Pagina 550 van 896

In such risings of fire and risings of sea--the firm earth shaken

by the rushes of an angry ocean which had now no ebb, but was

always on the flow, higher and higher, to the terror and wonder

of the beholders on the shore--three years of tempest were

consumed. Three more birthdays of little Lucie had been woven by

the golden thread into the peaceful tissue of the life of her

home.

Many a night and many a day had its inmates listened to the

echoes in the corner, with hearts that failed them when they

heard the thronging feet. For, the footsteps had become to their

minds as the footsteps of a people, tumultuous under a red flag

and with their country declared in danger, changed into wild

beasts, by terrible enchantment long persisted in.