New-York tribune., 1909-10-24

trees round about in the unhallowed spot,
fan the fire with their wings.
Max appears On crag on one side Of the
glen and gazes down. The sights and
sounds below alright him; but he sum
mons UP his courage and descends part
way. Suddenly his steps are arrested by
a vision Of his dead mother, who appears
on the opposite side OF the gulch and raises
her hand warningly. Caspar mutters
prayer for help to the f1end and bids Max
look again. Now the figure is that Of
Agathe, who seems about to throw her
self into the mountain torrent The sight
nerves him and he hurries down. The moon
enters into an eclipse and Caspar begins
his Internal work. after cautioning Max
not 10 enter the circle or utter a word.
no matter what he sees or who comes to
join them. Into the melting pot Caspar
now puts the ingredients Of the charm
some lead. pieces OF broken glass from a
church window. a bit OF mercury, three
bullets that have already hit their mark,
the right eye Of a lapwing, the left OF
lynx-then speaks the conjuration formula:
Thou who roamst at midnight hour,
Samel. Samiei, thy pow'rl
Spirit dread be near this night
BY the shade of murderers dead.
Do thou bless the charmed lead.
Seven the number revere,
Samiel. SaInel appearl'
The contents of the ladle begin to hiss
and burn with a greenish fame, a cloud
obscuyes the moon wholly. and the scene
Is lighted only by the fire under the melt
ing pot, the owls eyes and the phos-
phorescent glow OF the decaying oaks. AS
he casts the bullets Caspar calls out their
| number, which the echoes repeat. Strange
phenomena accompany each moulding;
night birds come flying from the dark
woods and gather around the fire; a black
boar crashes through the bushes and
| rushes through the glen; a hurricane
hurtIes through the trees, breaking their
tops and scattering the sparks from tho
| furnace; four fiery wheels roll by; the
Wild Hunt dashes through the air; thun-
der, lightning and hail I'LL the air, flames
dart from the earth and Ineteors fall from
| the sky.
At last the Black Hunter himself ap-
pears and grasps Max's hand: the eores-
| ter crosses himself and falls to the earth
| where Caspar already lies stretched out
unconscious. samiel disappears and the
tempest abates. Max raises himself con-
vulsively and finds his companion still
| lying on the ground face downward.
At the beginning OF the third act the
/
| kneeling in prayer robed for the wedding
| She sings a cavatina (''Und OBJ die Wolken
| sic verhulle'). which proclaims her trust
| in Providence. Aennchen twits her for
| having wept, but brides tears and morn
| ing rain,-neither does for long remain"
Agathe has been tortured by dream and
/ Aennchen volunteers to Interpret 1t. The
| bride had dreamt that she had been trans
formed into white dove and was flying
| from tree to tree when Max discharged his
| gun at her. She fell stricken. but imme,
diately afterward was her own proper self
again and saw monstrous black bird OF
prey wallowing in its blood. Aennchen
! explains all as refiexes Of the Incidents OF
the previous night-the work on the white
bridal dress, the terrible black feather on
| Max's hat; and merriy tells a ghostly
| tale OF a nocturnal visitor to her sainted
| aunt which turned out to be the watch
| dog. Enter the bridesmaids with their
| songs: