She heard his voice, saw
him beckoning to her to follow him, and she
rose to obey, but her limbs were as petrified,
and the stone on which she was sitting held her
with the power of a hundred strong arms. The
sunshine smote upon her eyelids, and his name
was blotted out from her life; there was nothing
but emptiness all around her. Gradually
the forest drew nearer and nearer, the water
bubbled and rippled, and the huge, bare-
stemmed pines stretched their long gnarled
arms toward her. The birches waved their
heads with a wistful nod, and the profile of the
rock grew into a face with a long, hooked nose,
and a mouth half open as if to speak. And the
word that trembled on his lips was, "Come."
She felt no fear nor reluctance, but rose to obey.
Then and not until then she saw an old man
standing at her side; his face was the face of
the rock, his white beard flowed to his girdle,
and his mouth was half open, but no word
came from his lips. There was something in
the wistful look of his eye which she knew so
well, which she had seen so often, although she
could not tell when or where. The old man
extended his hand; Aasa took it, and fearlessly
or rather spontaneously followed. They
approached the steep, rocky wall; as they drew
near, a wild, fierce laugh rang through the
forest. The features of the old man were twisted
as it were into a grin; so also were the features
of the rock; but the laugh blew like a mighty
blast through the forest.
Pages:
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212