HUGH CAPET--Signal! signal!
(_Above, sounds the battle-horn, this time nearer._)
JACQUES SAR--Now!
JULES BACQUEUR--Now then!
CRIES--Now! Now! NOW!
(_Slowly the priest lifts the crucifix._)
ALL--God's with us! God's with us!
(_They go springing up the mountain. A flash of
lightning strikes the uplifted crucifix
and clings for a moment like a wreath of
blue fire round the brow of the priest whose_
_face shows white as chalk. The crucifix slips
from his fingers and he reels and falls
backwards._)
CRIES--Men! Men! Men!
(_As the men turn and see the priest, whom Jules
has caught in his arms, borne backward down
the slope, some of them throw down their
arms and flee terror-stricken down the
mountain. There is a loud crash of thunder_
_followed, above, by the shouts of the Saxons
who come charging down upon them. Attempting
to rescue the priest's body, before which
Bacqueur has thrown his great shield, the
villagers receive the shock and are driven
back fighting down the mountain, Fritz hacking_
_at Hugh Capet's head-with his battle ax,
Rudolph charging old Jacques, while Canzler
with one slash of his magic sword slices in
two Bacqueur's great shield which falls like
paper from his hands. Even after they have_
_disappeared, from down the mountain can still
be heard the voice of old Jacques calling to
his men in God's name to stand. Up the slope,
caught in the bushes where it fell, hangs the
crucifix, the figure of which is tarnished
and melted by the lightning. On the ledge_
_just below, outstretched upon the grass,
his fingers bent as though still clutching
the crucifix, lies the body of the priest.
The scene gradually becomes darker and the_
_thunder is still heard reverberating through
the mountains._)
_SCENE FOUR--A forest on the mountain tops. Untouched by the
storm, which has swept the lower slopes, the trees here
stand calm and motionless. Flowers are everywhere. Far off,
between the innumerable trunks, is seen a space of dark sky
rifted near the horizon and bright with the red and gold of
the new dawn. From the left, into this forest stillness,
silent as the scene itself, comes the dwarf leading Oswald
by the hand. There is now no blood upon the latter's
face which, slightly upturned, is lighted as with a soul
conscious of a great crisis and hearing its approach in the
least noise. Suddenly, from far to the right, the voice of
Selma is heard. Instantly the dwarf vanishes. Oswald starts
and stands as one in a dream._