eyes rested on the vast range of towering peaks, summit piled on
summit, and, in the distance, a peak overtopping them all. The wooded
heights seemed enveloped in a violet haze. The trembling rays of the
setting sun gilded the bare and rugged cliffs. High upon the glaciers
rested the rosy glow of sunset, ever assuming a brighter hue as it grew
darker in the valley below. One mighty, snow-clad peak seemed as if on
fire; but a cloud passed over it and, as if lifting a veil, carried the
mountain's rosy glow with it. The cloud gradually disappeared in a
blaze of glory, and the snowy peaks, standing out against the
background of dull sky, looked cold and bleak, as if in death.

The mighty spirit of Death was passing o'er the heights.

Oh! that one might thus vanish into thin air!

A chilling breeze swept over the mountain. Irma shuddered. She passed
her hand over her face, and felt that she, too, was growing pale. She
rose to her feet and ascended the mountain for some distance, so that
she might once more see the fiery ball. She was too late and said
aloud:

"Of what avail is it to see the sun a thousand, or twice a thousand
times, as long as the day must come when it sets for us, once and for
all? And it has forever set to him who lies under the sod and on whose
hand decay--"

She felt giddy and sank upon the mossy ground. When she got up again,
it was night.

She arose and, holding up her dress, walked down into the dark and
thickly wooded ravine below.

CHAPTER X.

Irma advanced with a firm step. The footpath she had struck wound its
way among large and lofty trees and soon opened into a broad road that
had been cut through the forest. Ever and anon heat-lightning would
flash in the distance, breaking up the gloom and revealing another
firmament that lay beyond.

Irma scarcely looked up. She thought of nothing but how to find her
way. There was perfect silence, broken now and then by a sorrowful
sound, like the sobbing of a human being. It must be from some hollow
tree, thought she. The groaning always seemed to advanced before her.
Wherever she went she heard it. She looked for the heart-sick tree, but
could not find it. With every step, she advanced further into the
forest and higher up the mountain. Then she ran down the mountain, and
now all was silent. The path was no longer visible, but, from afar, she
caught a glimpse of the moonlit lake, the object of her search.