Then some mighty power transcendent,
Thrust him from his gorgeous throne,
Turning all the realm to darkness,
And the world was left alone.
As the shades of gloom were spreading,
By strange flashing threads of light
He beheld in dim-drawn outline,
On the background of the night,
Phantom horse and girlish rider,
Speeding on in reckless race,
Till she turned directly toward him
And he saw her fearless face.


25

Then, behold! the King returning
With a pageantry so bright,
That the shadow-clad usurpers
Fled in ignominious fright.
As he saw the hosts approaching
Through a cloud of battle smoke,
Charging wildly down upon him,
He, in sudden fear, awoke.
As he looked, the blackened heavens
Splashed with demon-tinted blood
From the hue of burning prairie
Throbbed above the fiery flood.
Leaping o'er the rounded bluff-tops,
Down the valley's long incline,