Page:The Mantle and Other Stories.djvu/184

 claws, and as though her face shone with malicious joy.

"Witch!" he cried out, pointing at her suddenly with his finger, and turning towards the house.

The girl at the window laughed, and the other girls dragged the "raven" screaming along with them.

"How shall I reward you, Cossack?" said the maiden. "I know you do not need gold; you love Hanna, but her harsh father will not allow you to marry. But give him this note, and he will cease to hinder it."

She stretched out her white hand, and her face shone wonderfully. With strange shudders and a beating heart, he grasped the paper and—awoke.

"Have I then been really asleep?" Levko asked himself as he stood up. "Everything seemed so real, as though I were awake. Wonderful! Wonderful!" he repeated, looking round him. The position of the moon vertical overhead showed that it was midnight; a waft of coolness came from the pool. The ruined house