The night-raven screamed from the old oak-tree,
the fox howled on the bill, the hoarse waterfall
replied with its echoes, but there was no human
answer. The terrified women did not dare to make
further search till morning should appear; for the
sudden disappearance of a creature so frail as Elspat,
together with the wild tenor of her history,
intimidated them from stirring from the hut. They
remained, therefore, in dreadful terror, sometimes
thinking they heard her voice without, and at other
times, that sounds of a different description were
mingled with the mournful sigh of the night-breeze,
or the dash of the cascade. Sometimes, too, the
latch rattled, as if some frail and impotent hand
were in vain attempting to lift it, and ever and
anon they expected the entrance of their terrible
patient animated by supernatural strength, and in
the company, perhaps, of some being more dreadful
than herself. Morning came at length. They
sought brake, rock, and thicket in vain. Two
hours after daylight, the minister himself appeared,
and, on the report of the watchers, caused the country
to be alarmed, and a general and exact search
to be made through the whole neighbourhood of
the cottage and the oak-tree.
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