Replacing the statue, and watching by the tomb, was found to be of
little use. The watchers invariably fell asleep, and the great wooden
figure, which during their last waking moments lay gazing towards the
roof, was now on its face on the monastery floor, peering down in the
opposite direction, and this somehow was regarded by the brethren as a
fact of ominous significance.
The new Count von Sayn, heir to the title and estate of the late Henry
III. was a gloomy, pious man, very different indeed from his turbulent
predecessor. Naturally he was much perturbed by the conduct of the
wooden statue. At first he affected disbelief in the phenomena despite
the assurances of the monks, and later on the simple brethren deeply
regretted they had made any mention of the manifestations. The new Count
himself took up the task of watching, and paced all night before the
tomb of the third Henry. He was not a man to fall asleep while engaged
on such a somber mission, and the outcome of his vigil was so amazing
that in the morning he gathered the brethren together in the great hall
of the Abbey, that he might relate to them his experience.
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