At length,
after a lapse of some time, they vanished as suddenly as they had
appeared, with shrill notes of affright which were audible even above
the continuous rolling of the thunder; and immediately afterwards, when
the lightning alternated with the darkness, there appeared to Hermanric,
in the part of the wall where the birds had been first disturbed, a
small red gleam, like a spark of fire lodged in the surface of the
structure. Then this was lost; a longer obscurity than usual prevailed
in the atmosphere, and when the Goth gazed eagerly through the next
succession of flashes, they showed him the momentary and doubtful
semblance of a human figure, standing erect on the stones at the base of
the wall.
Hermanric started with astonishment. Again the lightning ceased. In
the ardour of his anxiety to behold more, he strained his eyes with the
vain hope of penetrating the obscurity around him. The darkness seemed
interminable. Once again the lightning flashed brilliantly out. He
looked eagerly towards the wall--the figure was still there.
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