19. XIX.
“The mocking spectre was once more before
him — and the grin of malice and imagined victory
was again visible upon his countenance, until he
beheld the form of the venerable guest, still kneeling
upon the floor, with eyes and hands uplifted to
heaven, and seeming as if he beheld him not.
Then his whole aspect was altered. His grin became
a bitter scorn, and, though he still wore the
exact features of Herman Ottfried, yet the whole
expression was so changed to that of a hellish hate,
that, even to the eyes of Carl, the likeness seemed
almost gone.
“`Thou here!' exclaimed the spectre, addressing
the aged man.
“`Thou seest!' was the reply.
“`I see — but thou art here in vain — thy
prayers will avail him nothing — he hath bound
himself to me. My power is upon his pledge.
He cannot escape — he must meet me where I
will; and when he forbears to come — when,
urged by such as thee, he presumes to disobey, I
will seek him with redoubled tortures, where he
hides, and tear him from thy very altars. Carl
Werner — I command thee. Come!'
“Carl trembled all over, and he felt an irresistible
power dragging him forward. At this moment
the old man spoke —
“`His pledge shall be fulfilled — but not to
thee. Look, Satan! — God hath heard the prayers
of love — and his messenger comes to release
the thrall of hate. Look! — the pledge is redeemed?'
“As he spoke, he pointed to the opposite corner
of the apartment, upon which his eyes had been
earnestly fixed, even while the demon was addressing
him. There, visible to all, stood another
spectre, having the precise features of Herman
Ottfried, and the very expression which he was
wont to wear in life. The contrast between the
one and the other spectre, both having the same
features, was prodigious! They represented different
principles. The one had borne the features
of punishment — the other came with the
mild attributes of mercy. Alike in every feature,
they were yet as utterly unlike as night and day.
“The demon put on a look of agony, mingled
with hate and disappointment, as, with a howl and
hiss, he fled from the presence of the spectre whose
features he had worn for the purposes of hate, but
whose glance of benignity and love he could not
withstand. Howling with hate, he fled; while the
gentle spirit advanced into the apartment.
“`Oh, brother, dearest Herman!' cried the
sister, with a joyful accent, as she rushed towards
him. She sunk down upon the spot where she
would have embraced him, and her eyes beheld
his shadowy form melting away, even like the last
gleam of a lovely sunset into the distant shadows.
“`Look to your wife, my son,' said the aged
man — `she swoons — give her help.'
“Carl raised his wife, and in a little while she
recovered — but the aged man had disappeared.
They never saw him again.
