midnight
Her father ransacked the country for her , but found not a trace of her . As the days went by , and still no tidings of her came , his conscience began to torture him , and he caused proclamation to be made that if she were yet living and would return , he would oppose her no longer , she might marry whom she would . The months dragged on , all hope forsook the old man , he ceased from his customary pursuits and pleasures , he devoted himself to pious works , and longed for the deliverance of death . Now just at midnight , every night , the lost heiress stood in the mouth of her cave , arrayed in white robes , and sang a little love ballad which her Crusader had made for her . She judged that if he came home alive the superstitious peasants would tell him about the ghost that sang in the cave , and that as soon as they described the ballad he would know that none but he and she knew that song , therefore he would suspect that she was alive , and would come and find her . As time went on , the people of the region became sorely distressed about the Specter of the Haunted Cave . It was said that ill luck of one kind or another always overtook any one who had the misfortune to hear that song .