labouring breath and staggering limbs of his courser, but spurred him violently, as he entered the district of Brockencragg, along the path which led to the hermitage, for in that direction the monster proceeded before him.
“The storm raged with peculiar fury in this wild and desolate region. The wind roared hideously, as it rushed along the numerous passages amongst the rocks, and the summits of the tall trees, that grew upon them, were bent below the crevices in which their roots found nourishment. Twice did Wolfgang escape the fall of trunks, which were torn with harsh crashes from their beds, and many times was he nearly struck from his saddle by pieces of stone, broken from the margin of cliffs by the lightning, which now darted closely around him. But his spirit and his persuasion that the head of the monster would soon become his spoil, were unabated and unalloyed, till, just as he was approaching the cottage of his mistress, the boarwolf uttered a tremendous yell, which was answered by the distant bay of dogs. ‘That fiend Hendrick!’ muttered Wolfgang, as the idea that his hated rival might rush in between him and his reward glanced across his mind. He spurred on his steed, more unmer-
