, led by my dre

go

now-as far as the eye could reach, snow, snow, white a

blasts, forcing the wanderer to draw his cloak more closely around him, and t

eet had made a narrow little path that alone disturbed the shroud-like surface. A

him, and they beat in his face like a thousand pi

ses, moss-like flowers and strangely shaped butterflies

n to the ground, and the moon would light them

y living thing in this wi

driving him always onwards upon his mad search; but nothing

ied down and a hush

became intenser in t

d in a cold hard light, the whiteness of which ceaselessly burnt into his brain. Suddenly a little bluey flame came dancing out of the distance, then another, and another, always more numerous, till the whole expanse was covered with them; a wavering

unning to and fro in the moonlight in an effort to catch them, yet never succeeding;

flames float away into the unknown out of which they had come, one

ckon to him as they disappeared, inviting him to foll

within them. He uncovered his head, throwing back his golden locks with a boyish gesture

ive to his surroundings, he discerned a shadow approaching, followed by a second and then a third. And as th

ngs; their white skins harmonized perfectly with the immaculate snow. They came slowly towards him, quie

n the one Eric had made from the opposite direction. Now they were quite near; their wa

d, and made no movement

t did not pause in his quiet march; and the others followed in the traces his feet had left behind

ntly as white as the watchful animals that led the way, the form o

ow more than once she paused, bending down to gather from the snow somethi

e feet hardly touching the ground. Sh

vast snow-field, the glory of the moon, the myriad stars, a

rcle of glow-worms surrounded her forehead. Her head was bent, still gazing on that which she held in her hand. On either side marched one of the great bears

ung man felt a great emotion when they rested upon him, yet he knew directly that they were not the eyes he wa

e dare dwell-and on nights when the moon shines bright I come out of my castle of ice and wander over this desert of white, searching for the broken hearts that have been banished here. It is only when the moon shines bri

eating, beating like frightened birds-and each little heart was bro

and very gently touch

cing lights before me, and my ice bears walk with me everywhere. They come from great distances; the moment the moon shines bright they all assemble before my pala

I shall show thee where I keep my p

the great white plain, quicker, always quicker-till all was but a mist before his eyes; yet he felt that

aster became

on both sides of them ran the white

n his beautifu

ng in the air, was a gigantic castle, built out of ice, that glittered and spark

teps, hewn out of ice, that seemed to wind through the clouds. Eric's breath came in gasps; but still o

e light that gleamed far out over the smooth snow. "Come,"

hall, made of ice and snow. Great columns supported the domed roof, and the window

different shades of white. In the middle a small descending staircase interrupted the smooth surface-a sort of dark well, t

te round, in the middle of which burnt a blinding circle of light. At first Eric was too bewildered to grasp the meaning of that ring of flame; then he recognized the little tongues of fire that had mocked him

ion's, and saw a small hole made in the snow, where

f a poor little child, whose mother abandoned it,

; and these little flames are their guardians. Each little will-o'-the-wisp

over; a lover whose passion was so violent that he died quite suddenly, one flower-scented night, when his hope had been torn from him, and his heart broke right in

pon them with yearning tenderness, whilst two of the little blue

needs more care than all the others; a poet's heart is so f

s she laid the heart down

ed it is; but it is the strongest of all, because the strength of a mother's heart is un

now-maiden moved, with be

und her brow flickered and

is that of a great sinner; and sometimes the glow that guards it becomes quite small and dim, almo

n after it with an anxious feeling that I would not be able to save it. It left traces of blood wherever it passed, so at last I discovered it in a dark hol

. As I sang I felt the warm blood trickle through my fingers, and upon the snow I saw that all the drops of bl

races of soil. This heart also needs me, but in another way; I always sing to it those simple songs, for it must forget all else except the days when it was

rise from it; ... songs of praise sung by myriads of heavenly voices; ... a

r long white hair turned into a soft misty veil that flowed down upon the ice like the mantle of a saint, a