midday
The wide doors of the Hofkirche stood open , and on the steps lay a black-and-tan hound , watching no doubt for its master or mistress , who had gone within to pray . Findelkind , in his terror , vaulted over the dog , and into the church tumbled headlong . It seemed quite dark , after the brilliant sunshine on the river and the grass ; his forehead touched the stone floor as he fell , and as he raised himself and stumbled forward , reverent and bareheaded , looking for the altar to cling to when the soldiers should enter to seize him , his uplifted eyes fell on the great tomb . The tomb seems entirely to fill the church , as , with its twenty-four guardian figures around it , it towers up in the twilight that reigns here even at midday . There are a stern majesty and grandeur in it which dwarf every other monument and mausoleum . It is grim , it is rude , it is savage , with the spirit of the rough ages that created it ; but it is great with their greatness , it is heroic with their heroism , it is simple with their simplicity . As the awestricken eyes of the terrified child fell on the mass of stone and bronze , the sight smote him breathless .