Page:Tales of a Voyager to the Arctic Ocean, vol. 3 (1826).djvu/341

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THE BOARWOLF.
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should yield up his soul to the powers of darkness, resisted with his utmost strength, whilst he groaned loudly and wrestled with the demons.

‘Shew him, then,’ cried the arch-demon, stamping with passion, ‘shew him what he shall become, unless he obeys. Let him see! let him see!—up Wolfgang up!’ continued he, shouting hideously. Upon this the corpse that lay at the foot of the chair started from the floor, and as the black cloth fell from its head, Hendrick recognised the pale and bloody corse of his friend Wolfgang. The head was resting on the shoulders, but there was a deep red gash round the neck, as if it had been divided.

‘Dost thou know him?’ cried the fiend-bride, as she saw her lover tremble involuntarily.

‘Yes, he knows him,’ cried the old demon, ‘and shall be like him, unless he joins in the chase.’ He then vociferated, ‘the boarwolf! the boarwolf!’ and the body of Wolfgang was changed into the resemblance of that monster, and began to run round the cottage, whilst all the imps and demons, uttering tremendous yells, pursued it, darting fire from their nostrils, and piercing the howling brute with their burning claws. Hendrick’s two companions en-