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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40510 ***
+
+  [Illustration: AS IT PASSED HIM HE THOUGHT HE HEARD IT SAY IN A
+  FURIOUS WHISPER, "STILL ALIVE!"--Page 25.
+                                             [_Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  The Watcher
+  And Other Weird Stories
+
+  by
+  J. Sheridan Le Fanu
+
+  With Twenty-one Illustrations
+  by
+  Brinsley Sheridan Le Fanu
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  LONDON
+  DOWNEY & CO.
+  12, York Street, Covent Garden
+
+
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LD.,
+  ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Most of the tales in this volume were written prior to the publication
+of "Uncle Silas," which is, perhaps, the novel by which my father is
+best known. All the stories, with the exception of "The Watcher," were
+included in "The Purcell Papers," edited by Mr. Alfred Perceval Graves
+after my father's death, and published by Messrs. Bentley.
+
+It may be of interest to point out that the central idea in the story
+entitled "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" is
+embodied in "Uncle Silas."
+
+When "The Purcell Papers" were appearing in _The Dublin University
+Magazine_ my father supplied the following note, which was reproduced by
+Mr. Graves in his edition of the book:--
+
+  "The residuary legatee of the late Francis Purcell, who has the
+  honour of selecting such of his lamented old friend's manuscripts as
+  may appear fit for publication, in order that the lore which they
+  contain may reach the world before scepticism and utility have
+  robbed our species of the precious gift of credulity, and scornfully
+  kicked before them, or trampled into annihilation those harmless
+  fragments of picturesque superstition which it is our object to
+  preserve, has been subjected to the charge of dealing too largely
+  in the marvellous; and it has been half insinuated that such is his
+  love for _diablerie_, that he is content to wander a mile out of his
+  way in order to meet a fiend or a goblin, and thus to sacrifice all
+  regard for truth and accuracy to the idle hope of affrighting the
+  imagination, and thus pandering to the bad taste of his reader. He
+  begs leave, then, to take this opportunity of asserting his perfect
+  innocence of all the crimes laid to his charge, and to assure his
+  reader that he never pandered to his bad taste, nor went one inch
+  out of his way to introduce witch, fairy, devil, ghost, or any other
+  of the grim fraternity of the redoubted Raw-head-and-bloody-bones.
+  His province touching these tales has been attended with no
+  difficulty and little responsibility; indeed, he is accountable for
+  nothing more than an alteration in the names of persons mentioned
+  therein, when such a step seemed necessary, and for an occasional
+  note, whenever he conceived it possible innocently to edge in a
+  word. These tales have been _written down_ by the Rev. Francis
+  Purcell, P.P., of Drumcoolagh; and in all the instances, which are
+  many, in which the present writer has had an opportunity of
+  comparing the manuscript of his departed friend with the actual
+  traditions current amongst the families whose fortunes they pretend
+  to illustrate, he has uniformly found that whatever of supernatural
+  occurred in the story, so far from being exaggerated by him, had
+  been rather softened down, and, wherever it could be attempted,
+  accounted for."
+
+      BRINSLEY LE FANU.
+
+  _London,
+    November, 1894._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                     PAGE
+  THE WATCHER                                           1
+
+  PASSAGE IN THE SECRET HISTORY OF AN IRISH COUNTESS   65
+
+  STRANGE EVENT IN THE LIFE OF SCHALKEN THE PAINTER   126
+
+  THE FORTUNES OF SIR ROBERT ARDAGH                   169
+
+  THE DREAM                                           185
+
+  A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF A TYRONE FAMILY         208
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The Watcher.
+
+
+It is now more than fifty years since the occurrences which I am about
+to relate caused a strange sensation in the gay society of Dublin. The
+fashionable world, however, is no recorder of traditions; the memory of
+selfishness seldom reaches far; and the events which occasionally
+disturb the polite monotony of its pleasant and heartless progress,
+however stamped with the characters of misery and horror, scarcely
+outlive the gossip of a season, and (except, perhaps, in the remembrance
+of a few more directly interested in the consequences of the
+catastrophe) are in a little time lost to the recollection of all. The
+appetite for scandal, or for horror, has been sated; the incident can
+yield no more of interest or novelty; curiosity, frustrated by
+impenetrable mystery, gives over the pursuit in despair; the tale has
+ceased to be new, grows stale and flat; and so, in a few years, inquiry
+subsides into indifference.
+
+Somewhere about the year 1794, the younger brother of a certain baronet,
+whom I shall call Sir James Barton, returned to Dublin. He had served in
+the navy with some distinction, having commanded one of his Majesty's
+frigates during the greater part of the American war. Captain Barton was
+now apparently some two or three-and-forty years of age. He was an
+intelligent and agreeable companion, when he chose it, though generally
+reserved, and occasionally even moody. In society, however, he deported
+himself as a man of the world and a gentleman. He had not contracted any
+of the noisy brusqueness sometimes acquired at sea; on the contrary, his
+manners were remarkably easy, quiet, and even polished. He was in person
+about the middle size, and somewhat strongly formed; his countenance was
+marked with the lines of thought, and on the whole wore an expression of
+gravity and even of melancholy. Being, however, as we have said, a man
+of perfect breeding, as well as of affluent circumstances and good
+family, he had, of course, ready access to the best society of the
+metropolis, without the necessity of any other credentials. In his
+personal habits Captain Barton was economical. He occupied lodgings in
+one of the then fashionable streets in the south side of the town, kept
+but one horse and one servant, and though a reputed free-thinker, he
+lived an orderly and moral life, indulging neither in gaming, drinking,
+nor any other vicious pursuit, living very much to himself, without
+forming any intimacies, or choosing any companions, and appearing to mix
+in gay society rather for the sake of its bustle and distraction, than
+for any opportunities which it offered of interchanging either thoughts
+or feelings with its votaries. Barton was therefore pronounced a saving,
+prudent, unsocial sort of a fellow, who bid fair to maintain his
+celibacy alike against stratagem and assault, and was likely to live to
+a good old age, die rich and leave his money to a hospital.
+
+It was soon apparent, however, that the nature of Captain Barton's plans
+had been totally misconceived. A young lady, whom we shall call Miss
+Montague, was at this time introduced into the fashionable world of
+Dublin by her aunt, the Dowager Lady Rochdale. Miss Montague was
+decidedly pretty and accomplished, and having some natural cleverness,
+and a great deal of gaiety, became for a while the reigning toast. Her
+popularity, however, gained her, for a time, nothing more than that
+unsubstantial admiration which, however pleasant as an incense to
+vanity, is by no means necessarily antecedent to matrimony, for,
+unhappily for the young lady in question, it was an understood thing,
+that, beyond her personal attractions, she had no kind of earthly
+provision. Such being the state of affairs, it will readily be believed
+that no little surprise was consequent upon the appearance of Captain
+Barton as the avowed lover of the penniless Miss Montague.
+
+His suit prospered, as might have been expected, and in a short time it
+was confidentially communicated by old Lady Rochdale to each of her
+hundred and fifty particular friends in succession, that Captain Barton
+had actually tendered proposals of marriage, with her approbation, to
+her niece, Miss Montague, who had, moreover, accepted the offer of his
+hand, conditionally upon the consent of her father, who was then upon
+his homeward voyage from India, and expected in two or three months
+at furthest. About his consent there could be no doubt. The delay,
+therefore, was one merely of form; they were looked upon as absolutely
+engaged, and Lady Rochdale, with a vigour of old-fashioned decorum with
+which her niece would, no doubt, gladly have dispensed, withdrew her
+thenceforward from all further participation in the gaieties of the
+town. Captain Barton was a constant visitor as well as a frequent guest
+at the house, and was permitted all the privileges and intimacy which a
+betrothed suitor is usually accorded. Such was the relation of parties,
+when the mysterious circumstances which darken this narrative with
+inexplicable melancholy first began to unfold themselves.
+
+Lady Rochdale resided in a handsome mansion at the north side of
+Dublin, and Captain Barton's lodgings, as we have already said, were
+situated at the south. The distance intervening was considerable, and it
+was Captain Barton's habit generally to walk home without an attendant,
+as often as he passed the evening with the old lady and her fair charge.
+His shortest way in such nocturnal walks lay, for a considerable space,
+through a line of streets which had as yet been merely laid out, and
+little more than the foundations of the houses constructed. One night,
+shortly after his engagement with Miss Montague had commenced, he
+happened to remain unusually late, in company only with her and Lady
+Rochdale. The conversation had turned upon the evidences of revelation,
+which he had disputed with the callous scepticism of a confirmed
+infidel. What were called "French principles" had, in those days, found
+their way a good deal into fashionable society, especially that portion
+of it which professed allegiance to Whiggism, and neither the old lady
+nor her charge was so perfectly free from the taint as to look upon
+Captain Barton's views as any serious objection to the proposed union.
+The discussion had degenerated into one upon the supernatural and the
+marvellous, in which he had pursued precisely the same line of argument
+and ridicule. In all this, it is but true to state, Captain Barton was
+guilty of no affectation; the doctrines upon which he insisted were, in
+reality, but too truly the basis of his own fixed belief, if so it
+might be called; and perhaps not the least strange of the many strange
+circumstances connected with this narrative, was the fact that the
+subject of the fearful influences we are about to describe was himself,
+from the deliberate conviction of years, an utter disbeliever in what
+are usually termed preternatural agencies.
+
+It was considerably past midnight when Mr. Barton took his leave, and
+set out upon his solitary walk homeward. He rapidly reached the lonely
+road, with its unfinished dwarf walls tracing the foundations of the
+projected rows of houses on either side. The moon was shining mistily,
+and its imperfect light made the road he trod but additionally dreary;
+that utter silence, which has in it something indefinably exciting,
+reigned there, and made the sound of his steps, which alone broke it,
+unnaturally loud and distinct. He had proceeded thus some way, when on
+a sudden he heard other footsteps, pattering at a measured pace, and,
+as it seemed, about two score steps behind him. The suspicion of being
+dogged is at all times unpleasant; it is, however, especially so in a
+spot so desolate and lonely: and this suspicion became so strong in
+the mind of Captain Barton, that he abruptly turned about to confront
+his pursuers, but, though there was quite sufficient moonlight to
+disclose any object upon the road he had traversed, no form of any
+kind was visible.
+
+The steps he had heard could not have been the reverberation of his
+own, for he stamped his foot upon the ground, and walked briskly up
+and down, in the vain attempt to wake an echo. Though by no means a
+fanciful person, he was at last compelled to charge the sounds upon
+his imagination, and treat them as an illusion. Thus satisfying
+himself, he resumed his walk, and before he had proceeded a dozen
+paces, the mysterious footfalls were again audible from behind, and
+this time, as if with the special design of showing that the sounds
+were not the responses of an echo, the steps sometimes slackened
+nearly to a halt, and sometimes hurried for six or eight strides to
+a run, and again abated to a walk.
+
+Captain Barton, as before, turned suddenly round, and with the same
+result; no object was visible above the deserted level of the road. He
+walked back over the same ground, determined that, whatever might have
+been the cause of the sounds which had so disconcerted him, it should
+not escape his search; the endeavour, however, was unrewarded. In spite
+of all his scepticism, he felt something like a superstitious fear
+stealing fast upon him, and, with these unwonted and uncomfortable
+sensations, he once more turned and pursued his way. There was no
+repetition of these haunting sounds, until he had reached the point
+where he had last stopped to retrace his steps. Here they were resumed,
+and with sudden starts of running, which threatened to bring the unseen
+pursuer close up to the alarmed pedestrian. Captain Barton arrested his
+course as formerly; the unaccountable nature of the occurrence filled
+him with vague and almost horrible sensations, and, yielding to the
+excitement he felt gaining upon him, he shouted, sternly, "Who goes
+there?"
+
+The sound of one's own voice, thus exerted, in utter solitude, and
+followed by total silence, has in it something unpleasantly exciting,
+and he felt a degree of nervousness which, perhaps, from no cause had
+he ever known before. To the very end of this solitary street the
+steps pursued him, and it required a strong effort of stubborn pride
+on his part to resist the impulse that prompted him every moment to
+run for safety at the top of his speed. It was not until he had
+reached his lodging, and sat by his own fireside, that he felt
+sufficiently reassured to arrange and reconsider in his own mind the
+occurrences which had so discomposed him: so little a matter, after
+all, is sufficient to upset the pride of scepticism, and vindicate the
+old simple laws of nature within us.
+
+Mr. Barton was next morning sitting at a late breakfast, reflecting upon
+the incidents of the previous night, with more of inquisitiveness than
+awe--so speedily do gloomy impressions upon the fancy disappear under
+the cheerful influences of day--when a letter just delivered by the
+postman was placed upon the table before him. There was nothing
+remarkable in the address of this missive, except that it was written in
+a hand which he did not know--perhaps it was disguised--for the tall
+narrow characters were sloped backward; and with the self-inflicted
+suspense which we so often see practised in such cases, he puzzled over
+the inscription for a full minute before he broke the seal. When he did
+so, he read the following words, written in the same hand:--
+
+
+"Mr. Barton, late Captain of the _Dolphin_, is warned of _danger_. He
+will do wisely to avoid ---- Street--(here the locality of his last
+night's adventure was named)--if he walks there as usual, he will meet
+with something bad. Let him take warning, once for all, for he has good
+reason to dread
+
+    "THE WATCHER."
+
+
+Captain Barton read and re-read this strange effusion; in every light
+and in every direction he turned it over and over. He examined the paper
+on which it was written, and closely scrutinized the handwriting.
+Defeated here, he turned to the seal; it was nothing but a patch of wax,
+upon which the accidental impression of a coarse thumb was imperfectly
+visible. There was not the slightest mark, no clue or indication of any
+kind, to lead him to even a guess as to its possible origin. The
+writer's object seemed a friendly one, and yet he subscribed himself as
+one whom he had "good reason to dread." Altogether, the letter, its
+author, and its real purpose, were to him an inexplicable puzzle, and
+one, moreover, unpleasantly suggestive, in his mind, of associations
+connected with the last night's adventure.
+
+In obedience to some feeling--perhaps of pride--Mr. Barton did not
+communicate, even to his intended bride, the occurrences which we have
+just detailed. Trifling as they might appear, they had in reality most
+disagreeably affected his imagination, and he cared not to disclose,
+even to the young lady in question, what she might possibly look upon
+as evidences of weakness. The letter might very well be but a hoax,
+and the mysterious footfall but a delusion of his fancy. But although
+he affected to treat the whole affair as unworthy of a thought, it yet
+haunted him pertinaciously, tormenting him with perplexing doubts, and
+depressing him with undefined apprehensions. Certain it is, that for a
+considerable time afterwards he carefully avoided the street indicated
+in the letter as the scene of danger.
+
+It was not until about a week after the receipt of the letter which I
+have transcribed, that anything further occurred to remind Captain
+Barton of its contents, or to counteract the gradual disappearance from
+his mind of the disagreeable impressions which he had then received. He
+was returning one night, after the interval I have stated, from the
+theatre, which was then situated in Crow Street, and having there handed
+Miss Montague and Lady Rochdale into their carriage, he loitered for
+some time with two or three acquaintances. With these, however, he
+parted close to the College, and pursued his way alone. It was now about
+one o'clock, and the streets were quite deserted. During the whole of
+his walk with the companions from whom he had just parted, he had been
+at times painfully aware of the sound of steps, as it seemed, dogging
+them on their way. Once or twice he had looked back, in the uneasy
+anticipation that he was again about to experience the same mysterious
+annoyances which had so much disconcerted him a week before, and
+earnestly hoping that he might _see_ some form from whom the sounds
+might naturally proceed. But the street was deserted; no form was
+visible. Proceeding now quite alone upon his homeward way, he grew
+really nervous and uncomfortable, as he became sensible, with increased
+distinctness, of the well-known and now absolutely dreaded sounds.
+
+By the side of the dead wall which bounded the College Park, the sounds
+followed, recommencing almost simultaneously with his own steps. The
+same unequal pace, sometimes slow, sometimes, for a score yards or so,
+quickened to a run, was audible from behind him. Again and again he
+turned, quickly and stealthily he glanced over his shoulder almost at
+every half-dozen steps; but no one was visible. The horrors of this
+intangible and unseen persecution became gradually all but intolerable;
+and when at last he reached his home his nerves were strung to such a
+pitch of excitement that he could not rest, and did not attempt even to
+lie down until after the daylight had broken.
+
+He was awakened by a knock at his chamber-door, and his servant
+entering, handed him several letters which had just been received by
+the early post. One among them instantly arrested his attention; a
+single glance at the direction aroused him thoroughly. He at once
+recognized its character, and read as follows:--
+
+
+"You may as well think, Captain Barton, to escape from your own shadow
+as from me; do what you may, I will see you as often as I please, and
+you shall see me, for I do not want to hide myself, as you fancy. Do not
+let it trouble your rest, Captain Barton; for, with a _good conscience_,
+what need you fear from the eye of
+
+    "THE WATCHER?"
+
+
+It is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the feelings elicited by a
+perusal of this strange communication. Captain Barton was observed to
+be unusually absent and out of spirits for several days afterwards;
+but no one divined the cause. Whatever he might think as to the
+phantom steps which followed him, there could be no possible illusion
+about the letters he had received; and, to say the least of it, their
+immediate sequence upon the mysterious sounds which had haunted him
+was an odd coincidence. The whole circumstance, in his own mind, was
+vaguely and instinctively connected with certain passages in his past
+life, which, of all others, he hated to remember.
+
+It so happened that just about this time, in addition to his approaching
+nuptials, Captain Barton had fortunately, perhaps, for himself, some
+business of an engrossing kind connected with the adjustment of a
+large and long-litigated claim upon certain properties. The hurry and
+excitement of business had its natural effect in gradually dispelling
+the marked gloom which had for a time occasionally oppressed him, and in
+a little while his spirits had entirely resumed their accustomed tone.
+
+During all this period, however, he was occasionally dismayed by
+indistinct and half-heard repetitions of the same annoyance, and that
+in lonely places, in the day time as well as after nightfall. These
+renewals of the strange impressions from which he had suffered so
+much were, however, desultory and faint, insomuch that often he really
+could not, to his own satisfaction, distinguish between them and the
+mere suggestions of an excited imagination. One evening he walked down
+to the House of Commons with a Mr. Norcott, a Member. As they walked
+down together he was observed to become absent and silent, and to a
+degree so marked as scarcely to consist with good breeding; and this,
+in one who was obviously in all his habits so perfectly a gentleman,
+seemed to argue the pressure of some urgent and absorbing anxiety. It
+was afterwards known that, during the whole of that walk, he had heard
+the well-known footsteps dogging him as he proceeded. This, however,
+was the last time he suffered from this phase of the persecution of
+which he was already the anxious victim. A new and a very different
+one was about to be presented.
+
+Of the new series of impressions which were afterwards gradually to work
+out his destiny, that evening disclosed the first; and but for its
+relation to the train of events which followed, the incident would
+scarcely have been remembered by any one. As they were walking in at the
+passage, a man (of whom his friend could afterwards remember only that
+he was short in stature, looked like a foreigner, and wore a kind of
+travelling-cap) walked very rapidly, and, as if under some fierce
+excitement, directly towards them, muttering to himself fast and
+vehemently the while. This odd-looking person proceeded straight toward
+Barton, who was foremost, and halted, regarding him for a moment or two
+with a look of menace and fury almost maniacal; and then turning about
+as abruptly, he walked before them at the same agitated pace, and
+disappeared by a side passage. Norcott distinctly remembered being a
+good deal shocked at the countenance and bearing of this man, which
+indeed irresistibly impressed him with an undefined sense of danger,
+such as he never felt before or since from the presence of anything
+human; but these sensations were far from amounting to anything so
+disconcerting as to flurry or excite him--he had seen only a singularly
+evil countenance, agitated, as it seemed, with the excitement of
+madness. He was absolutely astonished, however, at the effect of this
+apparition upon Captain Barton. He knew him to be a man of proved
+courage and coolness in real danger, a circumstance which made his
+conduct upon this occasion the more conspicuously odd. He recoiled a
+step or two as the stranger advanced, and clutched his companion's arm
+in silence, with a spasm of agony or terror; and then, as the figure
+disappeared, shoving him roughly back, he followed it for a few paces,
+stopped in great disorder, and sat down upon a form. A countenance more
+ghastly and haggard it was impossible to fancy.
+
+"For God's sake, Barton, what is the matter?" said Norcott, really
+alarmed at his friend's appearance. "You're not hurt, are you? nor
+unwell? What is it?"
+
+"What did he say? I did not hear it. What was it?" asked Barton, wholly
+disregarding the question.
+
+"Tut, tut, nonsense!" said Norcott, greatly surprised; "who cares what
+the fellow said? You are unwell, Barton, decidedly unwell; let me call a
+coach."
+
+"Unwell! Yes, no, not exactly unwell," he said, evidently making an
+effort to recover his self-possession; "but, to say the truth, I am
+fatigued, a little overworked, and perhaps over anxious. You know I have
+been in Chancery, and the winding up of a suit is always a nervous
+affair. I have felt uncomfortable all this evening; but I am better now.
+Come, come, shall we go on?"
+
+"No, no. Take my advice, Barton, and go home; you really do need rest;
+you are looking absolutely ill. I really do insist on your allowing me
+to see you home," replied his companion.
+
+It was obvious that Barton was not himself disinclined to be persuaded.
+He accordingly took his leave, politely declining his friend's offered
+escort. Notwithstanding the few commonplace regrets which Norcott had
+expressed, it was plain that he was just as little deceived as Barton
+himself by the extempore plea of illness with which he had accounted for
+the strange exhibition, and that he even then suspected some lurking
+mystery in the matter.
+
+Norcott called next day at Barton's lodgings, to inquire for him, and
+learned from the servant that he had not left his room since his return
+the night before; but that he was not seriously indisposed, and hoped to
+be out again in a few days. That evening he sent for Doctor Richards,
+then in large and fashionable practice in Dublin, and their interview
+was, it is said, an odd one.
+
+He entered into a detail of his own symptoms in an abstracted and
+desultory kind of way, which seemed to argue a strange want of interest
+in his own cure, and, at all events, made it manifest that there was
+some topic engaging his mind of more engrossing importance than his
+present ailment. He complained of occasional palpitations, and headache.
+Doctor Richards asked him, among other questions, whether there was any
+irritating circumstance or anxiety to account for it. This he denied
+quickly and peevishly; and the physician thereupon declared his opinion,
+that there was nothing amiss except some slight derangement of the
+digestion, for which he accordingly wrote a prescription, and was about
+to withdraw, when Mr. Barton, with the air of a man who suddenly
+recollects a topic which had nearly escaped him, recalled him.
+
+"I beg your pardon, doctor, but I had really almost forgot; will you
+permit me to ask you two or three medical questions?--rather odd ones,
+perhaps, but as a wager depends upon their solution, you will, I hope,
+excuse my unreasonableness."
+
+The physician readily undertook to satisfy the inquirer.
+
+Barton seemed to have some difficulty about opening the proposed
+interrogatories, for he was silent for a minute, then walked to his
+book-case and returned as he had gone; at last he sat down, and said,--
+
+"You'll think them very childish questions, but I can't recover my wager
+without a decision; so I must put them. I want to know first about
+lock-jaw. If a man actually has had that complaint, and appears to have
+died of it--so that in fact a physician of average skill pronounces him
+actually dead--may he, after all, recover?"
+
+Doctor Richards smiled, and shook his head.
+
+"But--but a blunder may be made," resumed Barton. "Suppose an ignorant
+pretender to medical skill; may _he_ be so deceived by any stage of the
+complaint, as to mistake what is only a part of the progress of the
+disease, for death itself?"
+
+"No one who had ever seen death," answered he, "could mistake it in the
+case of lock-jaw."
+
+Barton mused for a few minutes. "I am going to ask you a question,
+perhaps still more childish; but first tell me, are not the regulations
+of foreign hospitals, such as those of, let us say, Lisbon, very lax and
+bungling? May not all kinds of blunders and slips occur in their entries
+of names, and so forth?"
+
+Doctor Richards professed his inability to answer that query.
+
+"Well, then, doctor, here is the last of my questions. You will probably
+laugh at it; but it must out nevertheless. Is there any disease, in all
+the range of human maladies, which would have the effect of perceptibly
+contracting the stature, and the whole frame--causing the man to shrink
+in all his proportions, and yet to preserve his exact resemblance to
+himself in every particular--with the one exception, his height and
+bulk; _any_ disease, mark, no matter how rare, how little believed in,
+generally, which could possibly result in producing such an effect?"
+
+The physician replied with a smile, and a very decided negative.
+
+"Tell me, then," said Barton, abruptly, "if a man be in reasonable fear
+of assault from a lunatic who is at large, can he not procure a warrant
+for his arrest and detention?"
+
+"Really, that is more a lawyer's question than one in my way," replied
+Doctor Richards; "but I believe, on applying to a magistrate, such a
+course would be directed."
+
+The physician then took his leave; but, just as he reached the
+hall-door, remembered that he had left his cane upstairs, and returned.
+His reappearance was awkward, for a piece of paper, which he recognized
+as his own prescription, was slowly burning upon the fire, and Barton
+sitting close by with an expression of settled gloom and dismay. Doctor
+Richards had too much tact to appear to observe what presented itself;
+but he had seen quite enough to assure him that the mind, and not the
+body, of Captain Barton was in reality the seat of his sufferings.
+
+A few days afterwards, the following advertisement appeared in the
+Dublin newspapers:--
+
+"If Sylvester Yelland, formerly a foremast man on board his Majesty's
+frigate _Dolphin_, or his nearest of kin, will apply to Mr. Robery
+Smith, solicitor, at his office, Dame Street, he or they may hear of
+something greatly to his or their advantage. Admission may be had at
+any hour up to twelve o'clock at night for the next fortnight, should
+parties desire to avoid observation; and the strictest secrecy, as to
+all communications intended to be confidential, shall be honourably
+observed."
+
+The _Dolphin_, as we have mentioned, was the vessel which Captain Barton
+had commanded; and this circumstance, connected with the extraordinary
+exertions made by the circulation of hand-bills, etc., as well as by
+repeated advertisements, to secure for this strange notice the utmost
+possible publicity, suggested to Doctor Richards the idea that Captain
+Barton's extreme uneasiness was somehow connected with the individual to
+whom the advertisement was addressed, and he himself the author of it.
+This, however, it is needless to add, was no more than a conjecture. No
+information whatsoever, as to the real purpose of the advertisement
+itself, was divulged by the agent, nor yet any hint as to who his
+employer might be.
+
+Mr. Barton, although he had latterly begun to earn for himself the
+character of a hypochondriac, was yet very far from deserving it.
+Though by no means lively, he had yet, naturally, what are termed
+"even spirits," and was not subject to continual depressions. He soon,
+therefore, began to return to his former habits; and one of the earliest
+symptoms of this healthier tone of spirits was his appearing at a grand
+dinner of the Freemasons, of which worthy fraternity he was himself a
+brother. Barton, who had been at first gloomy and abstracted, drank much
+more freely than was his wont--possibly with the purpose of dispelling
+his own secret anxieties--and under the influence of good wine, and
+pleasant company, became gradually (unlike his usual self) talkative,
+and even noisy. It was under this unwonted excitement that he left his
+company at about half-past ten o'clock; and as conviviality is a strong
+incentive to gallantry, it occurred to him to proceed forthwith to Lady
+Rochdale's, and pass the remainder of the evening with her and his
+destined bride.
+
+Accordingly, he was soon at ---- Street, and chatting gaily with the
+ladies. It is not to be supposed that Captain Barton had exceeded the
+limits which propriety prescribes to good fellowship; he had merely
+taken enough of wine to raise his spirits, without, however, in the
+least degree unsteadying his mind, or affecting his manners. With this
+undue elevation of spirits had supervened an entire oblivion or contempt
+of those undefined apprehensions which had for so long weighed upon his
+mind, and to a certain extent estranged him from society; but as the
+night wore away, and his artificial gaiety began to flag, these painful
+feelings gradually intruded themselves again, and he grew abstracted and
+anxious as heretofore. He took his leave at length, with an unpleasant
+foreboding of some coming mischief, and with a mind haunted with a
+thousand mysterious apprehensions, such as, even while he acutely felt
+their pressure, he, nevertheless, inwardly strove, or affected to
+contemn.
+
+It was his proud defiance of what he considered to be his own weakness
+which prompted him upon this occasion to the course which brought about
+the adventure which we are now about to relate. Mr. Barton might have
+easily called a coach, but he was conscious that his strong inclination
+to do so proceeded from no cause other than what he desperately
+persisted in representing to himself to be his own superstitious
+tremors. He might also have returned home by a route different from that
+against which he had been warned by his mysterious correspondent; but
+for the same reason he dismissed this idea also, and with a dogged and
+half desperate resolution to force matters to a crisis of some kind, to
+see if there were any reality in the causes of his former suffering, and
+if not, satisfactorily to bring their delusiveness to the proof, he
+determined to follow precisely the course which he had trodden upon the
+night so painfully memorable in his own mind as that on which his
+strange persecution had commenced. Though, sooth to say, the pilot who
+for the first time steers his vessel under the muzzles of a hostile
+battery never felt his resolution more severely tasked than did Captain
+Barton, as he breathlessly pursued this solitary path; a path which,
+spite of every effort of scepticism and reason, he felt to be, as
+respected _him_, infested by a malignant influence.
+
+He pursued his way steadily and rapidly, scarcely breathing from
+intensity of suspense; he, however, was troubled by no renewal of the
+dreaded footsteps, and was beginning to feel a return of confidence,
+as, more than three-fourths of the way being accomplished with impunity,
+he approached the long line of twinkling oil lamps which indicated the
+frequented streets. This feeling of self-congratulation was, however,
+but momentary. The report of a musket at some two hundred yards behind
+him, and the whistle of a bullet close to his head, disagreeably and
+startlingly dispelled it. His first impulse was to retrace his steps in
+pursuit of the assassin; but the road on either side was, as we have
+said, embarrassed by the foundations of a street, beyond which extended
+waste fields, full of rubbish and neglected lime and brick kilns, and
+all now as utterly silent as though no sound had ever disturbed their
+dark and unsightly solitude. The futility of attempting, single-handed,
+under such circumstances, a search for the murderer, was apparent,
+especially as no further sound whatever was audible to direct his
+pursuit.
+
+With the tumultuous sensations of one whose life had just been exposed
+to a murderous attempt, and whose escape has been the narrowest
+possible, Captain Barton turned, and without, however, quickening his
+pace actually to a run, hurriedly pursued his way. He had turned, as we
+have said, after a pause of a few seconds, and had just commenced his
+rapid retreat, when on a sudden he met the well-remembered little man in
+the fur cap. The encounter was but momentary. The figure was walking at
+the same exaggerated pace, and with the same strange air of menace as
+before; and as it passed him, he thought he heard it say, in a furious
+whisper, "Still alive, still alive!"
+
+The state of Mr. Barton's spirits began now to work a corresponding
+alteration in his health and looks, and to such a degree that it was
+impossible that the change should escape general remark. For some
+reasons, known but to himself, he took no step whatsoever to bring the
+attempt upon his life, which he had so narrowly escaped, under the
+notice of the authorities; on the contrary, he kept it jealously to
+himself; and it was not for many weeks after the occurrence that he
+mentioned it, and then in strict confidence to a gentleman, the torments
+of his mind at last compelled him to consult a friend.
+
+Spite of his blue devils, however, poor Barton, having no satisfactory
+reason to render to the public for any undue remissness in the
+attentions which his relation to Miss Montague required, was obliged
+to exert himself, and present to the world a confident and cheerful
+bearing. The true source of his sufferings, and every circumstance
+connected with them, he guarded with a reserve so jealous, that it
+seemed dictated by at least a suspicion that the origin of his strange
+persecution was known to himself, and that it was of a nature which,
+upon his own account, he could not or dare not disclose.
+
+The mind thus turned in upon itself, and constantly occupied with a
+haunting anxiety which it dared not reveal, or confide to any human
+breast, became daily more excited; and, of course, more vividly
+impressible, by a system of attack which operated through the nervous
+system; and in this state he was destined to sustain, with increasing
+frequency, the stealthy visitations of that apparition, which from the
+first had seemed to possess so unearthly and terrible a hold upon his
+imagination.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was about this time that Captain Barton called upon the then
+celebrated preacher, Doctor Macklin, with whom he had a slight
+acquaintance; and an extraordinary conversation ensued. The divine was
+seated in his chambers in college, surrounded with works upon his
+favourite pursuit and deep in theology, when Barton was announced. There
+was something at once embarrassed and excited in his manner, which,
+along with his wan and haggard countenance, impressed the student with
+the unpleasant consciousness that his visitor must have recently
+suffered terribly indeed to account for an alteration so striking, so
+shocking.
+
+After the usual interchange of polite greeting, and a few commonplace
+remarks, Captain Barton, who obviously perceived the surprise which his
+visit had excited, and which Doctor Macklin was unable wholly to
+conceal, interrupted a brief pause by remarking,--
+
+"This is a strange call, Doctor Macklin, perhaps scarcely warranted by
+an acquaintance so slight as mine with you. I should not, under ordinary
+circumstances, have ventured to disturb you, but my visit is neither an
+idle nor impertinent intrusion. I am sure you will not so account it,
+when--"
+
+Doctor Macklin interrupted him with assurances, such as good breeding
+suggested, and Barton resumed,--
+
+"I am come to task your patience by asking your advice. When I say your
+patience, I might, indeed, say more; I might have said your humanity,
+your compassion; for I have been, and am a great sufferer."
+
+"My dear sir," replied the churchman, "it will, indeed, afford me
+infinite gratification if I can give you comfort in any distress of
+mind, but--but--"
+
+"I know what you would say," resumed Barton, quickly. "I am an
+unbeliever, and, therefore, incapable of deriving help from religion,
+but don't take that for granted. At least you must not assume that,
+however unsettled my convictions may be, I do not feel a deep, a very
+deep, interest in the subject. Circumstances have lately forced it upon
+my attention in such a way as to compel me to review the whole question
+in a more candid and teachable spirit, I believe, than I ever studied it
+in before."
+
+"Your difficulties, I take it for granted, refer to the evidences of
+revelation," suggested the clergyman.
+
+"Why--no--yes; in fact I am ashamed to say I have not considered even my
+objections sufficiently to state them connectedly; but--but there is one
+subject on which I feel a peculiar interest."
+
+He paused again, and Doctor Macklin pressed him to proceed.
+
+"The fact is," said Barton, "whatever may be my uncertainty as to the
+authenticity of what we are taught to call revelation, of one fact I am
+deeply and horribly convinced: that there does exist beyond this a
+spiritual world--a system whose workings are generally in mercy hidden
+from us--a system which may be, and which is sometimes, partially and
+terribly revealed. I am sure, I know," continued Barton, with increasing
+excitement, "there is a God--a dreadful God--and that retribution
+follows guilt. In ways, the most mysterious and stupendous; by agencies,
+the most inexplicable and terrific; there is a spiritual system--great
+Heavens, how frightfully I have been convinced!--a system malignant, and
+inexorable, and omnipotent, under whose persecutions I am, and have
+been, suffering the torments of the damned!--yes, sir--yes--the fires
+and frenzy of hell!"
+
+As Barton continued, his agitation became so vehement that the divine
+was shocked and even alarmed. The wild and excited rapidity with which
+he spoke, and, above all, the indefinable horror which stamped his
+features, afforded a contrast to his ordinary cool and unimpassioned
+self-possession, striking and painful in the last degree.
+
+"My dear sir," said Doctor Macklin, after a brief pause, "I fear you
+have been suffering much, indeed; but I venture to predict that the
+depression under which you labour will be found to originate in purely
+physical causes, and that with a change of air and the aid of a few
+tonics, your spirits will return, and the tone of your mind be once more
+cheerful and tranquil as heretofore. There was, after all, more truth
+than we are quite willing to admit in the classic theories which
+assigned the undue predominance of any one affection of the mind to the
+undue action or torpidity of one or other of our bodily organs. Believe
+me, that a little attention to diet, exercise, and the other essentials
+of health, under competent direction, will make you as much yourself as
+you can wish."
+
+"Doctor Macklin," said Barton, with something like a shudder, "I
+_cannot_ delude myself with such a hope. I have no hope to cling to but
+one, and that is, that by some other spiritual agency more potent than
+that which tortures me, _it_ may be combated, and I delivered. If this
+may not be, I am lost--now and for ever lost."
+
+"But, Mr. Barton, you must remember," urged his companion, "that others
+have suffered as you have done, and--"
+
+"No, no, no," interrupted he with irritability; "no, sir, I am not a
+credulous--far from a superstitious man. I have been, perhaps, too much
+the reverse--too sceptical, too slow of belief; but unless I were one
+whom no amount of evidence could convince, unless I were to contemn the
+repeated, the _perpetual_ evidence of my own senses, I am now--now at
+last constrained to believe I have no escape from the conviction, the
+overwhelming certainty, that I am haunted and dogged, go where I may,
+by--by a Demon."
+
+There was an almost preternatural energy of horror in Barton's face, as,
+with its damp and death-like lineaments turned towards his companion, he
+thus delivered himself.
+
+"God help you, my poor friend!" said Doctor Macklin, much shocked. "God
+help you; for, indeed, you _are_ a sufferer, however your sufferings may
+have been caused."
+
+"Ay, ay, God help me," echoed Barton sternly; "but _will_ He help me?
+will He help me?"
+
+"Pray to Him; pray in an humble and trusting spirit," said he.
+
+"Pray, pray," echoed he again; "I can't pray; I could as easily move a
+mountain by an effort of my will. I have not belief enough to pray;
+there is something within me that will not pray. You prescribe
+impossibilities--literal impossibilities."
+
+"You will not find it so, if you will but try," said Doctor Macklin.
+
+"Try! I _have_ tried, and the attempt only fills me with confusion
+and terror. I have tried in vain, and more than in vain. The awful,
+unutterable idea of eternity and infinity oppresses and maddens my
+brain, whenever my mind approaches the contemplation of the Creator;
+I recoil from the effort, scared, confounded, terrified. I tell you,
+Doctor Macklin, if I am to be saved, it must be by other means. The idea
+of the Creator is to me intolerable; my mind cannot support it."
+
+"Say, then, my dear sir," urged he, "say how you would have me serve
+you. What you would learn of me. What can I do or say to relieve you?"
+
+"Listen to me first," replied Captain Barton, with a subdued air, and
+an evident effort to suppress his excitement; "listen to me while I
+detail the circumstances of the terrible persecution under which my
+life has become all but intolerable--a persecution which has made me
+fear _death_ and the world beyond the grave as much as I have grown to
+hate existence."
+
+Barton then proceeded to relate the circumstances which we have already
+detailed, and then continued,--
+
+"This has now become habitual--an accustomed thing. I do not mean the
+actual seeing him in the flesh; thank God, _that_ at least is not
+permitted daily. Thank God, from the unutterable horrors of that
+visitation I have been mercifully allowed intervals of repose, though
+none of security; but from the consciousness that a malignant spirit is
+following and watching me wherever I go, I have never, for a single
+instant, a temporary respite: I am pursued with blasphemies, cries of
+despair, and appalling hatred; I hear those dreadful sounds called after
+me as I turn the corners of streets; they come in the night-time while I
+sit in my chamber alone; they haunt me everywhere, charging me with
+hideous crimes, and--great God!--threatening me with coming vengeance
+and eternal misery! Hush! do you hear _that_?" he cried, with a horrible
+smile of triumph. "There--there, will that convince you?"
+
+The clergyman felt the chillness of horror irresistibly steal over him,
+while, during the wail of a sudden gust of wind, he heard, or fancied he
+heard, the half articulate sounds of rage and derision mingling in their
+sough.
+
+"Well, what do you think of _that_?" at length Barton cried, drawing a
+long breath through his teeth.
+
+"I heard the wind," said Doctor Macklin; "what should I think of it?
+What is there remarkable about it?"
+
+[Illustration: "THE PRINCE OF THE POWERS OF THE AIR!" MUTTERED BARTON.]
+
+"The prince of the powers of the air," muttered Barton, with a shudder.
+
+"Tut, tut! my dear sir!" said the student, with an effort to reassure
+himself; for though it was broad daylight, there was nevertheless
+something disagreeably contagious in the nervous excitement under which
+his visitor so obviously suffered. "You must not give way to those wild
+fancies: you must resist those impulses of the imagination."
+
+"Ay, ay; 'resist the devil, and he will flee from thee,'" said Barton,
+in the same tone; "but _how_ resist him? Ay, there it is: there is the
+rub. What--_what_ am I to do? What _can_ I do?"
+
+"My dear sir, this is fancy," said the man of folios; "you are your own
+tormentor."
+
+"No, no, sir; fancy has no part in it," answered Barton, somewhat
+sternly. "Fancy, forsooth! Was it that made _you_, as well as me, hear,
+but this moment, those appalling accents of hell? Fancy, indeed! No,
+no."
+
+"But you have seen this person frequently," said the ecclesiastic; "why
+have you not accosted or secured him? Is it not somewhat precipitate, to
+say no more, to assume, as you have done, the existence of preternatural
+agency, when, after all, everything may be easily accountable, if only
+proper means were taken to sift the matter."
