d! I've only been
wicked in thought." He took off his shoe, placed the letter in it, and
had just stood up again, when he once more heard the loud shout issuing
from Zenza's house.

"Scream on, as long as you've a mind to," said he to himself, while he
went farther into the wood. He tried to light his pipe, but always
struck his fingers with the steel; and, besides, his tinder was damp.
"You don't need any fire, you wicked fellow," said he at last, while he
put the pipe into his pocket. "You don't need fire; there's one burning
up there, that would have been hell-fire for you. You may be right glad
that you're out of it; it's more than you deserve."

If Hansei, at that moment, could have laid hands on the Hansei of an
hour ago he would have strangled him.

The mist had become so thick that it was almost like a drizzling rain.
The forest seemed to be growing vaster, and a path was nowhere to be
found.

"You've lost your way, and it serves you right," said Hansei,
speaking to himself. "You're no longer fit to be with decent men, you
good-for-nothing wretch. It's only a pity that your wife and child are
innocent sufferers by it--"

Two men in one were lost in the mist. Hansei cursed and swore at
himself, but soon grew frightened, for his mind became filled with
stories of the evil spirits that lead the solitary traveler up and down
hill, and round and about, through the livelong night. He was about to
turn back. It would be easier to find the way to Windenreuthe.

"Wait, you accursed devil," said he, addressing the invisible companion
who had thus advised him; "all you want is to get me back there again.
No, you shan't catch me."

He again tried to strike a light and, this time, with success. Just as
he drew the first puff, he heard the tones of the bell, and pressed his
hand to his forehead, for it seemed to him as if the clapper of the
bell were striking against his head.

"That's the vesper bell of the chapel by the lake. The sounds seem so
near. Can I be on this side? No, it's the mist that makes it sound so."

Uncovering his head, and clinging with both hands to the staff which
now stood firmly planted in the ground, he cast aside all other
thoughts and breathed a silent prayer.

While praying, he could not help thinking: O God! I can still pray,
although I could so far forget myself and go astray.

The immortal words which an inspired mind drew from the depths of the
human heart and its never-ending str