Till he hears the door-hinge grating
And the thud of heavy footsteps. . .
Beppo entered.—In his features,
In the shrug of both his shoulders,
In his bosom's heavy sighing,
Roderigo read the answer.
Overnight from out the ruins
Suddenly the camp had vanished,
Not a single clew remaining.
Beppo crawled through every cavern,
But the peaceful, quiet ruins
Just sent back the hollow echo
Of his footstep. . . . They fled, no doubt,
When they saw the angered people,
Fled because they, too, feared capture,
Feared the court and feared its sentence.
But his second message further
Drew the dark clouds that have hovered
Over Roderigo's forehead.
Pestilence is further spreading,
People rebel more than ever,
And rush, full strength toward the castle
All demanding in a body
To console the angry heavens,
That at stake burns Satanella,
49
