Volume Ii Part 74 (1/2)

And they went on.

”Wilt thou not come with me, mistress?” the man in the steel cap asked the Gothic woman. ”I must try to find Dromon, else we shall get no lodging tonight. I cannot leave thee alone in the dark. Thou hast no light with thee.”

”Dost thou not see that the lightning never ceases? Go; I will come afterwards. I have still something to think of--and to pray for.”

And the woman remained alone.

She pressed both hands against her bosom and looked up at the black sky; her lips moved slightly.

Just then it seemed to her as if, in the high outer galleries, pa.s.sages, and upper rooms of the mighty wooden edifice which towered in a dark ma.s.s opposite, a light came and went, wandering up and down. She thought it must have been a deception caused by the lightning, for any open light would have been extinguished by the wind. But no; it really was a light, for its appearance and disappearance alternated at regular intervals, as if the person carrying it were hurrying along the galleries and pa.s.sing behind the pillars and supports.

The woman attentively watched the changing light and shadow---- But suddenly--oh, horror!--she started up.

It seemed to her as if the marble step upon which she was sitting had been some sleeping animal, which, suddenly awaking, moved slightly, then rose--and turned itself--violently--from left to right.

Thunder, lightning, and wind ceased all at once.

There! from the granaries sounded a shrill scream. The light flamed up brightly, and then disappeared.

But the woman in the street also uttered a low cry of fear, for now she could no longer doubt--the earth quaked under her.

A slight movement; then two, three strong shocks, as if the ground had heaved from left to right like a wave.

Screams of fear rose from the city.

The people rushed out of the doors of the Basilica.

Another shock!

The woman kept her feet with difficulty.

And, from the farther side of the city, sounded a dull and distant crash, as if of heavy falling ma.s.ses.

A fearful earthquake had shaken all Ravenna.

CHAPTER XX.

As the woman turned in the direction of the sound, she stood for a moment with her back to the granaries. But she suddenly looked round, for she thought she heard the bang of a heavy door. She looked attentively in that direction, but it was too dark to see anything. She heard, however, something rustling along close to the outer wall of the building, and she thought she caught the sound of a low sigh.

”Stop!” she cried, ”who moans there?”

”Peace, peace!” whispered a strange voice. ”The earth--disgusted--shook and trembled! The last day has come--it will reveal all. He will soon know.--Oh!”

A groan of pain--a rustle of garments--then complete silence.

”Where art thou? Art thou wounded?” asked the woman, seeking on the ground.

A flash of lightning--the first since the earthquake--showed her a shrouded form lying at her feet. A woman dressed in white and blue.