Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/32

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heard her sob; and her eyes instead of being fixed on the crucifix, frequently roamed with a kind of inquietude through the church, as if she expected somebody to whom she wished to devote her whole being.

Divine service was now over, and the devout flock thronged through the gates. At last, the door of the chapel opened, and Elmira also came forth. I ran behind the door, and she was going to shut it, when pausing, as if she recollected something she had forgotten, she stept back once more, to fetch a prayer-book, which she had left on her seat. She anxiously searched its leaves for something, and did not perceive me, I observed a little paper drop down on the ground, which I dexterously pickt up undiscovered. She went away seemingly vexed, when I called out without looking at the paper which had some writing on it: "Elmira, you have lost a paper here!"

She turned round; her knees began to totter, and rushing forwards to support her in my arms, she even forgot the fainting of terror and surprise, to snatch the paper from my