blackness of revenge."

Count Herbert, rousing himself from his stupor, appealed loudly to the
girl.

"Woman, is this indeed my son, and, if so, why did you not speak before
we came to such extremity?"

"I cannot answer. I have sworn an oath. If you would learn who stands
beside you, send a messenger to the Outlaw, saying you have killed him,
as indeed you purposed doing," then stretching out her arms, she said,
with faltering voice: "Wilhelm, farewell," and turning, fled toward the
forest.

"Elsa, Elsa, come back!" the young man cried, foot on the parapet, but
the girl paid no heed to his commanding summons, merely waving her hand
without looking over her shoulder.

"Elsa!"

The name rang out so thrillingly strange that its reverberation
instantly arrested the flying footsteps of the girl. Instinctively she
knew it was the voice of a man falling rapidly through the air. She
turned in time to see Wilhelm strike the ground, the impetus
precipitating him prone on his face, where he lay motionless. The cry
of horror from the battlements was echoed by her own as she sped
swiftly toward him. The young man sprang to his feet as she approached
and caught her breathless in his arms.

"Ah, Elsa," he said, tenderly, "forgive me the fright I gave you, but I