Theodore's usual self-possession entirely forsook him, and he stood there, as if he had fallen from a cloud, and 'Yes!' the only word audible to my excited nerves, convinced me of his crime.
'God!' I cried, shaking the trembling sinner--'Do you know that there is a God? _He_, not I, will punish you!'
I left him and became as tranquil again as if nothing had happened.
As I drove past the church, on my journey home, I cast a sad glance through the lattice window, into the family vault; I could distinguish the coffin of my sister; 'Emilie, I have revenged you!' I cried, as if the deceased could hear me, and in almost a happy state of mind I continued my journey.
Not long after this, Theodore put an end to his existence, in a fit of gloomy despair. May God be merciful to his soul!
The family goblet could never more be found. Probably Theodore had destroyed that mute witness of his crime. Thus the last possessor had, in fulfilment of the prophecy, received speedy happiness from it--and that happiness was--Death!
Upon the deck fair Gunhild stands And gazes on the billows blue; She sees reflected there beneath, The moon and the bright stars too.
She sees the moon and the lovely stars On the clear calm sea--the while Her steady bark glides gently on To Britain's distant isle.
'Twas long since her betrothed love Had sought, alas! that foreign strand; And bitterly had Gunhild wept When he left his native land.
He promised tidings oft to send-- He promised soon to come again; But never tidings reached her ear-- She looked for him in vain!
Fair Gunhild could no longer bear Such anxious, sad suspense; One gloomy night from her parents' home, She fled,--and hied her thence.
Mounting yon vessel's lofty side, To seek her love she swore-- Whether he lay in ocean's depths, Or slept on a foreign shore.
Three days had she been toss'd upon Wild ocean's heaving wave, When the sea became at the midnight hour As still as the solemn grave.
On the high deck the maiden stood, Gazing upon the deep so blue; She saw reflected there beneath, The moon and the bright stars too.
The crew were wrapt in hush'd repose, The very helmsman slept, While the maiden clad in robes of white, Her midnight vigil kept.
'Twas strange!--at that still hour--behold! A vessel from the deep ascends-- It flutters like a shadow there, Then near, its course it bends.