agony of entreaty, 'send me in this hour of utmost need the man
whom Thou hast appointed to be my guardian spirit here on earth. Let
him save me! And so long as I breathe, I will trust him as I would
Thyself, will revere in him Thy wondrous power.'

"When I had ended this fervent prayer, my heart suddenly grew lighter.
True, great weakness, almost faintness, stole over me; but there
blended with it something infinitely sweet, inexpressedly happy and
full of relief And now, in my feverish illusion, I suddenly beheld
alluring visions of deliverance; the terrible thirst which tortured me
painted a spring of delicious water gushing from the rocks close beside
me. The rescuers, too, were already coming! Not Zazo, not Gibamund; I
knew that they had marched against other Moors, far, far westward of my
camp. No, it was some one else, whose features I could not see
distinctly. He dashed forward on a neighing horse; he slew the lion; he
dragged the constantly-increasing weight of my dead horse from my body.
Then I heard only a rushing, ringing noise in my ears, which said:
'Your deliverer is here! Your guardian spirit.' Suddenly the ringing
died away, and--it was no fevered dream--I heard in reality behind me,
from the direction of our camp, the neighing of a horse. With my last
strength I turned my head and saw a few paces behind me a man who had
just sprung from his horse. He was standing in a hesitating, doubting
attitude, as if reflecting, with his hand clenched on his sword-hilt,
gazing at me and the lion."

"He hesitated?" cried Hilda. "He reflected; A Vandal warrior?"

"He was no Vandal."

"A Moor? A foe?"

"It was Verus, the priest."

"'My guardian spirit,' I cried, 'my preserver! God has sent you. Take
my whole life!' Then my senses failed again.

"Verus told me afterwards that he cautiously approached the lion, and,
seeing how deeply the weapon had penetrated, he hastily tore the spear
from the wound; a tremendous rush of blood followed, and the monster
died. Then he dragged me from under the dead horse, lifted me with
difficulty on his own, bound me firmly on its back, and carried me
slowly to the camp. My soldiers had sought me solely in the path along
which they saw me ride out; Verus, who accompanied our army, was the
only one who noticed that, after leaving the encampment that morning, I
turned eastward. And when I was missed, he searched until he found me."

"Alone?"

"Entirely alone."

"How strange!