d made a sign for him to be gone.

Bendel, whose deep solicitude had induced him to come in search of me,
arrived at this very moment. The good and faithful creature, on seeing
me weeping, and that a shadow (evidently mine) was in the power of the
mysterious unknown, determined to rescue it by force, should that be
necessary; and disdaining to use any finesse, he desired him directly,
and without any disputing, to restore my property. Instead of a reply,
the grey man turned his back on the worthy fellow, and was making off.
But Bendel raised his buckthorn stick; and following close upon him,
after repeated commands, but in vain, to restore the shadow, he made
him feel the whole force of his powerful arm. The grey man, as if
accustomed to such treatment, held down his head, slouched his
shoulders, and, with soft and noiseless steps, pursued his way over the
heath, carrying with him my shadow, and also my faithful servant. For a
long time I heard hollow sounds ringing through the waste, until at
last they died away in the distance, and I was again left to solitude
and misery.

* * * * *

[Illustration: "Alone on the wild Heath I disburdened my heart of an
insupportable load, by giving free vent to my tears."]

Alone on the wild heath, I disburdened my heart of an insupportable
load, by giving free vent to my tears. But I saw no bounds, no relief,
to my surpassing wretchedness; and I drank in the fresh poison which
the mysterious stranger had poured into my wounds with a furious
avidity. As I retraced in my mind the loved image of my Minna, and
depicted her sweet countenance all pale and in tears, such as I had
beheld her in my late disgrace, the bold and sarcastic visage of Rascal
would ever and anon thrust itself between us. I hid my face, and fled
rapidly over the plains; but the horrible vision unrelentingly pursued
me, till at last I sank breathless on the ground, and bedewed it with a
fresh torrent of tears--and all this for a shadow!--a shadow which one
stroke of the pen would repurchase. I pondered on the singular
proposal, and on my hesitation to comply with it. My mind was
confused--I had lost the power of judging or comprehending. The day was
waning apace. I satisfied the cravings of hunger with a few wild
fruits, and quenched my thirst at a neighbouring stream. Night came on;
I threw myself down under a tree, and was awoke by the damp morning air
from an uneasy sleep, in w