"Do, my dear lord, come and marry us," said the lady, with a
levity which shocked the feelings of her bridegroom.
The bishop got up; and directly he rose, a dean, who was sleeping under
a large slate near him, came bowing and cringing up to him; while a
canon of the cathedral (whose name was Schidnischmidt) began grinning
and making fun at the pair. The ceremony was begun, and . . . .
As the clock struck twelve, young Otto bounded up, and remarked the
absence of his companion Wolfgang. The idea he had had, that his friend
disappeared in company with a white-robed female, struck him more and
more. "I will follow them," said he; and, calling to the next on the
watch (old Snozo, who was right unwilling to forego his sleep), he
rushed away by the door through which he had seen Wolfgang and his
temptress take their way.
That he did not find them was not his fault. The castle was vast, the
chamber dark. There were a thousand doors, and what wonder that, after
he had once lost sight of them, the intrepid Childe should not be able
to follow in their steps? As might be expected, he took the wrong door,
and wandered for at least three hours about the dark enormous solitary
castle, calling out Wolfgang's name to the careless and indifferent
echoes, knocking his young shins against the ruins scattered in the
darkness, but still with a spirit entirely undaunted, and a firm
resolution to aid his absent comrade.
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