+
+"There are circumstances connected with this--this _appearance_," said
+Barton, "which it were needless to disclose, but which to _me_ are
+proofs of its horrible and unearthly nature. I know that the being who
+haunts me is not _man_. I say I _know_ this; I could prove it to your
+own conviction." He paused for a minute, and then added, "And as to
+accosting it, I dare not--I could not! When I see it I am powerless; I
+stand in the gaze of death, in the triumphant presence of preterhuman
+power and malignity; my strength, and faculties, and memory all forsake
+me. Oh, God! I fear, sir, you know not what you speak of. Mercy, mercy!
+heaven have pity on me!"
+
+He leaned his elbow on the table, and passed his hand across his eyes,
+as if to exclude some image of horror, muttering the last words of the
+sentence he had just concluded, again and again.
+
+"Dr. Macklin," he said, abruptly raising himself, and looking full upon
+the clergyman with an imploring eye, "I know you will do for me whatever
+may be done. You know now fully the circumstances and the nature of the
+mysterious agency of which I am the victim. I tell you I cannot help
+myself; I cannot hope to escape; I am utterly passive. I conjure you,
+then, to weigh my case well, and if anything may be done for me by
+vicarious supplication, by the intercession of the good, or by any aid
+or influence whatsoever, I implore of you, I adjure you in the name of
+the Most High, give me the benefit of that influence, deliver me from
+the body of this death! Strive for me; pity me! I know you will; you
+cannot refuse this; it is the purpose and object of my visit. Send me
+away with some hope, however little--some faint hope of ultimate
+deliverance, and I will nerve myself to endure, from hour to hour, the
+hideous dream into which my existence is transformed."
+
+Doctor Macklin assured him that all he could do was to pray earnestly
+for him, and that so much he would not fail to do. They parted with a
+hurried and melancholy valediction. Barton hastened to the carriage
+which awaited him at the door, drew the blinds, and drove away, while
+Dr. Macklin returned to his chamber, to ruminate at leisure upon the
+strange interview which had just interrupted his studies.
+
+It was not to be expected that Captain Barton's changed and eccentric
+habits should long escape remark and discussion. Various were the
+theories suggested to account for it. Some attributed the alteration to
+the pressure of secret pecuniary embarrassments; others to a repugnance
+to fulfil an engagement into which he was presumed to have too
+precipitately entered; and others, again, to the supposed incipiency of
+mental disease, which latter, indeed, was the most plausible, as well as
+the most generally received, of the hypotheses circulated in the gossip
+of the day.
+
+From the very commencement of this change, at first so gradual in its
+advances, Miss Montague had, of course, been aware of it. The intimacy
+involved in their peculiar relation, as well as the near interest which
+it inspired, afforded, in her case, alike opportunity and motive for the
+successful exercise of that keen and penetrating observation peculiar
+to the sex. His visits became, at length, so interrupted, and his
+manner, while they lasted, so abstracted, strange, and agitated, that
+Lady Rochdale, after hinting her anxiety and her suspicions more than
+once, at length distinctly stated her anxiety, and pressed for an
+explanation. The explanation was given, and although its nature at first
+relieved the worst solicitudes of the old lady and her niece, yet the
+circumstances which attended it, and the really dreadful consequences
+which it obviously threatened as regarded the spirits, and, indeed, the
+reason, of the now wretched man who made the strange declaration, were
+enough, upon a little reflection, to fill their minds with perturbation
+and alarm.
+
+General Montague, the young lady's father, at length arrived. He had
+himself slightly known Barton, some ten or twelve years previously,
+and being aware of his fortune and connections, was disposed to regard
+him as an unexceptionable and indeed a most desirable match for his
+daughter. He laughed at the story of Barton's supernatural visitations,
+and lost not a moment in calling upon his intended son-in-law.
+
+"My dear Barton," he continued gaily, after a little conversation, "my
+sister tells me that you are a victim to blue devils in quite a new and
+original shape."
+
+Barton changed countenance, and sighed profoundly.
+
+"Come, come; I protest this will never do," continued the General; "you
+are more like a man on his way to the gallows than to the altar. These
+devils have made quite a saint of you."
+
+Barton made an effort to change the conversation.
+
+"No, no, it won't do," said his visitor, laughing; "I am resolved to
+say out what I have to say about this magnificent mock mystery of
+yours. Come, you must not be angry; but, really, it is too bad to see
+you, at your time of life, absolutely frightened into good behaviour,
+like a naughty child, by a bugaboo, and, as far as I can learn, a very
+particularly contemptible one. Seriously, though, my dear Barton, I
+have been a good deal annoyed at what they tell me; but, at the same
+time, thoroughly convinced that there is nothing in the matter that
+may not be cleared up, with just a little attention and management,
+within a week at furthest."
+
+"Ah, General, you do not know--" he began.
+
+"Yes, but I do know quite enough to warrant my confidence," interrupted
+the soldier. "I know that all your annoyance proceeds from the
+occasional appearance of a certain little man in a cap and great-coat,
+with a red vest and bad countenance, who follows you about, and pops
+upon you at the corners of lanes, and throws you into ague fits. Now,
+my dear fellow, I'll make it my business to _catch_ this mischievous
+little mountebank, and either beat him into a jelly with my own hands,
+or have him whipped through the town at the cart's tail."
+
+"If _you_ knew what I know," said Barton, with gloomy agitation, "you
+would speak very differently. Don't imagine that I am so weak and
+foolish as to assume, without proof the most overwhelming, the
+conclusion to which I have been forced. The proofs are here, locked up
+here." As he spoke, he tapped upon his breast, and with an anxious sigh
+continued to walk up and down the room.
+
+"Well, well, Barton," said his visitor, "I'll wager a rump and a dozen
+I collar the ghost, and convince yourself before many days are over."
+
+He was running on in the same strain when he was suddenly arrested,
+and not a little shocked, by observing Barton, who had approached the
+window, stagger slowly back, like one who had received a stunning
+blow--his arm feebly extended towards the street, his face and his very
+lips white as ashes--while he uttered, "There--there--there!"
+
+General Montague started mechanically to his feet, and, from the window
+of the drawing-room, saw a figure corresponding, as well as his hurry
+would permit him to discern, with the description of the person whose
+appearance so constantly and dreadfully disturbed the repose of his
+friend. The figure was just turning from the rails of the area upon
+which it had been leaning, and without waiting to see more, the old
+gentleman snatched his cane and hat, and rushed down the stairs and into
+the street, in the furious hope of securing the person, and punishing
+the audacity of the mysterious stranger. He looked around him, but in
+vain, for any trace of the form he had himself distinctly beheld. He ran
+breathlessly to the nearest corner, expecting to see from thence the
+retreating figure, but no such form was visible. Back and forward, from
+crossing to crossing, he ran at fault, and it was not until the curious
+gaze and laughing countenances of the passers-by reminded him of the
+absurdity of his pursuit, that he checked his hurried pace, lowered his
+walking-cane from the menacing altitude which he had mechanically given
+it, adjusted his hat, and walked composedly back again, inwardly vexed
+and flurried. He found Barton pale and trembling in every joint; they
+both remained silent, though under emotions very different. At last
+Barton whispered, "You saw it?"
+
+"It!--him--someone--you mean--to be sure I did," replied Montague,
+testily. "But where is the good or the harm of seeing him? The fellow
+runs like a lamplighter. I wanted to _catch_ him, but he had stolen away
+before I could reach the hall door. However, it is no great matter; next
+time, I dare say, I'll do better; and, egad, if I once come within
+reach of him, I'll introduce his shoulders to the weight of my cane, in
+a way to make him cry _peccavi_."
+
+Notwithstanding General Montague's undertakings and exhortations,
+however, Barton continued to suffer from the self-same unexplained
+cause. Go how, when, or where he would, he was still constantly dogged
+or confronted by the hateful being who had established over him so
+dreadful and mysterious an influence; nowhere, and at no time, was he
+secure against the odious appearance which haunted him with such
+diabolical perseverance. His depression, misery, and excitement became
+more settled and alarming every day, and the mental agonies that
+ceaselessly preyed upon him began at last so sensibly to affect his
+general health, that Lady Rochdale and General Montague succeeded
+(without, indeed, much difficulty) in persuading him to try a short tour
+on the Continent, in the hope that an entire change of scene would, at
+all events, have the effect of breaking through the influences of local
+association, which the more sceptical of his friends assumed to be by no
+means inoperative in suggesting and perpetuating what they conceived to
+be a mere form of nervous illusion. General Montague, moreover, was
+persuaded that the figure which haunted his intended son-in-law was by
+no means the creation of his own imagination, but, on the contrary,
+a substantial form of flesh and blood, animated by a spiteful and
+obstinate resolution, perhaps with some murderous object in perspective,
+to watch and follow the unfortunate gentleman. Even this hypothesis was
+not a very pleasant one; yet it was plain that if Barton could once be
+convinced that there was nothing preternatural in the phenomenon, which
+he had hitherto regarded in that light, the affair would lose all its
+terrors in his eyes, and wholly cease to exercise upon his health and
+spirits the baneful influence which it had hitherto done. He therefore
+reasoned, that if the annoyance were actually escaped from by mere
+change of scene, it obviously could not have originated in any
+supernatural agency.
+
+Yielding to their persuasions, Barton left Dublin for England,
+accompanied by General Montague. They posted rapidly to London, and
+thence to Dover, whence they took the packet with a fair wind for
+Calais. The General's confidence in the result of the expedition on
+Barton's spirits had risen day by day since their departure from the
+shores of Ireland; for, to the inexpressible relief and delight of
+the latter, he had not, since then, so much as even once fancied a
+repetition of those impressions which had, when at home, drawn him
+gradually down to the very abyss of horror and despair. This exemption
+from what he had begun to regard as the inevitable condition of his
+existence, and the sense of security which began to pervade his mind,
+were inexpressibly delightful; and in the exultation of what he
+considered his deliverance, he indulged in a thousand happy
+anticipations for a future into which so lately he had hardly dared
+to look. In short, both he and his companion secretly congratulated
+themselves upon the termination of that persecution which had been to
+its immediate victim a source of such unspeakable agony.
+
+It was a beautiful day, and a crowd of idlers stood upon the jetty to
+receive the packet, and enjoy the bustle of the new arrivals. Montague
+walked a few paces in advance of his friend, and as he made his way
+through the crowd, a little man touched his arm, and said to him, in a
+broad provincial _patois_,--
+
+"Monsieur is walking too fast; he will lose his sick comrade in the
+throng, for, by my faith, the poor gentleman seems to be fainting."
+
+Montague turned quickly, and observed that Barton did indeed look deadly
+pale. He hastened to his side.
+
+"My poor fellow, are you ill?" he asked anxiously.
+
+The question was unheeded, and twice repeated, ere Barton stammered,--
+
+"I saw him--by ----, I saw him!"
+
+"_Him!_--who?--where?--when did you see him?--where is he?" cried
+Montague, looking around him.
+
+"I saw him--but he is gone," repeated Barton, faintly.
+
+"But where--where? For God's sake, speak," urged Montague, vehemently.
+
+"It is but this moment--_here_," said he.
+
+"But what did he look like?--what had he on?--what did he wear?--quick,
+quick," urged his excited companion, ready to dart among the crowd, and
+collar the delinquent on the spot.
+
+"He touched your arm--he spoke to you--he pointed to me. God be merciful
+to me, there is no escape!" said Barton, in the low, subdued tones of
+intense despair.
+
+Montague had already bustled away in all the flurry of mingled hope and
+indignation; but though the singular _personnel_ of the stranger who had
+accosted him was vividly and perfectly impressed upon his recollection,
+he failed to discover among the crowd even the slightest resemblance to
+him. After a fruitless search, in which he enlisted the services of
+several of the bystanders, who aided all the more zealously as they
+believed he had been robbed, he at length, out of breath and baffled,
+gave over the attempt.
+
+"Ah, my friend, it won't do," said Barton, with the faint voice and
+bewildered, ghastly look of one who has been stunned by some mortal
+shock; "there is no use in contending with it; whatever it is, the
+dreadful association between me and it is now established; I shall never
+escape--never, never!"
+
+"Nonsense, nonsense, my dear fellow; don't talk so," said Montague, with
+something at once of irritation and dismay; "you must not; never mind, I
+say--never mind, we'll jockey the scoundrel yet."
+
+It was, however, but lost labour to endeavour henceforward to inspire
+Barton with one ray of hope; he became utterly desponding. This
+intangible and, as it seemed, utterly inadequate influence was fast
+destroying his energies of intellect, character, and health. His first
+object was now to return to Ireland, there, as he believed, and now
+almost hoped, speedily to die.
+
+To Ireland, accordingly, he came, and one of the first faces he saw upon
+the shore was again that of his implacable and dreaded persecutor.
+Barton seemed at last to have lost not only all enjoyment and every hope
+in existence, but all independence of will besides. He now submitted
+himself passively to the management of the friends most nearly
+interested in his welfare. With the apathy of entire despair, he
+implicitly assented to whatever measures they suggested and advised;
+and, as a last resource, it was determined to remove him to a house of
+Lady Rochdale's in the neighbourhood of Clontarf, where, with the advice
+of his medical attendant (who persisted in his opinion that the whole
+train of impressions resulted merely from some nervous derangement) it
+was resolved that he was to confine himself strictly to the house, and
+to make use only of those apartments which commanded a view of an
+enclosed yard, the gates of which were to be kept jealously locked.
+These precautions would at least secure him against the casual
+appearance of any living form which his excited imagination might
+possibly confound with the spectre which, as it was contended, his
+fancy recognized in every figure that bore even a distant or general
+resemblance to the traits with which he had at first invested it. A
+month or six weeks' absolute seclusion under these conditions, it was
+hoped, might, by interrupting the series of these terrible impressions,
+gradually dispel the predisposing apprehension, and effectually break up
+the associations which had confirmed the supposed disease, and rendered
+recovery hopeless. Cheerful society and that of his friends was to be
+constantly supplied, and on the whole, very sanguine expectations were
+indulged in, that under this treatment the obstinate hypochondria of the
+patient might at length give way.
+
+Accompanied, therefore, by Lady Rochdale, General Montague, and his
+daughter--his own affianced bride--poor Barton, himself never daring to
+cherish a hope of his ultimate emancipation from the strange horrors
+under which his life was literally wasting away, took possession of
+the apartments whose situation protected him against the dreadful
+intrusions from which he shrank with such unutterable terror.
+
+After a little time, a steady persistence in this system began to
+manifest its results in a very marked though gradual improvement alike
+in the health and spirits of the invalid. Not, indeed, that anything
+at all approaching to complete recovery was yet discernible. On the
+contrary, to those who had not seen him since the commencement of his
+strange sufferings, such an alteration would have been apparent as might
+well have shocked them. The improvement, however, such as it was, was
+welcomed with gratitude and delight, especially by the poor young lady,
+whom her attachment to him, as well as her now singularly painful
+position, consequent on his mysterious and protracted illness, rendered
+an object of pity scarcely one degree less to be commiserated than
+himself.
+
+A week passed--a fortnight--a month--and yet no recurrence of the hated
+visitation had agitated and terrified him as before. The treatment had,
+so far, been followed by complete success. The chain of association had
+been broken. The constant pressure upon the overtasked spirits had been
+removed, and, under these comparatively favourable circumstances, the
+sense of social community with the world about him, and something of
+human interest, if not of enjoyment, began to reanimate his mind.
+
+It was about this time that Lady Rochdale, who, like most old ladies of
+the day, was deep in family receipts, and a great pretender to medical
+science, being engaged in the concoction of certain unpalatable mixtures
+of marvellous virtue, despatched her own maid to the kitchen garden with
+a list of herbs which were there to be carefully culled and brought back
+to her for the purpose stated. The hand-maiden, however, returned with
+her task scarce half-completed, and a good deal flurried and alarmed.
+Her mode of accounting for her precipitate retreat and evident agitation
+was odd, and to the old lady unpleasantly startling.
+
+It appeared that she had repaired to the kitchen garden, pursuant to
+her mistress's directions, and had there begun to make the specified
+selection among the rank and neglected herbs which crowded one corner of
+the enclosure, and while engaged in this pleasant labour she carelessly
+sang a fragment of an old song, as she said, "to keep herself company."
+She was, however, interrupted by a sort of mocking echo of the air she
+was singing; and looking up, she saw through the old thorn hedge, which
+surrounded the garden, a singularly ill-looking, little man, whose
+countenance wore the stamp of menace and malignity, standing close to
+her at the other side of the hawthorn screen. She described herself as
+utterly unable to move or speak, while he charged her with a message for
+Captain Barton, the substance of which she distinctly remembered to have
+been to the effect that he, Captain Barton, must come abroad as usual,
+and show himself to his friends out of doors, or else prepare for a
+visit in his own chamber. On concluding this brief message, the stranger
+had, with a threatening air, got down into the outer ditch, and seizing
+the hawthorn stems in his hands, seemed on the point of climbing through
+the fence, a feat which might have been accomplished without much
+difficulty. Without, of course, awaiting this result, the girl, throwing
+down her treasures of thyme and rosemary, had turned and run, with the
+swiftness of terror, to the house. Lady Rochdale commanded her, on pain
+of instant dismissal, to observe an absolute silence respecting all that
+portion of the incident which related to Captain Barton; and, at the
+same time, directed instant search to be made by her men in the garden
+and fields adjacent. This measure, however, was attended with the usual
+unsuccess, and filled with fearful and indefinable misgivings, Lady
+Rochdale communicated the incident to her brother. The story, however,
+until long afterwards, went no further, and of course it was jealously
+guarded from Barton, who continued to mend, though slowly and
+imperfectly.
+
+Barton now began to walk occasionally in the courtyard which we have
+mentioned, and which, being surrounded by a high wall, commanded no view
+beyond its own extent. Here he, therefore, considered himself perfectly
+secure; and, but for a careless violation of orders by one of the
+grooms, he might have enjoyed, at least for some time longer, his
+much-prized immunity. Opening upon the public road, this yard was
+entered by a wooden gate, with a wicket in it, which was further
+defended by an iron gate upon the outside. Strict orders had been given
+to keep them carefully locked; but, in spite of these, it had happened
+that one day, as Barton was slowly pacing this narrow enclosure, in his
+accustomed walk, and reaching the further extremity, was turning to
+retrace his steps, he saw the boarded wicket ajar, and the face of his
+tormentor immovably looking at him through the iron bars. For a few
+seconds he stood riveted to the earth, breathless and bloodless, in the
+fascination of that dreaded gaze, and then fell helplessly upon the
+pavement.
+
+There was he found a few minutes afterwards, and conveyed to his
+room, the apartment which he was never afterwards to leave alive.
+Henceforward, a marked and unaccountable change was observable in the
+tone of his mind. Captain Barton was now no longer the excited and
+despairing man he had been before; a strange alteration had passed upon
+him, an unearthly tranquillity reigned in his mind; it was the
+anticipated stillness of the grave.
+
+"Montague, my friend, this struggle is nearly ended now," he said,
+tranquilly, but with a look of fixed and fearful awe. "I have, at last,
+some comfort from that world of spirits, from which my _punishment_ has
+come. I know now that my sufferings will be soon over."
+
+Montague pressed him to speak on.
+
+"Yes," said he, in a softened voice, "my punishment is nearly ended.
+From sorrow perhaps I shall never, in time or eternity, escape; but
+my _agony_ is almost over. Comfort has been revealed to me, and what
+remains of my allotted struggle I will bear with submission, even with
+hope."
+
+"I am glad to hear you speak so tranquilly, my dear fellow," said
+Montague; "peace and cheerfulness of mind are all you need to make you
+what you were."
+
+"No, no, I never can be that," said he, mournfully. "I am no longer fit
+for life. I am soon to die: I do not shrink from death as I did. I am to
+see _him_ but once again, and then all is ended."
+
+"He said so, then?" suggested Montague.
+
+"_He?_ No, no; good tidings could scarcely come through him; and these
+were good and welcome; and they came so solemnly and sweetly, with
+unutterable love and melancholy, such as I could not, without saying
+more than is needful or fitting, of other long-past scenes and persons,
+fully explain to you." As Barton said this he shed tears.
+
+"Come, come," said Montague, mistaking the source of his emotions, "you
+must not give way. What is it, after all, but a pack of dreams and
+nonsense; or, at worst, the practices of a scheming rascal that enjoys
+his power of playing upon your nerves, and loves to exert it; a sneaking
+vagabond that owes you a grudge, and pays it off this way, not daring to
+try a more manly one."
+
+"A grudge, indeed, he owes me; you say rightly," said Barton, with a
+sullen shudder; "a grudge as you call it. Oh, God! when the justice of
+heaven permits the Evil One to carry out a scheme of vengeance, when
+its execution is committed to the lost and frightful victim of sin, who
+owes his own ruin to the man, the very man, whom he is commissioned to
+pursue; then, indeed, the torments and terrors of hell are anticipated
+on earth. But heaven has dealt mercifully with me: hope has opened to me
+at last; and if death could come without the dreadful sight I am doomed
+to see, I would gladly close my eyes this moment upon the world. But
+though death is welcome, I shrink with an agony you cannot understand;
+a maddening agony, an actual frenzy of terror, from the last encounter
+with that--that DEMON, who has drawn me thus to the verge of the chasm,
+and who is himself to plunge me down. I am to see him again, once more,
+but under circumstances unutterably more terrific than ever."
