Never in my life have I seen a more fearful apparition. Sperver,
motionless, his eyes riveted on the fearful object before him, and his
mouth open with astonishment, stood as if rooted to the earth. But the
powerful dog, surprised himself at this unexpected sight, stood still for
a moment; then with a bend of his bristling back in preparation for a
mighty leap, he made a rush with a deep, impatient growl which made me
tremble. The platform before the cave was about eight or nine feet from
the level where we stood, or he would have reached it at a single bound.
I can yet hear him clearing a way through the snowy brambles, the baron
flinging himself before the woman with a piercing cry, "My mother!" then
the dog taking another spring, and Sperver, quick as lightning, raising
his gun, and bringing down the poor animal dead at the young man's feet.
This was but the work of a second. The gulf had been illuminated with a
momentary flash, and the wild echoes were vibrating with the explosion
from rock to rock, till it died in the far distance. Then silence again
settled on the gloomy scene, as darkness after the lightning.
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