Page:Man Who Laughs (Estes and Lauriat 1869) v1.djvu/376

332 she sang in the new-born light,—she, the invisible, suddenly made visible. They thought that they heard the hymn of an angel or the song of a bird. On beholding this apparition the man, starting up in ecstasy, struck the beasts with his fists, and overthrew them.

Then the vision, gliding along in a manner difficult to understand, and therefore the more admired, sang these words in sufficiently pure Spanish for the English sailors who were present:—

Then, looking down, as if she saw a gulf beneath, she went on:—

As she sang, the man raised himself by degrees; instead of crouching he was now kneeling, his hands elevated towards the vision, his knees resting on the beasts, which lay motionless, as if petrified. Turning towards him, she continued,—

Then approaching him with the majesty of a star, she added,—

And placed her hand upon his brow. Then another voice arose, deeper, and, consequently, still sweeter,—