+
+As Barton thus spoke, he trembled so violently that Montague was really
+alarmed at the extremity of his sudden agitation, and hastened to lead
+him back to the topic which had before seemed to exert so tranquillizing
+an effect upon his mind.
+
+"It was not a dream," he said, after a time; "I was in a different
+state, I felt differently and strangely; and yet it was all as real, as
+clear and vivid, as what I now see and hear; it was a reality."
+
+"And what _did_ you see and hear?" urged his companion.
+
+"When I awakened from the swoon I fell into on seeing _him_," said
+Barton, continuing, as if he had not heard the question, "it was slowly,
+very slowly; I was reclining by the margin of a broad lake, surrounded
+by misty hills, and a soft, melancholy, rose-coloured light illuminated
+it all. It was indescribably sad and lonely, and yet more beautiful than
+any earthly scene. My head was leaning on the lap of a girl, and she was
+singing a strange and wondrous song, that told, I know not how, whether
+by words or harmony, of all my life, all that is past, and all that is
+still to come. And with the song the old feelings that I thought had
+perished within me came back, and tears flowed from my eyes, partly
+for the song and its mysterious beauty, and partly for the unearthly
+sweetness of her voice; yet I know the voice, oh! how well; and I was
+spell-bound as I listened and looked at the strange and solitary scene,
+without stirring, almost without breathing, and, alas! alas! without
+turning my eyes toward the face that I knew was near me, so sweetly
+powerful was the enchantment that held me. And so, slowly and softly,
+the song and scene grew fainter, and ever fainter, to my senses, till
+all was dark and still again. And then I wakened to this world, as you
+saw, comforted, for I knew that I was forgiven much." Barton wept again
+long and bitterly.
+
+From this time, as we have said, the prevailing tone of his mind was one
+of profound and tranquil melancholy. This, however, was not without its
+interruptions. He was thoroughly impressed with the conviction that
+he was to experience another and a final visitation, illimitably
+transcending in horror all he had before experienced. From this
+anticipated and unknown agony he often shrunk in such paroxysms of
+abject terror and distraction, as filled the whole household with dismay
+and superstitious panic. Even those among them who affected to discredit
+the supposition of preternatural agency in the matter, were often in
+their secret souls visited during the darkness and solitude of night
+with qualms and apprehensions which they would not have readily
+confessed; and none of them attempted to dissuade Barton from the
+resolution on which he now systematically acted, of shutting himself up
+in his own apartment. The window-blinds of this room were kept jealously
+down; and his own man was seldom out of his presence, day or night, his
+bed being placed in the same chamber.
+
+This man was an attached and respectable servant; and his duties, in
+addition to those ordinarily imposed upon _valets_, but which Barton's
+independent habits generally dispensed with, were to attend carefully
+to the simple precautions by means of which his master hoped to exclude
+the dreaded intrusion of the "Watcher," as the strange letter he had
+at first received had designated his persecutor. And, in addition to
+attending to these arrangements, which consisted merely in anticipating
+the possibility of his master's being, through any unscreened window
+or opened door, exposed to the dreaded influence, the valet was never
+to suffer him to be for one moment alone: total solitude, even for a
+minute, had become to him now almost as intolerable as the idea of going
+abroad into the public ways; it was an instinctive anticipation of what
+was coming.
+
+It is needless to say, that, under these mysterious and horrible
+circumstances, no steps were taken toward the fulfilment of that
+engagement into which he had entered. There was quite disparity enough
+in point of years, and indeed of habits, between the young lady and
+Captain Barton, to have precluded anything like very vehement or
+romantic attachment on her part. Though grieved and anxious, therefore,
+she was very far from being heart-broken; a circumstance which, for the
+sentimental purposes of our tale, is much to be deplored. But truth must
+be told, especially in a narrative whose chief, if not only, pretensions
+to interest consist in a rigid adherence to facts, or what are so
+reported to have been.
+
+Miss Montague, nevertheless, devoted much of her time to a patient but
+fruitless attempt to cheer the unhappy invalid. She read for him, and
+conversed with him; but it was apparent that whatever exertions he made,
+the endeavour to escape from the one constant and ever-present fear that
+preyed upon him was utterly and miserably unavailing.
+
+Young ladies, as all the world knows, are much given to the cultivation
+of pets; and among those who shared the favour of Miss Montague was a
+fine old owl, which the gardener, who caught him napping among the ivy
+of a ruined stable, had dutifully presented to that young lady.
+
+The caprice which regulates such preferences was manifested in the
+extravagant favour with which this grim and ill-favoured bird was at
+once distinguished by his mistress; and, trifling as this whimsical
+circumstance may seem, I am forced to mention it, inasmuch as it is
+connected, oddly enough, with the concluding scene of the story.
+Barton, so far from sharing in this liking for the new favourite,
+regarded it from the first with an antipathy as violent as it was
+utterly unaccountable. Its very vicinity was insupportable to him. He
+seemed to hate and dread it with a vehemence absolutely laughable, and
+to those who have never witnessed the exhibition of antipathies of
+this kind, his dread would seem all but incredible.
+
+With these few words of preliminary explanation, I shall proceed to
+state the particulars of the last scene in this strange series of
+incidents. It was almost two o'clock one winter's night, and Barton
+was, as usual at that hour, in his bed; the servant we have mentioned
+occupied a smaller bed in the same room, and a candle was burning. The
+man was on a sudden aroused by his master, who said,--
+
+"I can't get it out of my head that that accursed bird has escaped
+somehow, and is lurking in some corner of the room. I have been dreaming
+of him. Get up, Smith, and look about; search for him. Such hateful
+dreams!"
+
+The servant rose, and examined the chamber, and while engaged in so
+doing, he heard the well-known sound, more like a long-drawn gasp than a
+hiss, with which these birds from their secret haunts affright the quiet
+of the night. This ghostly indication of its proximity, for the sound
+proceeded from the passage upon which Barton's chamber-door opened,
+determined the search of the servant, who, opening the door, proceeded a
+step or two forward for the purpose of driving the bird away. He had,
+however, hardly entered the lobby, when the door behind him slowly swung
+to under the impulse, as it seemed, of some gentle current of air; but
+as immediately over the door there was a kind of window, intended in the
+daytime to aid in lighting the passage, and through which the rays of
+the candle were then issuing, the valet could see quite enough for
+his purpose. As he advanced he heard his master (who, lying in a
+well-curtained bed had not, as it seemed, perceived his exit from the
+room) call him by name, and direct him to place the candle on the table
+by his bed. The servant, who was now some way in the long passage, did
+not like to raise his voice for the purpose of replying, lest he should
+startle the sleeping inmates of the house, began to walk hurriedly and
+softly back again, when, to his amazement, he heard a voice in the
+interior of the chamber answering calmly, and the man actually saw,
+through the window which over-topped the door, that the light was slowly
+shifting, as if carried across the chamber in answer to his master's
+call. Palsied by a feeling akin to terror, yet not unmingled with a
+horrible curiosity, he stood breathless and listening at the threshold,
+unable to summon resolution to push open the door and enter. Then came
+a rustling of the curtains, and a sound like that of one who in a low
+voice hushes a child to rest, in the midst of which he heard Barton say,
+in a tone of stifled horror--"Oh, God--oh, my God!" and repeat the same
+exclamation several times. Then ensued a silence, which again was broken
+by the same strange soothing sound; and at last there burst forth, in
+one swelling peal, a yell of agony so appalling and hideous, that, under
+some impulse of ungovernable horror, the man rushed to the door, and
+with his whole strength strove to force it open. Whether it was that, in
+his agitation, he had himself but imperfectly turned the handle, or that
+the door was really secured upon the inside, he failed to effect an
+entrance; and as he tugged and pushed, yell after yell rang louder and
+wilder through the chamber, accompanied all the while by the same
+hushing sounds. Actually freezing with terror, and scarce knowing what
+he did, the man turned and ran down the passage, wringing his hands in
+the extremity of horror and irresolution. At the stair-head he was
+encountered by General Montague, scared and eager, and just as they met
+the fearful sounds had ceased.
+
+"What is it?--who--where is your master?" said Montague, with the
+incoherence of extreme agitation. "Has anything--for God's sake, is
+anything wrong?"
+
+"Lord have mercy on us, it's all over," said the man, staring wildly
+towards his master's chamber. "He's dead, sir; I'm sure he's dead."
+
+Without waiting for inquiry or explanation, Montague, closely followed
+by the servant, hurried to the chamber-door, turned the handle, and
+pushed it open. As the door yielded to his pressure, the ill-omened bird
+of which the servant had been in search, uttering its spectral warning,
+started suddenly from the far side of the bed, and flying through the
+doorway close over their heads, and extinguishing, in its passage, the
+candle which Montague carried, crashed through the skylight that
+overlooked the lobby, and sailed away into the darkness of the outer
+space.
+
+"There it is, God bless us!" whispered the man, after a breathless
+pause.
+
+"Curse that bird!" muttered the general, startled by the suddenness of
+the apparition, and unable to conceal his discomposure.
+
+"The candle was moved," said the man, after another breathless pause;
+"see, they put it by the bed!"
+
+"Draw the curtains, fellow, and don't stand gaping there," whispered
+Montague, sternly.
+
+The man hesitated.
+
+"Hold this, then," said Montague, impatiently, thrusting the candlestick
+into the servant's hand; and himself advancing to the bedside, he drew
+the curtains apart. The light of the candle, which was still burning at
+the bedside, fell upon a figure huddled together, and half upright, at
+the head of the bed. It seemed as though it had shrunk back as far as
+the solid panelling would allow, and the hands were still clutched in
+the bed-clothes.
+
+[Illustration: EXTINGUISHING IN ITS PASSAGE THE CANDLE WHICH MONTAGUE
+CARRIED.]
+
+"Barton, Barton, Barton!" cried the general, with a strange mixture of
+awe and vehemence.
+
+He took the candle, and held it so that it shone full upon his face.
+The features were fixed, stern and white; the jaw was fallen, and the
+sightless eyes, still open, gazed vacantly forward toward the front of
+the bed.
+
+"God Almighty, he's dead!" muttered the general, as he looked upon this
+fearful spectacle. They both continued to gaze upon it in silence for a
+minute or more. "And cold, too," said Montague, withdrawing his hand
+from that of the dead man.
+
+"And see, see; may I never have life, sir," added the man, after another
+pause, with a shudder, "but there was something else on the bed with
+him! Look there--look there; see that, sir!"
+
+As the man thus spoke, he pointed to a deep indenture, as if caused by a
+heavy pressure, near the foot of the bed.
+
+Montague was silent.
+
+"Come, sir, come away, for God's sake!" whispered the man, drawing close
+up to him, and holding fast by his arm, while he glanced fearfully
+round; "what good can be done here now?--come away, for God's sake!"
+
+At this moment they heard the steps of more than one approaching, and
+Montague, hastily desiring the servant to arrest their progress,
+endeavoured to loose the rigid grip with which the fingers of the dead
+man were clutched in the bed-clothes, and drew, as well as he was able,
+the awful figure into a reclining posture. Then closing the curtains
+carefully upon it, he hastened himself to meet those who were
+approaching.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is needless to follow the personages so slightly connected with this
+narrative into the events of their after lives; it is enough for us to
+remark that no clue to the solution of these mysterious occurrences was
+ever afterwards discovered; and so long an interval having now passed,
+it is scarcely to be expected that time can throw any new light upon
+their inexplicable obscurity. Until the secrets of the earth shall be no
+longer hidden these transactions must remain shrouded in mystery.
+
+The only occurrence in Captain Barton's former life to which reference
+was ever made, as having any possible connection with the sufferings
+with which his existence closed, and which he himself seemed to regard
+as working out a retribution for some grievous sin of his past life, was
+a circumstance which not for several years after his death was brought
+to light. The nature of this disclosure was painful to his relatives and
+discreditable to his memory.
+
+It appeared, then, that some eight years before Captain Barton's final
+return to Dublin, he had formed, in the town of Plymouth, a guilty
+attachment, the object of which was the daughter of one of the ship's
+crew under his command. The father had visited the frailty of his
+unhappy child with extreme harshness, and even brutality, and it was
+said that she had died heart-broken. Presuming upon Barton's implication
+in her guilt, this man had conducted himself towards him with marked
+insolence, and Barton resented this--and what he resented with still
+more exasperated bitterness, his treatment of the unfortunate girl--by
+a systematic exercise of those terrible and arbitrary severities with
+which the regulations of the navy arm those who are responsible for its
+discipline. The man had at length made his escape, while the vessel was
+in port at Lisbon, but died, as it was said, in an hospital in that
+town, of the wounds inflicted in one of his recent and sanguinary
+punishments.
+
+Whether these circumstances in reality bear or not upon the occurrences
+of Barton's after-life, it is of course impossible to say. It seems,
+however, more than probable that they were, at least in his own mind,
+closely associated with them. But however the truth may be as to the
+origin and motives of this mysterious persecution, there can be no
+doubt that, with respect to the agencies by which it was accomplished,
+absolute and impenetrable mystery is like to prevail until the day of
+doom.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess.
+
+
+The following paper is written in a female hand, and was no doubt
+communicated to my much regretted friend by the lady whose early history
+it serves to illustrate, the Countess D----. She is no more--she long
+since died, a childless and a widowed wife, and, as her letter sadly
+predicts, none survive to whom the publication of this narrative can
+prove "injurious, or even painful." Strange! two powerful and wealthy
+families, that in which she was born, and that into which she had
+married, are utterly extinct.
+
+To those who know anything of the history of Irish families, as they
+were less than a century ago, the facts which immediately follow will
+at once suggest the names of the principal actors; and to others
+their publication would be useless--to us, possibly, if not probably
+injurious. I have therefore altered such of the names as might, if
+stated, get us into difficulty; others, belonging to minor characters in
+the strange story, I have left untouched.
+
+                 *       *       *       *       *
+
+MY DEAR FRIEND,--You have asked me to furnish you with a detail of
+the strange events which marked my early history, and I have, without
+hesitation, applied myself to the task, knowing that, while I live, a
+kind consideration for my feelings will prevent you giving publicity to
+the statement; and conscious that, when I am no more, there will not
+survive one to whom the narrative can prove injurious, or even painful.
+
+My mother died when I was quite an infant, and of her I have no
+recollection, even the faintest. By her death, my education and habits
+were left solely to the guidance of my surviving parent; and, so far as
+a stern attention to my religious instruction, and an active anxiety
+evinced by his procuring for me the best masters to perfect me in those
+accomplishments which my station and wealth might seem to require, could
+avail, he amply discharged the task.
+
+My father was what is called an oddity, and his treatment of me, though
+uniformly kind, flowed less from affection and tenderness than from a
+sense of obligation and duty. Indeed, I seldom even spoke to him except
+at meal-times, and then his manner was silent and abrupt; his leisure
+hours, which were many, were passed either in his study or in solitary
+walks; in short, he seemed to take no further interest in my happiness
+or improvement than a conscientious regard to the discharge of his own
+duty would seem to claim.
+
+Shortly before my birth, a circumstance had occurred which had
+contributed much to form and to confirm my father's secluded habits--it
+was the fact that a suspicion of murder had fallen upon his younger
+brother, a suspicion not sufficiently definite to lead to an indictment,
+yet strong enough to ruin him in public opinion.
+
+This disgraceful and dreadful doubt cast upon the family name my father
+felt deeply and bitterly, and not the less so that he himself was
+thoroughly convinced of his brother's innocence. The sincerity and
+strength of this impression he shortly afterwards proved in a manner
+which produced the dark events which follow. Before, however, I enter
+upon the statement of them, I ought to relate the circumstances which
+had awakened the suspicion; inasmuch as they are in themselves somewhat
+curious, and, in their effects, most intimately connected with my after
+history.
+
+My uncle, Sir Arthur T----n, was a gay and extravagant man, and,
+among other vices, was ruinously addicted to gaming; this unfortunate
+propensity, even after his fortune had suffered so severely as to render
+inevitable a reduction in his expenses by no means inconsiderable,
+nevertheless continued to actuate him, almost to the exclusion of all
+other pursuits. He was a proud, or rather a vain man, and could not bear
+to make the diminution of his income a matter of gratulation and triumph
+to those with whom he had hitherto competed; and the consequence was
+that he frequented no longer the expensive haunts of dissipation, and
+retired from the gay world, leaving his coterie to discover his reasons
+as best they might.
+
+He did not, however, forego his favourite vice, for, though he could not
+worship his divinity in the costly temples where it was formerly his
+wont to take his stand, yet he found it very possible to bring about him
+a sufficient number of the votaries of chance to answer all his ends.
+The consequence was that Carrickleigh, which was the name of my uncle's
+residence, was never without one or more of such reckless visitors.
+
+It happened that upon one occasion he was visited by one Hugh Tisdall--a
+gentleman of loose habits but of considerable wealth--who had, in early
+youth, travelled with my uncle upon the Continent. The period of his
+visit was winter, and, consequently, the house was nearly deserted
+except by its regular inmates; Mr. Tisdall was therefore highly
+acceptable, particularly as my uncle was aware that his visitor's tastes
+accorded exactly with his own.
+
+Both parties seemed determined to avail themselves of their suitability
+during the brief stay which Mr. Tisdall had promised; the consequence
+was that they shut themselves up in Sir Arthur's private room for nearly
+all the day and the greater part of the night, during the space of
+nearly a week. At the end of this period the servant having one morning,
+as usual, knocked at Mr. Tisdall's bedroom door repeatedly, received no
+answer, and, upon attempting to enter, found that it was locked. This
+appeared suspicious, and the inmates of the house having been alarmed,
+the door was forced open, and, on proceeding to the bed, they found the
+body of its occupant perfectly lifeless, and hanging half-way out, the
+head downwards, and near the floor. One deep wound had been inflicted
+upon the temple, apparently with some blunt instrument, which had
+penetrated the brain; and another blow less effective, probably the
+first aimed, had grazed the head, removing some of the scalp, but
+leaving the skull untouched. The door had been double-locked upon the
+inside, in evidence of which the key still lay where it had been placed
+in the lock.
+
+The window, though not secured on the interior, was closed--a
+circumstance not a little puzzling, as it afforded the only other mode
+of escape from the room; it looked out, too, upon a kind of courtyard,
+round which the old buildings stood, formerly accessible by a narrow
+doorway and passage lying in the oldest side of the quadrangle, but
+which had since been built up, so as to preclude all ingress or egress.
+The room was also upon the second story, and the height of the window
+considerable. Near the bed were found a pair of razors belonging to the
+murdered man, one of them upon the ground and both of them open. The
+weapon which had inflicted the mortal wound was not to be found in
+the room, nor were any footsteps or other traces of the murderer
+discoverable.
+
+At the suggestion of Sir Arthur himself, a coroner was instantly
+summoned to attend, and an inquest was held; nothing, however, in any
+degree conclusive was elicited. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the
+room were carefully examined, in order to ascertain whether they
+contained a trap-door or other concealed mode of entrance--but no such
+thing appeared.
+
+Such was the minuteness of investigation employed that although the
+grate had contained a large fire during the night, they proceeded to
+examine even the very chimney, in order to discover whether escape
+by it were possible; but this attempt, too, was fruitless, for the
+chimney, built in the old fashion, rose in a perfectly perpendicular
+line from the hearth to a height of nearly fourteen feet above the roof,
+affording in its interior scarcely the possibility of ascent, the flue
+being smoothly plastered, and sloping towards the top like an inverted
+funnel. Even if the summit of the chimney were attained, it promised,
+owing to its great height, but a precarious descent upon the sharp and
+steep-ridged roof. The ashes, too, which lay in the grate, and the soot,
+as far as it could be seen, were undisturbed, a circumstance almost
+conclusive.
+
+Sir Arthur was of course examined; his evidence was given with a
+clearness and unreserve which seemed calculated to silence all
+suspicion. He stated that up to the day and night immediately preceding
+the catastrophe, he had lost to a heavy amount, but that, at their last
+sitting, he had not only won back his original loss, but upwards of
+four thousand pounds in addition; in evidence of which he produced
+an acknowledgment of debt to that amount in the handwriting of the
+deceased, and bearing the date of the fatal night. He had mentioned the
+circumstance to his lady, and in presence of some of the domestics;
+which statement was supported by their respective evidence.
