Page:Tales of a Voyager to the Arctic Ocean, vol. 3 (1826).djvu/342

 deavoured to pull him forward after the rest, and the principal fiend exclaimed, ‘Force him! tear him! drag him!’—but the huntsman’s feelings were wound up to a pitch of horror, and struggling violently, he exclaimed, ‘God and St. Hubert protect me! The fiends instantly screamed, and let him go, and he sprung through the fire, his only way to escape, and out at the door. In an instant he was on his horse, and in good time, for the whole legion of devils poured out of the cottage, with the boarwolf at their head.

“Hendrick dashed his spurs into the sides of his beast, and fled, and the frightful crew followed, filling the air with their vociferations. At every instant one or other of the demons seemed on the point of pulling him from his horse; they snatched at him, at his arms, at his neck, at his legs, and at his long flying dress, that floated on the air behind him. They called on him to stop; his bride offered to throw her arms round him, she shrieked in his ears, and blew fire from her mouth, she cursed and reviled him. But the huntsman still fled, and called on the saints to assist him, till reaching the boundary stream, he leaped his horse over its rapid current, and found himself free from his hateful