Page:Satanella (1932).pdf/61

 Till he hears the door-hinge grating

And the thud of heavy footsteps

Beppo entered.—In his features,

In the shrug of both his shoulders,

In his bosom's heavy sighing,

Roderigo read the answer.

Overnight from out the ruins

Suddenly the camp had vanished,

Not a single clew remaining.

Beppo crawled through every cavern,

But the peaceful, quiet ruins

Just sent back the hollow echo

Of his footstep They fled, no doubt,

When they saw the angered people,

Fled because they, too, feared capture,

Feared the court and feared its sentence.

But his second message further

Drew the dark clouds that have hovered

Over Roderigo's forehead.

Pestilence is further spreading,

People rebel more than ever,

And rush, full strength toward the castle

All demanding in a body

To console the angry heavens,

That at stake burns Satanella,