+
+One of the jury shrewdly observed that the circumstance of Mr. Tisdall's
+having sustained so heavy a loss might have suggested to some
+ill-minded persons, accidentally hearing it, the plan of robbing him,
+after having murdered him, in such a manner as might make it appear that
+he had committed suicide; a supposition which was strongly supported by
+the razors having been found thus displaced, and removed from their
+case. Two persons had probably been engaged in the attempt, one watching
+by the sleeping man, and ready to strike him in case of his awakening
+suddenly, while the other was procuring the razors and employed in
+inflicting the fatal gash, so as to make it appear to have been the act
+of the murdered man himself. It was said that while the juror was making
+this suggestion Sir Arthur changed colour.
+
+Nothing, however, like legal evidence appeared against him, and the
+consequence was that the verdict was found against a person or persons
+unknown; and for some time the matter was suffered to rest, until, after
+about five months, my father received a letter from a person signing
+himself Andrew Collis, and representing himself to be the cousin of the
+deceased. This letter stated that Sir Arthur was likely to incur not
+merely suspicion, but personal risk, unless he could account for certain
+circumstances connected with the recent murder, and contained a copy of
+a letter written by the deceased, and bearing date--the day of the
+week, and of the month--upon the night the deed of blood had been
+perpetrated. Tisdall's note ran as follows:--
+
+
+"DEAR COLLIS,--I have had sharp work with Sir Arthur; he tried some of
+his stale tricks, but soon found that _I_ was Yorkshire too; it would
+not do--you understand me. We went to the work like good ones, head,
+heart and soul; and, in fact, since I came here, I have lost no time.
+I am rather fagged, but I am sure to be well paid for my hardship; I
+never want sleep so long as I can have the music of a dice-box, and
+wherewithal to pay the piper. As I told you, he tried some of his queer
+turns, but I foiled him like a man, and, in return, gave him more than
+he could relish of the genuine _dead knowledge_.
+
+"In short, I have plucked the old baronet as never baronet was plucked
+before; I have scarce left him the stump of a quill; I have got
+promissory notes in his hand to the amount of--if you like round
+numbers, say, thirty thousand pounds, safely deposited in my portable
+strong-box, _alias_ double-clasped pocket-book. I leave this ruinous old
+rat-hole early on to-morrow, for two reasons--first, I do not want to
+play with Sir Arthur deeper than I think his security, that is, his
+money, or his money's worth, would warrant; and, secondly, because I am
+safer a hundred miles from Sir Arthur than in the house with him. Look
+you, my worthy, I tell you this between ourselves--I may be wrong, but,
+by G----, I am as sure as that I am now living, that Sir A---- attempted
+to poison me last night. So much for old friendship on both sides!
+
+"When I won the last stake, a heavy one enough, my friend leant his
+forehead upon his hands, and you'll laugh when I tell you that his
+head literally smoked like a hot dumpling. I do not know whether his
+agitation was produced by the plan which he had against me, or by his
+having lost so heavily--though it must be allowed that he had reason to
+be a little funked, whichever way his thoughts went; but he pulled
+the bell, and ordered two bottles of champagne. While the fellow was
+bringing them he drew out a promissory note to the full amount, which he
+signed, and, as the man came in with the bottles and glasses, he desired
+him to be off; he filled out a glass for me, and, while he thought my
+eyes were off, for I was putting up his note at the time, he dropped
+something slyly into it, no doubt to sweeten it; but I saw it all, and
+when he handed it to me, I said, with an emphasis which he might or
+might not understand:
+
+"'There is some sediment in this; I'll not drink it.'
+
+"'Is there?' said he, and at the same time snatched it from my hand and
+threw it into the fire. What do you think of that? have I not a tender
+chicken to manage? Win or lose, I will not play beyond five thousand
+to-night, and to-morrow sees me safe out of the reach of Sir Arthur's
+champagne. So, all things considered, I think you must allow that you
+are not the last who have found a knowing boy in
+
+    "Yours to command,
+      "HUGH TISDALL."
+
+
+Of the authenticity of this document I never heard my father express a
+doubt; and I am satisfied that, owing to his strong conviction in favour
+of his brother, he would not have admitted it without sufficient
+inquiry, inasmuch as it tended to confirm the suspicions which already
+existed to his prejudice.
+
+Now, the only point in this letter which made strongly against my
+uncle was the mention of the "double-clasped pocket-book" as the
+receptacle of the papers likely to involve him, for this pocket-book
+was not forthcoming, nor anywhere to be found, nor had any papers
+referring to his gaming transactions been found upon the dead man.
+However, whatever might have been the original intention of this
+Collis, neither my uncle nor my father ever heard more of him; but he
+published the letter in Faulkner's Newspaper, which was shortly
+afterwards made the vehicle of a much more mysterious attack. The
+passage in that periodical to which I allude appeared about four years
+afterwards, and while the fatal occurrence was still fresh in public
+recollection. It commenced by a rambling preface, stating that "a
+_certain person_ whom _certain_ persons thought to be dead, was not
+so, but living, and in full possession of his memory, and moreover
+ready and able to make _great_ delinquents tremble." It then went on
+to describe the murder, without, however, mentioning names; and in
+doing so, it entered into minute and circumstantial particulars of
+which none but an _eye-witness_ could have been possessed, and by
+implications almost too unequivocal to be regarded in the light of
+insinuation, to involve the "_titled gambler_" in the guilt of the
+transaction.
+
+My father at once urged Sir Arthur to proceed against the paper in an
+action of libel; but he would not hear of it, nor consent to my father's
+taking any legal steps whatever in the matter. My father, however, wrote
+in a threatening tone to Faulkner, demanding a surrender of the author
+of the obnoxious article. The answer to this application is still in
+my possession, and is penned in an apologetic tone: it states that
+the manuscript had been handed in, paid for, and inserted as an
+advertisement, without sufficient inquiry, or any knowledge as to whom
+it referred.
+
+No step, however, was taken to clear my uncle's character in the
+judgment of the public; and as he immediately sold a small property,
+the application of the proceeds of which was known to none, he was said
+to have disposed of it to enable himself to buy off the threatened
+information. However the truth might have been, it is certain that no
+charges respecting the mysterious murder were afterwards publicly made
+against my uncle, and, as far as external disturbances were concerned,
+he enjoyed henceforward perfect security and quiet.
+
+A deep and lasting impression, however, had been made upon the public
+mind, and Sir Arthur T----n was no longer visited or noticed by the
+gentry and aristocracy of the county, whose attention and courtesies
+he had hitherto received. He accordingly affected to despise these
+enjoyments which he could not procure, and shunned even that society
+which he might have commanded.
+
+This is all that I need recapitulate of my uncle's history, and I now
+recur to my own. Although my father had never, within my recollection,
+visited, or been visited by, my uncle, each being of sedentary,
+procrastinating, and secluded habits, and their respective residences
+being very far apart--the one lying in the county of Galway, the other
+in that of Cork--he was strongly attached to his brother, and evinced
+his affection by an active correspondence, and by deeply and proudly
+resenting that neglect which had marked Sir Arthur as unfit to mix in
+society.
+
+When I was about eighteen years of age, my father, whose health had been
+gradually declining, died, leaving me in heart wretched and desolate,
+and, owing to his previous seclusion, with few acquaintances, and almost
+no friends.
+
+The provisions of his will were curious, and when I had sufficiently
+come to myself to listen to or comprehend them, surprised me not a
+little: all his vast property was left to me, and to the heirs of my
+body, for ever; and, in default of such heirs, it was to go after my
+death to my uncle, Sir Arthur, without any entail.
+
+At the same time, the will appointed him my guardian, desiring that I
+might be received within his house, and reside with his family, and
+under his care, during the term of my minority; and in consideration of
+the increased expense consequent upon such an arrangement, a handsome
+annuity was allotted to him during the term of my proposed residence.
+
+The object of this last provision I at once understood: my father
+desired, by making it the direct, apparent interest of Sir Arthur that
+I should die without issue, while at the same time placing me wholly
+in his power, to prove to the world how great and unshaken was his
+confidence in his brother's innocence and honour, and also to afford
+him an opportunity of showing that this mark of confidence was not
+unworthily bestowed.
+
+It was a strange, perhaps an idle scheme; but as I had been always
+brought up in the habit of considering my uncle as a deeply-injured man,
+and had been taught, almost as a part of my religion, to regard him as
+the very soul of honour, I felt no further uneasiness respecting the
+arrangement than that likely to result to a timid girl of secluded
+habits from the immediate prospect of taking up her abode for the first
+time in her life among total strangers. Previous to leaving my home,
+which I felt I should do with a heavy heart, I received a most tender
+and affectionate letter from my uncle, calculated, if anything could do
+so, to remove the bitterness of parting from scenes familiar and dear
+from my earliest childhood, and in some degree to reconcile me to the
+change.
+
+It was during a fine autumn that I approached the old domain of
+Carrickleigh. I shall not soon forget the impression of sadness and of
+gloom which all that I saw produced upon my mind; the sunbeams were
+falling with a rich and melancholy tint upon the fine old trees, which
+stood in lordly groups, casting their long, sweeping shadows over rock
+and sward. There was an air of desolation and decay about the spot,
+which amounted almost to desolation; the symptoms of this increased in
+number as we approached the building itself, near which the ground
+had been originally more artificially and carefully cultivated than
+elsewhere, and the neglect consequently more immediately and strikingly
+betrayed itself.
+
+As we proceeded, the road wound near the beds of what had been formerly
+two fish-ponds--now nothing more than stagnant swamps, overgrown with
+rank weeds, and here and there encroached upon by the straggling
+underwood. The avenue itself was much broken, and in many places the
+stones were almost concealed by grass and nettles; the loose stone
+walls which had here and there intersected the broad park were, in
+many places, broken down, so as no longer to answer their original
+purpose as fences; piers were now and then to be seen, but the gates
+were gone. And, to add to the general air of dilapidation, some huge
+trunks were lying scattered through the venerable old trees, either
+the work of the winter storms, or perhaps the victims of some extensive
+but desultory scheme of denudation, which the projector had not capital
+or perseverance to carry into full effect.
+
+After the carriage had travelled a mile of this avenue, we reached the
+summit of rather an abrupt eminence, one of the many which added to the
+picturesqueness, if not to the convenience of this rude passage. From
+the top of this ridge the grey walls of Carrickleigh were visible,
+rising at a small distance in front, and darkened by the hoary
+wood which crowded around them. It was a quadrangular building of
+considerable extent, and the front which lay towards us, and in which
+the great entrance was placed, bore unequivocal marks of antiquity; the
+time-worn, solemn aspect of the old building, the ruinous and deserted
+appearance of the whole place, and the associations which connected
+it with a dark page in the history of my family, combined to depress
+spirits already predisposed for the reception of sombre and dejecting
+impressions.
+
+When the carriage drew up in the grass-grown courtyard before the hall
+door, two lazy-looking men, whose appearance well accorded with that of
+the place which they tenanted, alarmed by the obstreperous barking of a
+great chained dog, ran out from some half-ruinous out-houses, and took
+charge of the horses; the hall door stood open, and I entered a gloomy
+and imperfectly lighted apartment, and found no one within. However, I
+had not long to wait in this awkward predicament, for before my luggage
+had been deposited in the house--indeed, before I had well removed my
+cloak and other wraps, so as to enable me to look around--a young girl
+ran lightly into the hall, and kissing me heartily, and somewhat
+boisterously, exclaimed:
+
+"My dear cousin, my dear Margaret, I am so delighted, so out of breath.
+We did not expect you till ten o'clock; my father is somewhere about the
+place; he must be close at hand. James, Corney--run out and tell your
+master--my brother is seldom at home, at least at any reasonable
+hour--you must be so tired, so fatigued, let me show you to your room.
+See that Lady Margaret's luggage is all brought up, you must lie down
+and rest yourself. Deborah, bring some coffee-- Up these stairs! We are
+so delighted to see you, you cannot think how lonely I have been. How
+steep these stairs are, are they not? I am so glad you are come; I could
+hardly bring myself to believe that you were really coming; how good of
+you, dear Lady Margaret."
+
+There was real good nature and delight in my cousin's greeting, and a
+kind of constitutional confidence of manner which placed me at once at
+ease, and made me feel immediately upon terms of intimacy with her. The
+room into which she ushered me, although partaking in the general air of
+decay which pervaded the mansion and all about it, had nevertheless been
+fitted up with evident attention to comfort, and even with some dingy
+attempt at luxury; but what pleased me most was that it opened, by a
+second door, upon a lobby which communicated with my fair cousin's
+apartment; a circumstance which divested the room, in my eyes, of the
+air of solitude and sadness which would otherwise have characterized
+it, to a degree almost painful to one so dejected in spirits as I was.
+
+After such arrangements as I found necessary were completed, we both
+went down to the parlour, a large wainscoted room, hung round with grim
+old portraits, and, as I was not sorry to see, containing in its ample
+grate a large and cheerful fire. Here my cousin had leisure to talk more
+at ease; and from her I learned something of the manners and the habits
+of the two remaining members of her family, whom I had not yet seen.
+
+On my arrival I had known nothing of the family among whom I was come
+to reside, except that it consisted of three individuals, my uncle,
+and his son and daughter, Lady T----n having been long dead. In
+addition to this very scanty stock of information, I shortly learned
+from my communicative companion that my uncle was, as I had suspected,
+completely reserved in his habits, and besides that, having been
+so far back as she could well recollect, always rather strict (as
+reformed rakes frequently become), he had latterly been growing more
+gloomily and sternly religious than heretofore.
+
+Her account of her brother was far less favourable, though she did not
+say anything directly to his disadvantage. From all that I could gather
+from her, I was led to suppose that he was a specimen of the idle,
+coarse-mannered, profligate, low-minded "squire-archy"--a result which
+might naturally have flowed from the circumstance of his being, as it
+were, outlawed from society, and driven for companionship to grades
+below his own; enjoying, too, the dangerous prerogative of spending much
+money.
+
+However, you may easily suppose that I found nothing in my cousin's
+communication fully to bear me out in so very decided a conclusion.
+
+I awaited the arrival of my uncle, which was every moment to be
+expected, with feelings half of alarm, half of curiosity--a sensation
+which I have often since experienced, though to a less degree, when upon
+the point of standing for the first time in the presence of one of whom
+I have long been in the habit of hearing or thinking with interest.
+
+It was, therefore, with some little perturbation that I heard, first a
+light bustle at the outer door, then a slow step traverse the hall, and
+finally witnessed the door open, and my uncle enter the room. He was a
+striking-looking man; from peculiarities both of person and of garb, the
+whole effect of his appearance amounted to extreme singularity. He was
+tall, and when young his figure must have been strikingly elegant; as it
+was, however, its effect was marred by a very decided stoop. His dress
+was of a sober colour, and in fashion anterior to anything which I could
+remember. It was, however, handsome, and by no means carelessly put on.
+But what completed the singularity of his appearance was his uncut
+white hair, which hung in long, but not at all neglected curls, even
+so far as his shoulders, and which combined with his regularly classic
+features and fine dark eyes, to bestow upon him an air of venerable
+dignity and pride which I have never seen equalled elsewhere. I rose as
+he entered, and met him about the middle of the room; he kissed my cheek
+and both my hands, saying:
+
+"You are most welcome, dear child, as welcome as the command of this
+poor place and all that it contains can make you. I am most rejoiced to
+see you--truly rejoiced. I trust that you are not much fatigued--pray
+be seated again." He led me to my chair, and continued: "I am glad to
+perceive you have made acquaintance with Emily already; I see, in your
+being thus brought together, the foundation of a lasting friendship. You
+are both innocent, and both young. God bless you--God bless you, and
+make you all that I could wish!"
+
+[Illustration: I ROSE AS HE ENTERED.]
+
+He raised his eyes, and remained for a few moments silent, as if in
+secret prayer. I felt that it was impossible that this man, with
+feelings so quick, so warm, so tender, could be the wretch that public
+opinion had represented him to be. I was more than ever convinced of his
+innocence.
+
+His manner was, or appeared to me, most fascinating; there was a mingled
+kindness and courtesy in it which seemed to speak benevolence itself. It
+was a manner which I felt cold art could never have taught; it owed most
+of its charm to its appearing to emanate directly from the heart; it
+must be a genuine index of the owner's mind. So I thought.
+
+My uncle having given me fully to understand that I was most welcome,
+and might command whatever was his own, pressed me to take some
+refreshment; and on my refusing, he observed that previously to bidding
+me good-night, he had one duty further to perform, one in whose
+observance he was convinced I would cheerfully acquiesce.
+
+He then proceeded to read a chapter from the Bible; after which he took
+his leave with the same affectionate kindness with which he had greeted
+me, having repeated his desire that I should consider everything in his
+house as altogether at my disposal. It is needless to say that I was
+much pleased with my uncle--it was impossible to avoid being so; and I
+could not help saying to myself, if such a man as this is not safe from
+the assaults of slander, who is? I felt much happier than I had done
+since my father's death, and enjoyed that night the first refreshing
+sleep which had visited me since that event.
+
+My curiosity respecting my male cousin did not long remain
+unsatisfied--he appeared the next day at dinner. His manners, though not
+so coarse as I had expected, were exceedingly disagreeable; there was an
+assurance and a forwardness for which I was not prepared; there was less
+of the vulgarity of manner, and almost more of that of the mind, than I
+had anticipated. I felt quite uncomfortable in his presence; there was
+just that confidence in his look and tone which would read encouragement
+even in mere toleration; and I felt more disgusted and annoyed at the
+coarse and extravagant compliments which he was pleased from time to
+time to pay me, than perhaps the extent of the atrocity might fully
+have warranted. It was, however, one consolation that he did not often
+appear, being much engrossed by pursuits about which I neither knew nor
+cared anything; but when he did appear, his attentions, either with
+a view to his amusement or to some more serious advantage, were so
+obviously and perseveringly directed to me, that young and inexperienced
+as I was, even _I_ could not be ignorant of his preference. I felt more
+provoked by this odious persecution than I can express, and discouraged
+him with so much vigour, that I employed even rudeness to convince him
+his assiduities were unwelcome; but all in vain.
+
+This had gone on for nearly a twelvemonth, to my infinite annoyance,
+when one day as I was sitting at some needlework with my companion
+Emily, as was my habit, in the parlour, the door opened, and my cousin
+Edward entered the room. There was something, I thought, odd in his
+manner; a kind of struggle between shame and impudence--a kind of flurry
+and ambiguity which made him appear, if possible, more than ordinarily
+disagreeable.
+
+"Your servant, ladies," he said, seating himself at the same time;
+"sorry to spoil your _tête-à-tête_, but never mind! I'll only take
+Emily's place for a minute or two; and then we part for a while,
+fair cousin. Emily, my father wants you in the corner turret. No
+shilly-shally; he's in a hurry." She hesitated. "Be off--tramp, march!"
+he exclaimed, in a tone which the poor girl dared not disobey.
+
+She left the room, and Edward followed her to the door. He stood there
+for a minute or two, as if reflecting what he should say, perhaps
+satisfying himself that no one was within hearing in the hall.
+
+At length he turned about, having closed the door, as if carelessly,
+with his foot; and advancing slowly, as if in deep thought, he took his
+seat at the side of the table opposite to mine.
+
+There was a brief interval of silence, after which he said:
+
+"I imagine that you have a shrewd suspicion of the object of my early
+visit; but I suppose I must go into particulars. Must I?"
+
+"I have no conception," I replied, "what your object may be."
+
+"Well, well," said he, becoming more at his ease as he proceeded,
+"it may be told in a few words. You know that it is totally
+impossible--quite out of the question--that an off-hand young fellow
+like me, and a good-looking girl like yourself, could meet continually,
+as you and I have done, without an attachment--a liking growing up on
+one side or other; in short, I think I have let you know as plain as if
+I spoke it, that I have been in love with you almost from the first time
+I saw you."
+
+He paused; but I was too much horrified to speak. He interpreted my
+silence favourably.
+
+"I can tell you," he continued, "I'm reckoned rather hard to please, and
+very hard to _hit_. I can't say when I was taken with a girl before; so
+you see fortune reserved me----"
+
+Here the odious wretch wound his arm round my waist. The action at
+once restored me to utterance, and with the most indignant vehemence I
+released myself from his hold, and at the same time said:
+
+"I have not been insensible, sir, of your most disagreeable
+attentions--they have long been a source of much annoyance to me; and
+you must be aware that I have marked my disapprobation--my disgust--as
+unequivocally as I possibly could, without actual indelicacy."
+
+I paused, almost out of breath from the rapidity with which I had
+spoken; and, without giving him time to renew the conversation, I
+hastily quitted the room, leaving him in a paroxysm of rage and
+mortification.
+
+As I ascended the stairs, I heard him open the parlour-door with
+violence, and take two or three rapid strides in the direction in which
+I was moving. I was now much frightened, and ran the whole way until I
+reached my room; and having locked the door, I listened breathlessly,
+but heard no sound. This relieved me for the present; but so much had
+I been overcome by the agitation and annoyance attendant upon the scene
+which I had just gone through, that when Emily knocked at my door, I was
+weeping in strong hysterics.
