the thought of the
money on his person. The neighborhood was safe enough, to be sure. It
was long since any crime had been heard of in that region. But still
there might be robbers, who, after helping themselves to his treasure,
would murder him, and throw him into the lake.... Tortured by fear, he
hurriedly turned about and ran toward home.

Advancing toward him, he beheld a figure of threatening aspect. He
grasped the knife in his belt