Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/434

410 Here his teeth gritted; such a mighty spasm seized him that the words stopped in his mouth, and only after some time did he begin anew to speak, with broken voice,—

"Yes, thy slayer is living yet, but I will reach him and before I reach him I will inflict on him another torture worse than death itself."

And he was silent.

After a moment he rose, and approaching the coffin said in a calm voice,—

"Now I will bid thee farewell; I will look on thy face for the last time; I shall know, perhaps, if thou rejoice at my vow. This is the last time!"

And he uncovered Rotgier's face, but drew back on a sudden.

"Thou art smiling," said he, "but thy smile is terrible."

The body had thawed in fact under the cloak, and perhaps from the warmth of the candles; as a result of this it had begun to decay with uncommon rapidity, and the face of the young comtur had become indeed terrible. His swollen, immense, blackened ears had in them something monstrous, and his blue puffed-out lips were twisted as if smiling.

Siegfried covered that ghastly human mask in all haste. Then taking the lantern he went out. On the road breath failed him a third time, so returning to his chamber he threw himself on his hard couch and lay for a while motionless. He had thought to fall asleep, but suddenly a strange feeling seized him. It seemed to the aged knight that sleep would never come again to him, but that if he remained in that chamber death would come directly.

Siegfried had no fear of death. In his measureless torture and without hope of sleep he saw in it a kind of boundless rest, but he had no wish to yield to death on that night.

"Give me time till morning," said he, rising on the couch.

With that he heard clearly a certain voice whispering in his ear,—

"Go forth from this chamber. To-morrow will be too late, and thou wilt not accomplish that which thou hast promised. Go forth from this chamber!"

The comtur, raising himself with effort, went forth. The sentries were calling on the battlements at the corners. Near the chapel a yellow gleam fell on the snow through the windows. In the middle of the square, near the stone well,