+
+[Illustration: LEAVING HIM IN A PAROXYSM OF RAGE AND MORTIFICATION.]
+
+You will readily conceive my distress, when you reflect upon my strong
+dislike to my cousin Edward, combined with my youth and extreme
+inexperience. Any proposal of such a nature must have agitated me; but
+that it should have come from the man whom of all others I most loathed
+and abhorred, and to whom I had, as clearly as manner could do it,
+expressed the state of my feelings, was almost too overwhelming to be
+borne. It was a calamity, too, in which I could not claim the sympathy
+of my cousin Emily, which had always been extended to me in my minor
+grievances. Still I hoped that it might not be unattended with good; for
+I thought that one inevitable and most welcome consequence would result
+from this painful _eclaircissement_, in the discontinuance of my
+cousin's odious persecution.
+
+When I arose next morning, it was with the fervent hope that I might
+never again behold the face, or even hear the name, of my cousin Edward;
+but such a consummation, though devoutly to be wished, was hardly likely
+to occur. The painful impressions of yesterday were too vivid to be at
+once erased; and I could not help feeling some dim foreboding of coming
+annoyance and evil.
+
+To expect on my suitor's part anything like delicacy or consideration
+for me was out of the question. I saw that he had set his heart upon
+my property, and that he was not likely easily to forego such an
+acquisition--possessing what might have been considered opportunities
+and facilities almost to compel my compliance.
+
+I now keenly felt the unreasonableness of my father's conduct in placing
+me to reside with a family of all whose members, with one exception,
+he was wholly ignorant, and I bitterly felt the helplessness of my
+situation. I determined, however, in case of my cousin's persevering in
+his addresses, to lay all the particulars before my uncle (although
+he had never in kindness or intimacy gone a step beyond our first
+interview), and to throw myself upon his hospitality and his sense of
+honour for protection against a repetition of such scenes.
+
+My cousin's conduct may appear to have been an inadequate cause for
+such serious uneasiness; but my alarm was caused neither by his acts
+nor words, but entirely by his manner, which was strange and even
+intimidating to excess. At the beginning of yesterday's interview there
+was a sort of bullying swagger in his air, which towards the close gave
+place to the brutal vehemence of an undisguised ruffian--a transition
+which had tempted me into a belief that he might seek even forcibly
+to extort from me a consent to his wishes, or by means still more
+horrible, of which I scarcely dared to trust myself to think, to possess
+himself of my property.
+
+I was early next day summoned to attend my uncle in his private room,
+which lay in a corner turret of the old building; and thither I
+accordingly went, wondering all the way what this unusual measure might
+prelude. When I entered the room, he did not rise in his usual courteous
+way to greet me, but simply pointed to a chair opposite to his own. This
+boded nothing agreeable. I sat down, however, silently waiting until he
+should open the conversation.
+
+"Lady Margaret," at length he said, in a tone of greater sternness than
+I had thought him capable of using, "I have hitherto spoken to you as a
+friend, but I have not forgotten that I am also your guardian, and that
+my authority as such gives me a right to control your conduct. I shall
+put a question to you, and I expect and will demand a plain, direct
+answer. Have I rightly been informed that you have contemptuously
+rejected the suit and hand of my son Edward?"
+
+I stammered forth with a good deal of trepidation:
+
+"I believe--that is, I have, sir, rejected my cousin's proposals; and my
+coldness and discouragement might have convinced him that I had
+determined to do so."
+
+"Madam," replied he, with suppressed, but, as it appeared to me,
+intense anger, "I have lived long enough to know that coldness and
+discouragement, and such terms, form the common cant of a worthless
+coquette. You know to the full, as well as I, that _coldness and
+discouragement_ may be so exhibited as to convince their object that he
+is neither distasteful nor indifferent to the person who wears this
+manner. You know, too, none better, that an affected neglect, when
+skilfully managed, is amongst the most formidable of the engines which
+artful beauty can employ. I tell you, madam, that having, without one
+word spoken in discouragement, permitted my son's most marked attentions
+for a twelvemonth or more, you have no right to dismiss him with no
+further explanation than demurely telling him that you had always looked
+coldly upon him; and neither your wealth nor your _ladyship_" (there was
+an emphasis of scorn on the word, which would have become Sir Giles
+Overreach himself) "can warrant you in treating with contempt the
+affectionate regard of an honest heart."
+
+I was too much shocked at this undisguised attempt to bully me into an
+acquiescence in the interested and unprincipled plan for their own
+aggrandizement, which I now perceived my uncle and his son to have
+deliberately entered into, at once to find strength or collectedness to
+frame an answer to what he had said. At length I replied, with some
+firmness:
+
+"In all that you have just now said, sir, you have grossly misstated my
+conduct and motives. Your information must have been most incorrect as
+far as it regards my conduct towards my cousin; my manner towards him
+could have conveyed nothing but dislike; and if anything could have
+added to the strong aversion which I have long felt towards him, it
+would be his attempting thus to trick and frighten me into a marriage
+which he knows to be revolting to me, and which is sought by him only as
+a means for securing to himself whatever property is mine."
+
+As I said this, I fixed my eyes upon those of my uncle, but he was too
+old in the world's ways to falter beneath the gaze of more searching
+eyes than mine; he simply said:
+
+"Are you acquainted with the provisions of your father's will?"
+
+I answered in the affirmative; and he continued:
+
+"Then you must be aware that if my son Edward were--which God
+forbid--the unprincipled, reckless man you pretend to think him"--(here
+he spoke very slowly, as if he intended that every word which escaped
+him should be registered in my memory, while at the same time the
+expression of his countenance underwent a gradual but horrible change,
+and the eyes which he fixed upon me became so darkly vivid, that I
+almost lost sight of everything else)--"if he were what you have
+described him, think you, girl, he could find no briefer means than
+wedding contracts to gain his ends? 'twas but to gripe your slender neck
+until the breath had stopped, and lands, and lakes, and all were his."
+
+[Illustration: "TWAS BUT TO GRIPE YOUR SLENDER NECK UNTIL THE BREATH HAD
+STOPPED."]
+
+I stood staring at him for many minutes after he had ceased to speak,
+fascinated by the terrible serpent-like gaze, until he continued with a
+welcome change of countenance:
+
+"I will not speak again to you upon this topic until one month has
+passed. You shall have time to consider the relative advantages of the
+two courses which are open to you. I should be sorry to hurry you to
+a decision. I am satisfied with having stated my feelings upon the
+subject, and pointed out to you the path of duty. Remember this day
+month--not one word sooner."
+
+He then rose, and I left the room, much agitated and exhausted.
+
+This interview, all the circumstances attending it, but most
+particularly the formidable expression of my uncle's countenance while
+he talked, though hypothetically, of murder, combined to arouse all my
+worst suspicions of him. I dreaded to look upon the face that had so
+recently worn the appalling livery of guilt and malignity. I regarded it
+with the mingled fear and loathing with which one looks upon an object
+which has tortured them in a nightmare.
+
+In a few days after the interview, the particulars of which I have just
+related, I found a note upon my toilet-table, and on opening it I read
+as follows:
+
+
+"MY DEAR LADY MARGARET,
+
+"You will be perhaps surprised to see a strange face in your room
+to-day. I have dismissed your Irish maid, and secured a French one to
+wait upon you--a step rendered necessary by my proposing shortly to
+visit the Continent, with all my family.
+
+    "Your faithful guardian,
+      "ARTHUR T----N."
+
+
+On inquiry, I found that my faithful attendant was actually gone, and
+far on her way to the town of Galway; and in her stead there appeared
+a tall, raw-boned, ill-looking, elderly Frenchwoman, whose sullen and
+presuming manners seemed to imply that her vocation had never before
+been that of a lady's maid. I could not help regarding her as a creature
+of my uncle's, and therefore to be dreaded, even had she been in no
+other way suspicious.
+
+Days and weeks passed away without any, even a momentary doubt upon my
+part, as to the course to be pursued by me. The allotted period had at
+length elapsed; the day arrived on which I was to communicate my
+decision to my uncle. Although my resolution had never for a moment
+wavered, I could not shake off the dread of the approaching colloquy;
+and my heart sank within me as I heard the expected summons.
+
+I had not seen my cousin Edward since the occurrence of the grand
+_eclaircissement_; he must have studiously avoided me--I suppose from
+policy, it could not have been from delicacy. I was prepared for a
+terrific burst of fury from my uncle, as soon as I should make known my
+determination; and I not unreasonably feared that some act of violence
+or of intimidation would next be resorted to.
+
+Filled with these dreary forebodings, I fearfully opened the study door,
+and the next minute I stood in my uncle's presence. He received me with
+a politeness which I dreaded, as arguing a favourable anticipation
+respecting the answer which I was to give; and after some slight delay,
+he began by saying:
+
+"It will be a relief to both of us, I believe, to bring this
+conversation as soon as possible to an issue. You will excuse me, then,
+my dear niece, for speaking with an abruptness which, under other
+circumstances, would be unpardonable. You have, I am certain, given the
+subject of our last interview fair and serious consideration; and I
+trust that you are now prepared with candour to lay your answer before
+me. A few words will suffice--we perfectly understand one another."
+
+He paused, and I, though feeling that I stood upon a mine which might in
+an instant explode, nevertheless answered with perfect composure:
+
+"I must now, sir, make the same reply which I did upon the last
+occasion, and I reiterate the declaration which I then made, that I
+never can nor will, while life and reason remain, consent to a union
+with my cousin Edward."
+
+This announcement wrought no apparent change in Sir Arthur, except that
+he became deadly, almost lividly pale. He seemed lost in dark thought
+for a minute, and then with a slight effort said:
+
+"You have answered me honestly and directly; and you say your
+resolution is unchangeable. Well, would it had been otherwise--would it
+had been otherwise; but be it as it is, I am satisfied."
+
+He gave me his hand--it was cold and damp as death; under an assumed
+calmness, it was evident that he was fearfully agitated. He continued
+to hold my hand with an almost painful pressure, while, as if
+unconsciously, seeming to forget my presence, he muttered:
+
+"Strange, strange, strange, indeed! fatuity, helpless fatuity!" there
+was here a long pause. "Madness indeed to strain a cable that is rotten
+to the very heart--it must break--and then--all goes."
+
+There was again a pause of some minutes, after which, suddenly changing
+his voice and manner to one of wakeful alacrity, he exclaimed:
+
+"Margaret, my son Edward shall plague you no more. He leaves this
+country on to-morrow for France--he shall speak no more upon this
+subject--never, never more--whatever events depended upon your answer
+must now take their own course; but, as for this fruitless proposal, it
+has been tried enough; it can be repeated no more."
+
+At these words he coldly suffered my hand to drop, as if to express
+his total abandonment of all his projected schemes of alliance; and
+certainly the action, with the accompanying words, produced upon my mind
+a more solemn and depressing effect than I believed possible to have
+been caused by the course which I had determined to pursue; it struck
+upon my heart with an awe and heaviness which _will_ accompany the
+accomplishment of an important and irrevocable act, even though no doubt
+or scruple remains to make it possible that the agent should wish it
+undone.
+
+"Well," said my uncle, after a little time, "we now cease to speak upon
+this topic, never to resume it again. Remember you shall have no further
+uneasiness from Edward; he leaves Ireland for France on to-morrow; this
+will be a relief to you. May I depend upon your honour that no word
+touching the subject of this interview shall ever escape you?"
+
+I gave him the desired assurance; he said:
+
+"It is well--I am satisfied; we have nothing more, I believe, to say
+upon either side, and my presence must be a restraint upon you, I shall
+therefore bid you farewell."
+
+I then left the apartment, scarcely knowing what to think of the strange
+interview which had just taken place.
+
+On the next day my uncle took occasion to tell me that Edward had
+actually sailed, if his intention had not been interfered with by
+adverse circumstances; and two days subsequently he actually produced a
+letter from his son, written, as it said, on board, and despatched while
+the ship was getting under weigh. This was a great satisfaction to me
+and as being likely to prove so, it was no doubt communicated to me by
+Sir Arthur.
+
+During all this trying period, I had found infinite consolation in the
+society and sympathy of my dear cousin Emily. I never in after-life
+formed a friendship so close, so fervent, and upon which, in all its
+progress, I could look back with feelings of such unalloyed pleasure,
+upon whose termination I must ever dwell with so deep, yet so
+unembittered regret. In cheerful converse with her I soon recovered my
+spirits considerably, and passed my time agreeably enough, although
+still in the strictest seclusion.
+
+Matters went on sufficiently smooth, although I could not help sometimes
+feeling a momentary, but horrible uncertainty respecting my uncle's
+character; which was not altogether unwarranted by the circumstances of
+the two trying interviews whose particulars I have just detailed. The
+unpleasant impression which these conferences were calculated to leave
+upon my mind was fast wearing away, when there occurred a circumstance,
+slight indeed in itself, but calculated irresistibly to awaken all my
+worst suspicions, and to overwhelm me again with anxiety and terror.
+
+I had one day left the house with my cousin Emily, in order to take a
+ramble of considerable length, for the purpose of sketching some
+favourite views, and she had walked about half a mile, when I perceived
+that we had forgotten our drawing materials, the absence of which
+would have defeated the object of our walk. Laughing at our own
+thoughtlessness, we returned to the house, and leaving Emily without, I
+ran upstairs to procure the drawing-books and pencils, which lay in my
+bedroom.
+
+As I ran up the stairs I was met by the tall, ill-looking Frenchwoman,
+evidently a good deal flurried.
+
+"Que veut, madame?" said she, with a more decided effort to be polite
+than I had ever known her make before.
+
+"No, no--no matter," said I, hastily running by her in the direction of
+my room.
+
+"Madame," cried she, in a high key, "restez ici, s'il vous plait; votre
+chambre n'est pas faite--your room is not ready for your reception yet."
+
+I continued to move on without heeding her. She was some way behind me,
+and feeling that she could not otherwise prevent my entrance, for I was
+now upon the very lobby, she made a desperate attempt to seize hold of
+my person: she succeeded in grasping the end of my shawl, which she drew
+from my shoulders; but slipping at the same time upon the polished oak
+floor, she fell at full length upon the boards.
+
+A little frightened as well as angry at the rudeness of this strange
+woman, I hastily pushed open the door of my room, at which I now stood,
+in order to escape from her; but great was my amazement on entering to
+find the apartment occupied.
+
+The window was open, and beside it stood two male figures; they appeared
+to be examining the fastenings of the casement, and their backs were
+turned towards the door. One of them was my uncle; they both turned on
+my entrance, as if startled. The stranger was booted and cloaked, and
+wore a heavy broad-leafed hat over his brows. He turned but for a
+moment, and averted his face; but I had seen enough to convince me that
+he was no other than my cousin Edward. My uncle had some iron instrument
+in his hand, which he hastily concealed behind his back; and, coming
+towards me, said something as if in an explanatory tone; but I was too
+much shocked and confounded to understand what it might be. He said
+something about "repairs--window-frames--cold, and safety."
+
+I did not wait, however, to ask or to receive explanations, but hastily
+left the room. As I went down the stairs I thought I heard the voice of
+the French woman in all the shrill volubility of excuse, which was met,
+however, by suppressed but vehement imprecations, or what seemed to me
+to be such, in which the voice of my cousin Edward distinctly mingled.
+
+I joined my cousin Emily quite out of breath. I need not say that my
+head was too full of other things to think much of drawing for that day.
+I imparted to her frankly the cause of my alarms, but at the same time
+as gently as I could; and with tears she promised vigilance, and
+devotion, and love. I never had reason for a moment to repent the
+unreserved confidence which I then reposed in her. She was no less
+surprised than I at the unexpected appearance of her brother, whose
+departure for France neither of us had for a moment doubted, but which
+was now proved by his actual presence to be nothing more than an
+imposture, practised, I feared, for no good end.
+
+The situation in which I had found my uncle had removed completely all
+my doubts as to his designs. I magnified suspicions into certainties,
+and dreaded night after night that I should be murdered in my bed. The
+nervousness produced by sleepless nights and days of anxious fears
+increased the horrors of my situation to such a degree, that I at length
+wrote a letter to a Mr. Jefferies, an old and faithful friend of my
+father's, and perfectly acquainted with all his affairs, praying him,
+for God's sake, to relieve me from my present terrible situation, and
+communicating without reserve the nature and grounds of my suspicions.
+
+This letter I kept sealed and directed for two or three days always
+about my person--for discovery would have been ruinous--in expectation
+of an opportunity which might be safely trusted, whereby to have it
+placed in the post-office. As neither Emily nor I was permitted to pass
+beyond the precincts of the demesne itself, which was surrounded by high
+walls formed of dry stone, the difficulty of procuring such an
+opportunity was greatly enhanced.
+
+At this time Emily had a short conversation with her father, which she
+reported to me instantly.
+
+After some indifferent matter, he had asked her whether she and I were
+upon good terms, and whether I was unreserved in my disposition. She
+answered in the affirmative; and he then inquired whether I had been
+much surprised to find him in my chamber on the other day. She answered
+that I had been both surprised and amused.
+
+"And what did she think of George Wilson's appearance?"
+
+"Who?" inquired she.
+
+"Oh, the architect," he answered, "who is to contract for the repairs of
+the house; he is accounted a handsome fellow."
+
+"She could not see his face," said Emily, "and she was in such a hurry
+to escape that she scarcely noticed him."
+
+Sir Arthur appeared satisfied, and the conversation ended.
+
+This slight conversation, repeated accurately to me by Emily, had the
+effect of confirming, if indeed anything was required to do so, all
+that I had before believed as to Edward's actual presence; and I
+naturally became, if possible, more anxious than ever to despatch the
+letter to Mr. Jefferies. An opportunity at length occurred.
+
+As Emily and I were walking one day near the gate of the demesne, a man
+from the village happened to be passing down the avenue from the house;
+the spot was secluded, and as this person was not connected by service
+with those whose observation I dreaded, I committed the letter to his
+keeping, with strict injunctions that he should put it without delay
+into the receiver of the town post-office; at the same time I added a
+suitable gratuity, and the man, having made many protestations of
+punctuality, was soon out of sight.
+
+He was hardly gone when I began to doubt my discretion in having trusted
+this person; but I had no better or safer means of despatching the
+letter, and I was not warranted in suspecting him of such wanton
+dishonesty as an inclination to tamper with it; but I could not be quite
+satisfied of its safety until I had received an answer, which could not
+arrive for a few days. Before I did, however, an event occurred which a
+little surprised me.
+
+I was sitting in my bedroom early in the day, reading by myself, when I
+heard a knock at the door.
+
+"Come in," said I; and my uncle entered the room.
+
+"Will you excuse me?" said he. "I sought you in the parlour, and thence
+I have come here. I desire to say a word with you. I trust that you have
+hitherto found my conduct to you such as that of a guardian towards his
+ward should be."
+
+I dared not withhold my assent.
+
+"And," he continued, "I trust that you have not found me harsh or
+unjust, and that you have perceived, my dear niece, that I have sought
+to make this poor place as agreeable to you as may be."
+
+I assented again; and he put his hand in his pocket, whence he drew a
+folded paper, and dashing it upon the table with startling emphasis, he
+said,--
+
+"Did you write that letter?"
+
+The sudden and fearful alteration of his voice, manner, and face, but,
+more than all, the unexpected production of my letter to Mr. Jefferies,
+which I at once recognized, so confounded and terrified me that I felt
+almost choking.
+
+I could not utter a word.
+
+"Did you write that letter?" he repeated, with slow and intense
+emphasis. "You did, liar and hypocrite! You dared to write this foul and
+infamous libel; but it shall be your last. Men will universally believe
+you mad, if I choose to call for an inquiry. I can make you appear so.
+The suspicions expressed in this letter are the hallucinations and
+alarms of moping lunacy. I have defeated your first attempt, madam; and
+by the holy God, if ever you make another, chains, straw, darkness, and
+the keeper's whip shall be your lasting portion!"
+
+With these astounding words he left the room, leaving me almost
+fainting.
+
+I was now almost reduced to despair; my last cast had failed; I had no
+course left but that of eloping secretly from the castle and placing
+myself under the protection of the nearest magistrate. I felt if this
+were not done, and speedily, that I should be _murdered_.
+
+No one, from mere description, can have an idea of the unmitigated
+horror of my situation--a helpless, weak, inexperienced girl, placed
+under the power and wholly at the mercy of evil men, and feeling that
+she had it not in her power to escape for a moment from the malignant
+influences under which she was probably fated to fall; and with a
+consciousness that if violence, if murder were designed, her dying
+shriek would be lost in void space; no human being would be near to aid
+her, no human interposition could deliver her.
