But there suddenly appeared an unwonted hesitation in her gait; her face was pale; she breathed fast and heavily.

'Where will you shelter her now ?' she cried, addressing Hermanric, and threatening the girl with her outstretched hands.

'Abandon her to your companions, or leave her to me; she is lost either way! I shall triumph--triumph!'-- At this moment her voice sank to an unintelligible murmur; she tottered where she stood.

It was evident that the long strife of passions during her past night of watching, and the fierce and varying emotions of the morning, suddenly brought to a crisis, as they had been, by her exultation when she heard the old warrior's fatal message, had at length overtasked the energies even of her powerful frame.

Yet one moment more she endeavoured to advance, to speak, to snatch the hunting knife from Hermanric's hand; the next she fell insensible at his feet.
Goaded almost to madness by the successive trials that he had undergone; Goisvintha's furious determination to thwart him, still present to his mind; the scornful words of his companions yet ringing in his ears; his inexorable duties demanding his attention without reserve or delay; Hermanric succumbed at last under the difficulties of his position, and despairingly abandoned all further hope of effecting the girl's preservation.