reproachfully at him; then the dumb wife appeared before his mind,
and he fancied her soft hand was lovingly stroking his cheeks as usual.
Ruth also appeared, not in the yellow silk dress, but clad in rags of a
beggar, and she wept, hiding her face in her mother's lap.

He groaned aloud. The clock struck eleven. He rose and listened.
Nothing stirred, and slipping on his clothes, he took his shoes in his
hand and tried to open the window at the head of his bed. It had stood
open during the day, but the frost fastened it firmly to the frame.
Ulrich braced his foot against the wall and pulled with all his strength,
but it resisted one jerk after another; at last it suddenly yielded and
flew open, making a slight creaking and rattling, but the monk on guard
did not wake, only murmured softly in his sleep.

The boy stood motionless for a time, holding his breath, then swung
himself upon the parapet and looked out. The dormitory was in the second
story of the monastery, above the rampart, but a huge bank of snow rose
beside the wall, and this strengthened his courage.

With hurrying fingers he made the sign of the cross, a low: "Mary, pray
for me," rose from his lips, then he shut his eyes and risked the leap.

There was a buzzing, roaring sound in his ears, his mother's image
blended in strange distortion with the Jew's, then an icy sea swallowed
him, and it seemed as if body and soul were frozen. But this sensation
overpowered him only a few minutes, then working his way out of the mass
of snow, he drew on his shoes, and dashed as if pursued by a pack of
wolves, down the mountain, through the ravine, across the heights, and
finally along the river to the city and the Richtberg.