+
+I had seen Edward but once during his visit, and, as I did not meet with
+him again, I began to think that he must have taken his departure--a
+conviction which was to a certain degree satisfactory, as I regarded
+his absence as indicating the removal of immediate danger.
+
+Emily also arrived circuitously at the same conclusion, and not without
+good grounds, for she managed indirectly to learn that Edward's black
+horse had actually been for a day and part of a night in the castle
+stables, just at the time of her brother's supposed visit. The horse had
+gone and, as she argued, the rider must have departed with it.
+
+This point being so far settled, I felt a little less uncomfortable;
+when, being one day alone in my bedroom, I happened to look out from the
+window, and, to my unutterable horror, I beheld, peering through an
+opposite casement, my cousin Edward's face. Had I seen the evil one
+himself in bodily shape, I could not have experienced a more sickening
+revulsion.
+
+I was too much appalled to move at once from the window, but I did so
+soon enough to avoid his eye. He was looking fixedly into the narrow
+quadrangle upon which the window opened. I shrank back unperceived, to
+pass the rest of the day in terror and despair. I went to my room early
+that night, but I was too miserable to sleep.
+
+At about twelve o'clock, feeling very nervous, I determined to call my
+cousin Emily, who slept, you will remember, in the next room, which
+communicated with mine by a second door. By this private entrance I
+found my way into her chamber, and without difficulty persuaded her to
+return to my room and sleep with me. We accordingly lay down together,
+she undressed, and I with my clothes on, for I was every moment walking
+up and down the room, and felt too nervous and miserable to think of
+rest or comfort.
+
+Emily was soon fast asleep, and I lay awake, fervently longing for the
+first pale gleam of morning; reckoning every stroke of the old clock
+with an impatience which made every hour appear like six.
+
+It must have been about one o'clock when I thought I heard a slight
+noise at the partition-door between Emily's room and mine, as if caused
+by somebody turning the key in the lock. I held my breath, and the same
+sound was repeated at the second door of my room--that which opened upon
+the lobby--the sound was here distinctly caused by the revolution of the
+bolt in the lock, and it was followed by a slight pressure upon the door
+itself, as if to ascertain the security of the lock.
+
+The person, whoever it might be, was probably satisfied, for I heard the
+old boards of the lobby creak and strain, as if under the weight of
+somebody moving cautiously over them. My sense of hearing became
+unnaturally, almost painfully acute. I suppose my imagination added
+distinctness to sounds vague in themselves. I thought that I could
+actually hear the breathing of the person who was slowly returning down
+the lobby. At the head of the staircase there appeared to occur a pause;
+and I could distinctly hear two or three sentences hastily whispered;
+the steps then descended the stairs with apparently less caution. I now
+ventured to walk quickly and lightly to the lobby door, and attempted to
+open it; it was indeed fast locked upon the outside, as was also the
+other.
+
+I now felt that the dreadful hour was come; but one desperate expedient
+remained--it was to awaken Emily, and by our united strength to attempt
+to force the partition-door, which was slighter than the other, and
+through this to pass to the lower part of the house, whence it might be
+possible to escape to the grounds, and forth to the village.
+
+I returned to the bedside and shook Emily, but in vain. Nothing that
+I could do availed to produce from her more than a few incoherent
+words--it was a deathlike sleep. She had certainly drunk of some
+narcotic, as had I probably also, spite of all the caution with which
+I had examined everything presented to us to eat or drink.
+
+I now attempted, with as little noise as possible, to force first one
+door, then the other; but all in vain. I believe no strength could have
+effected my object, for both doors opened inwards. I therefore collected
+whatever movables I could carry thither, and piled them against the
+doors, so as to assist me in whatever attempts I should make to
+resist the entrance of those without. I then returned to the bed and
+endeavoured again, but fruitlessly, to awaken my cousin. It was not
+sleep, it was torpor, lethargy, death. I knelt down and prayed with an
+agony of earnestness; and then seating myself upon the bed, I awaited my
+fate with a kind of terrible tranquillity.
+
+I heard a faint clanking sound from the narrow court which I have
+already mentioned, as if caused by the scraping of some iron instrument
+against stones or rubbish. I at first determined not to disturb the
+calmness which I now felt by uselessly watching the proceedings of those
+who sought my life; but as the sounds continued, the horrible curiosity
+which I felt overcame every other emotion, and I determined, at all
+hazards, to gratify it. I therefore crawled upon my knees to the window,
+so as to let the smallest portion of my head appear above the sill.
+
+The moon was shining with an uncertain radiance upon the antique grey
+buildings, and obliquely upon the narrow court beneath, one side of
+which was therefore clearly illuminated, while the other was lost in
+obscurity; the sharp outlines of the old gables, with their nodding
+clusters of ivy, being at first alone visible.
+
+Whoever or whatever occasioned the noise which had excited my curiosity,
+was concealed under the shadow of the dark side of the quadrangle. I
+placed my hand over my eyes to shade them from the moonlight, which was
+so bright as to be almost dazzling, and, peering into the darkness, I
+first dimly, but afterwards gradually almost with full distinctness,
+beheld the form of a man engaged in digging what appeared to be a rude
+hole close under the wall. Some implements, probably a shovel and
+pickaxe, lay beside him, and to these he every now and then applied
+himself as the nature of the ground required. He pursued his task
+rapidly, and with as little noise as possible.
+
+"So," thought I, as, shovelful after shovelful, the dislodged rubbish
+mounted into a heap, "they are digging the grave in which, before two
+hours pass, I must lie, a cold, mangled corpse. I am _theirs_--I cannot
+escape."
+
+I felt as if my reason was leaving me. I started to my feet, and in mere
+despair I applied myself again to each of the two doors alternately. I
+strained every nerve and sinew, but I might as well have attempted, with
+my single strength, to force the building itself from its foundation. I
+threw myself madly upon the ground, and clasped my hands over my eyes as
+if to shut out the horrible images which crowded upon me.
+
+The paroxysm passed away. I prayed once more, with the bitter, agonized
+fervour of one who feels that the hour of death is present and
+inevitable. When I arose, I went once more to the window and looked out,
+just in time to see a shadowy figure glide stealthily along the wall.
+The task was finished. The catastrophe of the tragedy must soon be
+accomplished.
+
+I determined now to defend my life to the last; and that I might be able
+to do so with some effect, I searched the room for something which might
+serve as a weapon; but either through accident, or from an anticipation
+of such a possibility, everything which might have been made available
+for such a purpose had been carefully removed. I must then die tamely,
+and without an effort to defend myself.
+
+A thought suddenly struck me--might it not be possible to escape through
+the door, which the assassin must open in order to enter the room? I
+resolved to make the attempt. I felt assured that the door through which
+ingress to the room would be effected was that which opened upon the
+lobby. It was the more direct way, besides being, for obvious reasons,
+less liable to interruption than the other. I resolved, then, to place
+myself behind a projection of the wall, whose shadow would serve fully
+to conceal me, and when the door should be opened, and before they
+should have discovered the identity of the occupant of the bed, to
+creep noiselessly from the room, and then to trust to Providence for
+escape.
+
+In order to facilitate this scheme, I removed all the lumber which I had
+heaped against the door; and I had nearly completed my arrangements,
+when I perceived the room suddenly darkened by the close approach of
+some shadowy object to the window. On turning my eyes in that direction,
+I observed at the top of the casement, as if suspended from above, first
+the feet, then the legs, then the body, and at length the whole figure
+of a man present himself. It was Edward T----n.
+
+He appeared to be guiding his descent so as to bring his feet upon the
+centre of the stone block which occupied the lower part of the window;
+and, having secured his footing upon this, he kneeled down and began to
+gaze into the room. As the moon was gleaming into the chamber, and the
+bed-curtains were drawn, he was able to distinguish the bed itself and
+its contents. He appeared satisfied with his scrutiny, for he looked up
+and made a sign with his hand, upon which the rope by which his descent
+had been effected was slackened from above, and he proceeded to
+disengage it from his waist; this accomplished, he applied his hands to
+the window-frame, which must have been ingeniously contrived for the
+purpose, for, with apparently no resistance, the whole frame, containing
+casement and all, slipped from its position in the wall, and was by him
+lowered into the room.
+
+The cold night wind waved the bed-curtains, and he paused for a moment;
+all was still again, and he stepped in upon the floor of the room.
+He held in his hand what appeared to be a steel instrument, shaped
+something like a hammer, but larger and sharper at the extremities. This
+he held rather behind him, while, with three long, tip-toe strides, he
+brought himself to the bedside.
+
+I felt that the discovery must now be made, and held my breath in
+momentary expectation of the execration in which he would vent his
+surprise and disappointment. I closed my eyes--there was a pause, but it
+was a short one. I heard two dull blows, given in rapid succession: a
+quivering sigh, and the long-drawn, heavy breathing of the sleeper was
+for ever suspended. I unclosed my eyes, and saw the murderer fling the
+quilt across the head of his victim: he then, with the instrument of
+death still in his hand, proceeded to the lobby door, upon which he
+tapped sharply twice or thrice. A quick step was then heard approaching,
+and a voice whispered something from without. Edward answered, with a
+kind of chuckle, "Her ladyship is past complaining; unlock the door, in
+the devil's name, unless you're afraid to come in, and help me to lift
+the body out of the window."
+
+The key was turned in the lock--the door opened, and my uncle entered
+the room.
+
+I have told you already that I had placed myself under the shade of a
+projection of the wall, close to the door. I had instinctively shrunk
+down, cowering towards the ground, on the entrance of Edward through the
+window. When my uncle entered the room, he and his son both stood so
+very close to me that his hand was every moment upon the point of
+touching my face. I held my breath, and remained motionless as death.
+
+"You had no interruption from the next room?" said my uncle.
+
+"No," was the brief reply.
+
+"Secure the jewels, Ned; the French harpy must not lay her claws upon
+them. You're a steady hand, by G----! not much blood--eh?"
+
+"Not twenty drops," replied his son, "and those on the quilt."
+
+"I'm glad it's over," whispered my uncle again. "We must lift the--the
+_thing_ through the window and lay the rubbish over it."
+
+They then turned to the bedside, and, winding the bed-clothes round the
+body, carried it between them slowly to the window, and, exchanging
+a few brief words with some one below, they shoved it over the
+window-sill, and I heard it fall heavily on the ground underneath.
+
+"I'll take the jewels," said my uncle; "there are two caskets in the
+lower drawer."
+
+He proceeded, with an accuracy which, had I been more at ease, would
+have furnished me with matter of astonishment, to lay his hand upon the
+very spot where my jewels lay; and having possessed himself of them, he
+called to his son:
+
+"Is the rope made fast above?"
+
+"I'm not a fool--to be sure it is," replied he.
+
+They then lowered themselves from the window. I now rose lightly and
+cautiously, scarcely daring to breathe, from my place of concealment,
+and was creeping towards the door, when I heard my cousin's voice, in
+a sharp whisper, exclaim: "Scramble up again! G--d d----n you, you've
+forgot to lock the room-door!" and I perceived, by the straining of the
+rope which hung from above, that the mandate was instantly obeyed.
+
+Not a second was to be lost. I passed through the door, which was only
+closed, and moved as rapidly as I could, consistently with stillness,
+along the lobby. Before I had gone many yards, I heard the door through
+which I had just passed double-locked on the inside. I glided down the
+stairs in terror, lest, at every corner, I should meet the murderer or
+one of his accomplices.
+
+I reached the hall, and listened for a moment, to ascertain whether all
+was silent around; no sound was audible. The parlour windows opened on
+the park, and through one of them I might, I thought, easily effect my
+escape. Accordingly, I hastily entered; but, to my consternation, a
+candle was burning in the room, and by its light I saw a figure seated
+at the dinner-table, upon which lay glasses, bottles, and the other
+accompaniments of a drinking-party. Two or three chairs were placed
+about the table irregularly, as if hastily abandoned by their occupants.
+
+A single glance satisfied me that the figure was that of my French
+attendant. She was fast asleep, having probably drunk deeply. There was
+something malignant and ghastly in the calmness of this bad woman's
+features, dimly illuminated as they were by the flickering blaze of the
+candle. A knife lay upon the table, and the terrible thought, struck
+me--"Should I kill this sleeping accomplice, and thus secure my
+retreat?"
+
+Nothing could be easier--it was but to draw the blade across her
+throat--the work of a second. An instant's pause, however, corrected me.
+"No," thought I, "the God who has conducted me thus far through the
+valley of the shadow of death, will not abandon me now. I will fall into
+their hands, or I will escape hence, but it shall be free from the stain
+of blood. His will be done!"
+
+I felt a confidence arising from this reflection, an assurance of
+protection which I cannot describe. There was no other means of escape,
+so I advanced, with a firm step and collected mind, to the window. I
+noiselessly withdrew the bars and unclosed the shutters--I pushed open
+the casement, and, without waiting to look behind me, I ran with my
+utmost speed, scarcely feeling the ground under me, down the avenue,
+taking care to keep upon the grass which bordered it.
+
+I did not for a moment slacken my speed, and I had now gained the centre
+point between the park-gate and the mansion-house. Here the avenue made
+a wider circuit, and in order to avoid delay, I directed my way across
+the smooth sward round which the pathway wound, intending, at the
+opposite side of the flat, at a point which I distinguished by a group
+of old birch-trees, to enter again upon the beaten track, which was from
+thence tolerably direct to the gate.
+
+I had, with my utmost speed, got about half way across this broad flat,
+when the rapid treading of a horse's hoofs struck upon my ear. My heart
+swelled in my bosom as though I would smother. The clattering of
+galloping hoofs approached--I was pursued--they were now upon the sward
+on which I was running--there was not a bush or a bramble to shelter
+me--and, as if to render escape altogether desperate, the moon, which
+had hitherto been obscured, at this moment shone forth with a broad
+clear light, which made every object distinctly visible.
+
+The sounds were now close behind me. I felt my knees bending under me,
+with the sensation which torments one in dreams. I reeled--I stumbled--I
+fell--and at the same instant the cause of my alarm wheeled past me at
+full gallop. It was one of the young fillies which pastured loose about
+the park, whose frolics had thus all but maddened me with terror. I
+scrambled to my feet, and rushed on with weak but rapid steps, my
+sportive companion still galloping round and round me with many a frisk
+and fling, until, at length, more dead than alive, I reached the
+avenue-gate, and crossed the stile, I scarce knew how.
+
+I ran through the village, in which all was silent as the grave, until
+my progress was arrested by the hoarse voice of a sentinel, who cried,
+"Who goes there?" I felt that I was now safe. I turned in the direction
+of the voice, and fell fainting at the soldier's feet. When I came to
+myself, I was sitting in a miserable hovel, surrounded by strange faces,
+all bespeaking curiosity and compassion.
+
+Many soldiers were in it also: indeed, as I afterwards found, it was
+employed as a guard-room by a detachment of troops quartered for that
+night in the town. In a few words I informed their officer of the
+circumstances which had occurred, describing also the appearance of the
+persons engaged in the murder; and he, without loss of time, proceeded
+to the mansion-house of Carrickleigh, taking with him a party of his
+men. But the villains had discovered their mistake, and had effected
+their escape before the arrival of the military.
+
+The Frenchwoman was, however, arrested in the neighbourhood upon the
+next day. She was tried and condemned upon the ensuing assizes; and
+previous to her execution, confessed that "_she had a hand in making
+Hugh Tisdall's bed_." She had been a housekeeper in the castle at the
+time, and a kind of _chère amie_ of my uncle's. She was, in reality,
+able to speak English like a native, but had exclusively used the French
+language, I suppose, to facilitate her disguise. She died the same
+hardened wretch she had lived, confessing her crimes only, as she
+alleged, that her doing so might involve Sir Arthur T----n, the great
+author of her guilt and misery, and whom she now regarded with
+unmitigated detestation.
+
+With the particulars of Sir Arthur's and his son's escape, as far as
+they are known, you are acquainted. You are also in possession of their
+after fate--the terrible, the tremendous retribution which, after long
+delays of many years, finally overtook and crushed them. Wonderful and
+inscrutable are the dealings of God with His creatures.
+
+Deep and fervent as must always be my gratitude to Heaven for my
+deliverance, effected by a chain of providential occurrences, the
+failing of a single link of which must have ensured my destruction, I
+was long before I could look back upon it with other feelings than those
+of bitterness, almost of agony. The only being that had ever really
+loved me, my nearest and dearest friend, ever ready to sympathize, to
+counsel, and to assist--the gayest, the gentlest, the warmest heart; the
+only creature on earth that cared for me--_her_ life had been the price
+of my deliverance; and I then uttered the wish, which no event of my
+long and sorrowful life has taught me to recall, that she had been
+spared, and that, in her stead, _I_ were mouldering in the grave,
+forgotten and at rest.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter.
+
+
+You will no doubt be surprised, my dear friend, at the subject of the
+following narrative. What had I to do with Schalken, or Schalken with
+me? He had returned to his native land, and was probably dead and buried
+before I was born; I never visited Holland, nor spoke with a native of
+that country. So much I believe you already know. I must, then, give you
+my authority, and state to you frankly the ground upon which rests the
+credibility of the strange story which I am about to lay before you.
+
+I was acquainted, in my early days, with a Captain Vandael, whose father
+had served King William in the Low Countries, and also in my own unhappy
+land during the Irish campaigns. I know not how it happened that I
+liked this man's society, spite of his politics and religion: but so it
+was; and it was by means of the free intercourse to which our intimacy
+gave rise that I became possessed of the curious tale which you are
+about to hear.
+
+I had often been struck, while visiting Vandael, by a remarkable
+picture, in which, though no _connoisseur_ myself, I could not fail to
+discern some very strong peculiarities, particularly in the distribution
+of light and shade, as also a certain oddity in the design itself, which
+interested my curiosity. It represented the interior of what might be a
+chamber in some antique religious building--the foreground was occupied
+by a female figure, arrayed in a species of white robe, part of which
+was arranged so as to form a veil. The dress, however, was not strictly
+that of any religious order. In its hand the figure bore a lamp, by
+whose light alone the form and face were illuminated; the features were
+marked by an arch smile, such as pretty women wear when engaged in
+successfully practising some roguish trick; in the background, and
+(excepting where the dim red light of an expiring fire serves to define
+the form) totally in the shade, stood the figure of a man equipped in
+the old fashion, with doublet and so forth, in an attitude of alarm, his
+hand being placed upon the hilt of his sword, which he appeared to be in
+the act of drawing.
+
+"There are some pictures," said I to my friend, "which impress one, I
+know not how, with a conviction that they represent not the mere ideal
+shapes and combinations which have floated through the imagination of
+the artist, but scenes, faces, and situations which have actually
+existed. When I look upon that picture, something assures me that I
+behold the representation of a reality."
+
+Vandael smiled, and, fixing his eyes upon the painting musingly, he
+said,--
+
+"Your fancy has not deceived you, my good friend, for that picture is
+the record, and I believe a faithful one, of a remarkable and mysterious
+occurrence. It was painted by Schalken, and contains, in the face of the
+female figure which occupies the most prominent place in the design, an
+accurate portrait of Rose Velderkaust, the niece of Gerard Douw, the
+first and, I believe, the only love of Godfrey Schalken. My father knew
+the painter well, and from Schalken himself he learned the story of the
+mysterious drama, one scene of which the picture has embodied. This
+painting, which is accounted a fine specimen of Schalken's style, was
+bequeathed to my father by the artist's will, and, as you have observed,
+is a very striking and interesting production."
+
+I had only to request Vandael to tell the story of the painting in order
+to be gratified; and thus it is that I am enabled to submit to you a
+faithful recital of what I heard myself, leaving you to reject or to
+allow the evidence upon which the truth of the tradition depends--with
+this one assurance, that Schalken was an honest, blunt Dutchman, and, I
+believe, wholly incapable of committing a flight of imagination; and
+further, that Vandael, from whom I heard the story, appeared firmly
+convinced of its truth.
+
+There are few forms upon which the mantle of mystery and romance could
+seem to hang more ungracefully than upon that of the uncouth and
+clownish Schalken--the Dutch boor--the rude and dogged, but most cunning
+worker in oils, whose pieces delight the initiated of the present day
+almost as much as his manners disgusted the refined of his own; and yet
+this man, so rude, so dogged, so slovenly, I had almost said so savage
+in mien and manner, during his after successes, had been selected by the
+capricious goddess, in his early life, to figure as the hero of a
+romance by no means devoid of interest or of mystery.
+
+Who can tell how meet he may have been in his young days to play the
+part of the lover or of the hero? who can say that in early life he had
+been the same harsh, unlicked, and rugged boor that, in his maturer age,
+he proved? or how far the neglected rudeness which afterwards marked his
+air, and garb, and manners, may not have been the growth of that
+reckless apathy not unfrequently produced by bitter misfortunes and
+disappointments in early life?
