aces to those who are burdened by
anxious cares. Several times she sank so deep into the mud that her shoe
stuck fast in it, and she was obliged to force it on again with much
difficulty. As she walked on and a strange, noise reached her from the
woodyard on her left, when she constantly imagined that she heard another
step following hers like an audible shadow, when drunken raftsmen came
toward her, hoarsely singing an obscene song, she pressed against a fence
in order not to be seen by the dissolute fellows. But now a light came
wavering toward her, looking like a shining bird flying slowly, or a
hell-hound, with glowing eyes, and at the sight it seemed to her
impossible to wander on all alone. But the mysterious light proved to be
only a lantern in the hand of an old woman who had been to fetch a
doctor, so she summoned up fresh courage, though she told herself that
here near the lumber yards she might easily encounter raftsmen and guards
watching the logs and planks piled on the banks of the river, fishermen,
and sailors. Already she heard the rushing of the swollen Danube, and
horrible tales returned to her memory of hapless girls who had flung
themselves into the waves here to put an end to lives clouded by disgrace
and fear.

Then a shiver ran through her, and she asked herself what her father
would say if he could see her wading alone through the water. Perhaps the
fatigues of the long journey had thrown him upon a sick-bed; perhaps he
had even--at the fear she felt as though her heart would stop
beating--succumbed to them. Then he knew how matters stood with her, the
sin she had committed, and the shame she had brought upon him that she
might enjoy undisturbed a happiness which was already changing into
bitter sorrow. Meanwhile it seemed as if she was gazing into his rugged,
soldierly face, reddish-brown, with rolling eyes, as it looked when
disfigured by anger, and she raised her hands as if to hold him back; but
only for a few minutes, for she perceived that her excited imagination
was terrifying her with a delusion.

Drawing a long breath, she pushed her dank hair back into her hood and
pressed her hand upon her heart. Then she was calm a while, but a new
terror set it throbbing again. Close beside her--this time at her
right--the loud laughter of men's harsh voices echoed through the
darkness.

Barbara involuntarily stopped, and when she collected her thoughts and
looked around her, her features, distort