"Shine upon us, mighty God--
Raise this drooping world of ours--
Send from thy divine abode,
Cheering sun and fruitful showers."
The lovely Ella was then enclosed in the wicker cabin: a quantity of dry
withered leaves, and small dry branches, were laid all round the cabin
ready to set fire to. Every one of the crowd was obliged to furnish at
least one stick towards producing a fire to consume the victim. But
Mudor stood at a distance, determined rather to incur the vengeance of
the Invisible Spirit than add one particle to the destruction of his
adorable Ella. The Arch-Druid took two pieces of wood, and exposing them
to the sun, rubbed them together, while all the bards chanted the
following verse:--
"Sun descend in a ray of light,
Wrapp'd in thy power and clad in thy might;
Come in a red and a fiery stream,
Come in a bright and glowing beam;
Come in thy flaming chariot down,
Burn the wood in a flame of thy own."
The friction of the two pieces of wood had the desired effect--they took
fire. The sticks and leaves round the cabin which contained the
ill-fated Ella were instantly in a blaze. As the flames arose the bards
chanted, with loud voices, the following verses:--
"Mighty Sovereign of the skies,
Accept this virgin sacrifice,
Let her spotless soul atone
For wicked actions not her own.
As to death her spirit stoops,
As she faints and as she droops,
Lay aside thy fiery crown
And spare, O spare, her native town!
She was good, and she was kind,
And she possess'd a heavenly mind;
Wicked man could ne'er atone
For his sins and crimes alone,
A purer victim must be found
To wash the stain away."
The bards stopped short, and raised their hands with astonishment--the
crowd shrieked out with fear--and all the rites were suspended; for at
that moment a flood of water burst out from the fissures of the rock on
every side, and came rolling down the dell like a river. The wicket
hurdle in which Ella was confined was instantly surrounded by the
flood--the fire was quenched, and she came out unhurt. It is said that a
voice was heard by the Arch-Druid of solemn import, intimating that
human victims were not acceptable to the Deity--that a greater sacrifice
was about to be offered--and that the reign of Druidism was at an end.
The Arch-Druid, turning his face towards the sun for a moment, and then
to the other priests, remarked that some mighty change was surely about
to take place among them; for this was a miracle they could have no
conception of.
The assembly dispersed in consternation; and the devoted Ella was
happily restored to the arms of the overjoyed Mudor, with whom she lived
to a good old age; and the rock has occasionally poured forth its stream
ever since.