Page:Fantastics and other Fancies.djvu/111

 wastes;—in the breath of thy youth and life exhaled in passionate agony when no human eyes beheld thee;—in the images that haunt thy dreams and make it a horror for thee to find thyself alone! Yet wouldst thou kiss me—"

I looked upon her again in the white light;—I saw the same weirdly beautiful face, the same smile of the sphinx;—I saw the vacant tomb yawning to its entrails;—I saw its shadow—my shadow—lying sharply upon the graves; —and I saw that the tall white figure before me cast no shadow before the moon!

And suddenly under the stars, sonorous and vibrant as far cathedral bells, the voices of the awakening watchmen chanted,—Ave Maria Purísima!—las tres de la mañana, y tiempo sereno!