Page:Walter Scott - The Monastery (Henry Frowde, 1912).djvu/189

RV 121 (Rh) Strip thee of such fences vain, Strip, and prove thy luck again.' Obedient to what he understood to be the meaning of his conductress, Halbert bared his arm to the shoulder, throwing down the remains of his sleeve, which no sooner touched the floor on which he stood than it collected itself together, shrivelled itself up, and was without any visible fire reduced to light tinder, which a sudden breath of wind dispersed into empty space. The White Lady, observing the surprise of the youth, immediately repeated—

Emboldened by her words, Halbert Glendinning made a second effort, and, plunging his bare arm into the flame, took out the sacred volume without feeling either heat or inconvenience of any kind. Astonished and almost terrified at his own success, he beheld the flame collect itself, and shoot up into one long and final stream, which seemed as if it would ascend to the very roof of the cavern, and then, sinking as suddenly, became totally extinguished. The deepest darkness ensued; but Halbert had no time to consider his situation, for the White Lady had already caught his hand, and they ascended to upper air with the same velocity with which they had sunk into the earth.

They stood by the fountain in the Corri-nan-shian when they emerged from the bowels of the earth; but on casting a bewildered glance around him, the youth was surprised to observe that the shadows had fallen far to the east, and that the day was wellnigh spent. He gazed on his conductress for explanation, but her figure began to fade before his eyes: her cheeks grew paler, her features less distinct, her form became shadowy and blended itself with the mist which was ascending the hollow ravine. What had late the symmetry of form, and the delicate yet clear