+
+These questions can never now be answered.
+
+We must content ourselves, then, with a plain statement of facts,
+leaving matters of speculation to those who like them.
+
+When Schalken studied under the immortal Gerard Douw, he was a young
+man; and in spite of the phlegmatic constitution and excitable manner
+which he shared, we believe, with his countrymen, he was not incapable
+of deep and vivid impressions, for it is an established fact that the
+young painter looked with considerable interest upon the beautiful niece
+of his wealthy master.
+
+Rose Velderkaust was very young, having, at the period of which we
+speak, not yet attained her seventeenth year; and, if tradition
+speaks truth, she possessed all the soft dimpling charms of the fair,
+light-haired Flemish maidens. Schalken had not studied long in the
+school of Gerard Douw when he felt this interest deepening into
+something of a keener and intenser feeling than was quite consistent
+with the tranquillity of his honest Dutch heart; and at the same time he
+perceived, or thought he perceived, flattering symptoms of a reciprocal
+attachment, and this was quite sufficient to determine whatever
+indecision he might have heretofore experienced, and to lead him to
+devote exclusively to her every hope and feeling of his heart. In short,
+he was as much in love as a Dutchman could be. He was not long in
+making his passion known to the pretty maiden herself, and his
+declaration was followed by a corresponding confession upon her part.
+
+Schalken, howbeit, was a poor man, and he possessed no counterbalancing
+advantages of birth or position to induce the old man to consent to a
+union which must involve his niece and ward in the strugglings and
+difficulties of a young and nearly friendless artist. He was, therefore,
+to wait until time had furnished him with opportunity, and accident with
+success; and then, if his labours were found sufficiently lucrative, it
+was to be hoped that his proposals might at least be listened to by her
+jealous guardian. Months passed away, and, cheered by the smiles of the
+little Rose, Schalken's labours were redoubled, and with such effect and
+improvement as reasonably to promise the realization of his hopes, and
+no contemptible eminence in his art, before many years should have
+elapsed.
+
+The even course of this cheering prosperity was, unfortunately, destined
+to experience a sudden and formidable interruption, and that, too, in a
+manner so strange and mysterious as to baffle all investigation, and
+throw upon the events themselves a shadow of almost supernatural horror.
+
+Schalken had one evening remained in the master's studio considerably
+longer than his more volatile companions, who had gladly availed
+themselves of the excuse which the dusk of evening afforded to withdraw
+from their several tasks, in order to finish a day of labour in the
+jollity and conviviality of the tavern.
+
+But Schalken worked for improvement, or rather for love. Besides, he was
+now engaged merely in sketching a design, an operation which, unlike
+that of colouring, might be continued as long as there was light
+sufficient to distinguish between canvas and charcoal. He had not then,
+nor, indeed, until long after, discovered the peculiar powers of
+his pencil; and he was engaged in composing a group of extremely
+roguish-looking and grotesque imps and demons, who were inflicting
+various ingenious torments upon a perspiring and pot-bellied St.
+Anthony, who reclined in the midst of them, apparently in the last stage
+of drunkenness.
+
+The young artist, however, though incapable of executing, or even of
+appreciating, anything of true sublimity, had nevertheless discernment
+enough to prevent his being by any means satisfied with his work; and
+many were the patient erasures and corrections which the limbs and
+features of saint and devil underwent, yet all without producing in
+their new arrangement anything of improvement or increased effect.
+
+The large, old-fashioned room was silent, and, with the exception
+of himself, quite deserted by its usual inmates. An hour had
+passed--nearly two--without any improved result. Daylight had already
+declined, and twilight was fast giving way to the darkness of night.
+The patience of the young man was exhausted, and he stood before his
+unfinished production, absorbed in no very pleasing ruminations, one
+hand buried in the folds of his long dark hair, and the other holding
+the piece of charcoal which had so ill executed its office, and which he
+now rubbed, without much regard to the sable streaks which it produced,
+with irritable pressure upon his ample Flemish inexpressibles.
+
+"Pshaw!" said the young man aloud, "would that picture, devils, saint,
+and all, were where they should be--in hell!"
+
+A short, sudden laugh, uttered startlingly close to his ear, instantly
+responded to the ejaculation.
+
+The artist turned sharply round, and now for the first time became aware
+that his labours had been overlooked by a stranger.
+
+Within about a yard and a half, and rather behind him, there stood what
+was, or appeared to be, the figure of an elderly man: he wore a short
+cloak, and broad-brimmed hat with a conical crown, and in his hand,
+which was protected with a heavy, gauntlet-shaped glove, he carried a
+long ebony walking-stick, surmounted with what appeared, as it glittered
+dimly in the twilight to be a massive head of gold; and upon his
+breast, through the folds of the cloak, there shone the links of a rich
+chain of the same metal.
+
+The room was so obscure that nothing further of the appearance of the
+figure could be ascertained, and the face was altogether overshadowed by
+the heavy flap of the beaver which overhung it, so that no feature could
+be clearly discerned. A quantity of dark hair escaped from beneath this
+sombre hat, a circumstance which, connected with the firm, upright
+carriage of the intruder, proved that his years could not yet exceed
+threescore or thereabouts.
+
+There was an air of gravity and importance about the garb of this
+person, and something indescribably odd--I might say awful--in the
+perfect, stone-like movelessness of the figure, that effectually checked
+the testy comment which had at once risen to the lips of the irritated
+artist. He therefore, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered the
+surprise, asked the stranger, civilly, to be seated, and desired to know
+if he had any message to leave for his master.
+
+"Tell Gerard Douw," said the unknown, without altering his attitude in
+the smallest degree, "that Mynher Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam, desires to
+speak with him to-morrow evening at this hour, and, if he please, in
+this room, upon matters of weight; that is all. Good-night."
+
+The stranger, having finished this message, turned abruptly, and, with
+a quick but silent step quitted the room before Schalken had time to say
+a word in reply.
+
+The young man felt a curiosity to see in what direction the burgher of
+Rotterdam would turn on quitting the studio, and for that purpose he
+went directly to the window which commanded the door.
+
+A lobby of considerable extent intervened between the inner door of the
+painter's room and the street entrance, so that Schalken occupied the
+post of observation before the old man could possibly have reached the
+street.
+
+He watched in vain, however. There was no other mode of exit.
+
+Had the old man vanished, or was he lurking about the recesses of the
+lobby for some bad purpose? This last suggestion filled the mind of
+Schalken with a vague horror, which was so unaccountably intense as to
+make him alike afraid to remain in the room alone and reluctant to pass
+through the lobby.
+
+However, with an effort which appeared very disproportioned to the
+occasion, he summoned resolution to leave the room, and, having
+double-locked the door, and thrust the key in his pocket, without
+looking to the right or left, he traversed the passage which had so
+recently, perhaps still, contained the person of his mysterious
+visitant, scarcely venturing to breathe till he had arrived in the open
+street.
+
+"Mynher Vanderhausen," said Gerard Douw, within himself, as the
+appointed hour approached; "Mynher Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam! I never
+heard of the man till yesterday. What can he want of me? A portrait,
+perhaps, to be painted; or a younger son or a poor relation to be
+apprenticed; or a collection to be valued; or--pshaw! there's no one in
+Rotterdam to leave me a legacy. Well, whatever the business may be, we
+shall soon know it all."
+
+It was now the close of day, and every easel, except that of Schalken,
+was deserted. Gerard Douw was pacing the apartment with the restless
+step of impatient expectation, every now and then humming a passage from
+a piece of music which he was himself composing; for, though no great
+proficient, he admired the art; sometimes pausing to glance over the
+work of one of his absent pupils, but more frequently placing himself at
+the window, from whence he might observe the passengers who threaded the
+obscure by-street in which his studio was placed.
+
+"Said you not, Godfrey," exclaimed Douw, after a long and fruitless gaze
+from his post of observation, and turning to Schalken--"said you not the
+hour of appointment was at about seven by the clock of the Stadhouse?"
+
+"It had just told seven when I first saw him, sir," answered the
+student.
+
+"The hour is close at hand, then," said the master, consulting a
+horologe as large and as round as a full-grown orange. "Mynher
+Vanderhausen, from Rotterdam--is it not so?"
+
+"Such was the name."
+
+"And an elderly man, richly clad?" continued Douw.
+
+"As well as I might see," replied his pupil. "He could not be young, nor
+yet very old neither, and his dress was rich and grave, as might become
+a citizen of wealth and consideration."
+
+At this moment the sonorous boom of the Stadhouse clock told, stroke
+after stroke, the hour of seven; the eyes of both master and student
+were directed to the door; and it was not until the last peal of the old
+bell had ceased to vibrate, that Douw exclaimed,--
+
+"So, so; we shall have his worship presently--that is, if he means to
+keep his hour; if not, thou mayst wait for him, Godfrey, if you court
+the acquaintance of a capricious burgomaster. As for me, I think our old
+Leyden contains a sufficiency of such commodities, without an
+importation from Rotterdam."
+
+Schalken laughed, as in duty bound; and, after a pause of some minutes,
+Douw suddenly exclaimed,--
+
+"What if it should all prove a jest, a piece of mummery got up by
+Vankarp, or some such worthy! I wish you had run all risks, and
+cudgelled the old burgomaster, stadholder, or whatever else he may be,
+soundly. I would wager a dozen of Rhenish, his worship would have
+pleaded old acquaintance before the third application."
+
+"Here he comes, sir," said Schalken, in a low, admonitory tone; and
+instantly, upon turning towards the door, Gerard Douw observed the same
+figure which had, on the day before, so unexpectedly greeted the vision
+of his pupil Schalken.
+
+There was something in the air and mien of the figure which at once
+satisfied the painter that there was no mummery in the case, and that he
+really stood in the presence of a man of worship; and so, without
+hesitation, he doffed his cap, and courteously saluting the stranger,
+requested him to be seated.
+
+The visitor waved his hand slightly, as if in acknowledgment of the
+courtesy, but remained standing.
+
+"I have the honour to see Mynher Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam?" said
+Gerard Douw.
+
+"The same," was the laconic reply.
+
+"I understand your worship desires to speak with me," continued Douw,
+"and I am here by appointment to wait your commands."
+
+"Is that a man of trust?" said Vanderhausen, turning towards Schalken,
+who stood at a little distance behind his master.
+
+"Certainly," replied Gerard.
+
+"Then let him take this box and get the nearest jeweller or goldsmith to
+value its contents, and let him return hither with a certificate of the
+valuation."
+
+At the same time he placed a small case, about nine inches square, in
+the hands of Gerard Douw, who was as much amazed at its weight as at the
+strange abruptness with which it was handed to him.
+
+In accordance with the wishes of the stranger, he delivered it into the
+hands of Schalken, and repeating _his_ directions, despatched him upon
+the mission.
+
+Schalken disposed his precious charge securely beneath the folds of his
+cloak, and rapidly traversing two or three narrow streets, he stopped at
+a corner house, the lower part of which was then occupied by the shop of
+a Jewish goldsmith.
+
+Schalken entered the shop, and calling the little Hebrew into the
+obscurity of its back recesses, he proceeded to lay before him
+Vanderhausen's packet.
+
+On being examined by the light of a lamp, it appeared entirely cased
+with lead, the outer surface of which was much scraped and soiled, and
+nearly white with age. This was with difficulty partially removed, and
+disclosed beneath a box of some dark and singularly hard wood; this,
+too, was forced, and after the removal of two or three folds of linen,
+its contents proved to be a mass of golden ingots, close packed, and,
+as the Jew declared, of the most perfect quality.
+
+Every ingot underwent the scrutiny of the little Jew, who seemed to feel
+an epicurean delight in touching and testing these morsels of the
+glorious metal; and each one of them was replaced in the box with the
+exclamation,--
+
+"_Mein Gott_, how very perfect! not one grain of alloy--beautiful,
+beautiful!"
+
+The task was at length finished, and the Jew certified under his hand
+that the value of the ingots submitted to his examination amounted to
+many thousand rix-dollars.
+
+With the desired document in his bosom, and the rich box of gold
+carefully pressed under his arm, and concealed by his cloak, he retraced
+his way, and, entering the studio, found his master and the stranger in
+close conference.
+
+Schalken had no sooner left the room, in order to execute the commission
+he had taken in charge, than Vanderhausen addressed Gerard Douw in the
+following terms:
+
+"I may not tarry with you to-night more than a few minutes, and so I
+shall briefly tell you the matter upon which I come. You visited the
+town of Rotterdam some four months ago, and then I saw in the church of
+St. Lawrence your niece, Rose Velderkaust. I desire to marry her, and if
+I satisfy you as to the fact that I am very wealthy--more wealthy than
+any husband you could dream of for her--I expect that you will forward
+my views to the utmost of your authority. If you approve my proposal,
+you must close with it at once, for I cannot command time enough to wait
+for calculations and delays."
+
+Gerard Douw was, perhaps, as much astonished as anyone could be by the
+very unexpected nature of Mynher Vanderhausen's communication; but he
+did not give vent to any unseemly expression of surprise. In addition to
+the motives supplied by prudence and politeness, the painter experienced
+a kind of chill and oppressive sensation--a feeling like that which
+is supposed to affect a man who is placed unconsciously in immediate
+contact with something to which he has a natural antipathy--an undefined
+horror and dread--while standing in the presence of the eccentric
+stranger, which made him very unwilling to say anything that might
+reasonably prove offensive.
+
+"I have no doubt," said Gerard, after two or three prefatory hems, "that
+the connection which you propose would prove alike advantageous and
+honourable to my niece; but you must be aware that she has a will of her
+own, and may not acquiesce in what _we_ may design for her advantage."
+
+"Do not seek to deceive me, Sir Painter," said Vanderhausen; "you are
+her guardian--she is your ward. She is mine if _you_ like to make her
+so."
+
+The man of Rotterdam moved forward a little as he spoke, and Gerard
+Douw, he scarce knew why, inwardly prayed for the speedy return of
+Schalken.
+
+"I desire," said the mysterious gentleman, "to place in your hands at
+once an evidence of my wealth, and a security for my liberal dealing
+with your niece. The lad will return in a minute or two with a sum in
+value five times the fortune which she has a right to expect from a
+husband. This shall lie in your hands, together with her dowry, and you
+may apply the united sum as suits her interest best; it shall be all
+exclusively hers while she lives. Is that liberal?"
+
+Douw assented, and inwardly thought that fortune had been
+extraordinarily kind to his niece. The stranger, he deemed, must be
+most wealthy and generous, and such an offer was not to be despised,
+though made by a humorist, and one of no very prepossessing presence.
+
+Rose had no very high pretensions, for she was almost without dowry;
+indeed, altogether so, excepting so far as the deficiency had been
+supplied by the generosity of her uncle. Neither had she any right to
+raise any scruples against the match on the score of birth, for her own
+origin was by no means elevated; and as to other objections, Gerard
+resolved, and, indeed, by the usages of the time was warranted in
+resolving, not to listen to them for a moment.
+
+"Sir," said he, addressing the stranger, "your offer is most liberal,
+and whatever hesitation I may feel in closing with it immediately,
+arises solely from my not having the honour of knowing anything of your
+family or station. Upon these points you can, of course, satisfy me
+without difficulty?"
+
+"As to my respectability," said the stranger, drily, "you must take that
+for granted at present; pester me with no inquiries; you can discover
+nothing more about me than I choose to make known. You shall have
+sufficient security for my respectability--my word, if you are
+honourable; if you are sordid, my gold."
+
+"A testy old gentleman," thought Douw; "he must have his own way. But,
+all things considered, I am justified in giving my niece to him. Were
+she my own daughter, I would do the like by her. I will not pledge
+myself unnecessarily, however."
+
+"You will not pledge yourself unnecessarily," said Vanderhausen,
+strangely uttering the very words which had just floated through the
+mind of his companion; "but you will do so if it _is_ necessary, I
+presume; and I will show you that I consider it indispensable. If the
+gold I mean to leave in your hands satisfies you, and if you desire that
+my proposal shall not be at once withdrawn, you must, before I leave
+this room, write your name to this engagement."
+
+Having thus spoken, he placed a paper in the hands of Gerard, the
+contents of which expressed an engagement entered into by Gerard Douw,
+to give to Wilken Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam, in marriage, Rose
+Velderkaust, and so forth, within one week of the date hereof.
+
+While the painter was employed in reading this covenant, Schalken, as we
+have stated, entered the studio, and having delivered the box and the
+valuation of the Jew into the hands of the stranger, he was about to
+retire, when Vanderhausen called to him to wait; and, presenting the
+case and the certificate to Gerard Douw, he waited in silence until he
+had satisfied himself by an inspection of both as to the value of the
+pledge left in his hands. At length he said:
+
+"Are you content?"
+
+The painter said "he would fain have another day to consider."
+
+"Not an hour," said the suitor, coolly.
+
+"Well, then," said Douw, "I am content; it is a bargain."
+
+"Then sign at once," said Vanderhausen; "I am weary."
+
+At the same time he produced a small case of writing materials, and
+Gerard signed the important document.
+
+"Let this youth witness the covenant," said the old man; and Godfrey
+Schalken unconsciously signed the instrument which bestowed upon another
+that hand which he had so long regarded as the object and reward of all
+his labours.
+
+The compact being thus completed, the strange visitor folded up the
+paper, and stowed it safely in an inner pocket.
+
+"I will visit you to-morrow night, at nine of the clock, at your house,
+Gerard Douw, and will see the subject of our contract. Farewell." And so
+saying, Wilken Vanderhausen moved stiffly, but rapidly out of the room.
+
+Schalken, eager to resolve his doubts, had placed himself by the window
+in order to watch the street entrance; but the experiment served only to
+support his suspicions, for the old man did not issue from the door.
+This was very strange, very odd, very fearful. He and his master
+returned together, and talked but little on the way, for each had his
+own subjects of reflection, of anxiety, and of hope.
+
+Schalken, however, did not know the ruin which threatened his cherished
+schemes.
+
+Gerard Douw knew nothing of the attachment which had sprung up between
+his pupil and his niece; and even if he had, it is doubtful whether he
+would have regarded its existence as any serious obstruction to the
+wishes of Mynher Vanderhausen.
+
+Marriages were then and there matters of traffic and calculation; and
+it would have appeared as absurd in the eyes of the guardian to make a
+mutual attachment an essential element in a contract of marriage, as it
+would have been to draw up his bonds and receipts in the language of
+chivalrous romance.
+
+The painter, however, did not communicate to his niece the important
+step which he had taken in her behalf, and his resolution arose not from
+any anticipation of opposition on her part, but solely from a ludicrous
+consciousness that if his ward were, as she very naturally might do, to
+ask him to describe the appearance of the bridegroom whom he destined
+for her, he would be forced to confess that he had not seen his face,
+and, if called upon, would find it impossible to identify him.
+
+Upon the next day, Gerard Douw having dined, called his niece to him,
+and having scanned her person with an air of satisfaction, he took her
+hand, and looking upon her pretty, innocent face with a smile of
+kindness, he said:
+
+"Rose, my girl, that face of yours will make your fortune." Rose blushed
+and smiled. "Such faces and such tempers seldom go together, and, when
+they do, the compound is a love-potion which few heads or hearts can
+resist. Trust me, thou wilt soon be a bride, girl. But this is trifling,
+and I am pressed for time, so make ready the large room by eight
+o'clock to-night, and give directions for supper at nine. I expect
+a friend to-night; and observe me, child, do thou trick thyself out
+handsomely. I would not have him think us poor or sluttish."
+
+With these words he left the chamber, and took his way to the room to
+which we have already had occasion to introduce our readers--that in
+which his pupils worked.
+
+When the evening closed in, Gerard called Schalken, who was about to
+take his departure to his obscure and comfortless lodgings, and asked
+him to come home and sup with Rose and Vanderhausen.
+
+The invitation was of course accepted, and Gerard Douw and his pupil
+soon found themselves in the handsome and somewhat antique-looking room
+which had been prepared for the reception of the stranger.
+
+A cheerful wood-fire blazed in the capacious hearth; a little at
+one side an old-fashioned table, with richly-carved legs, was
+placed--destined, no doubt, to receive the supper, for which
+preparations were going forward; and ranged with exact regularity
+stood the tall-backed chairs whose ungracefulness was more than
+counterbalanced by their comfort.
+
+The little party, consisting of Rose, her uncle, and the artist, awaited
+the arrival of the expected visitor with considerable impatience.
+
+Nine o'clock at length came, and with it a summons at the street-door,
+which, being speedily answered, was followed by a slow and emphatic
+tread upon the staircase; the steps moved heavily across the lobby, the
+door of the room in which the party which we have described were
+assembled slowly opened, and there entered a figure which startled,
+almost appalled, the phlegmatic Dutchmen, and nearly made Rose scream
+with affright; it was the form, and arrayed in the garb, of Mynher
+Vanderhausen; the air, the gait, the height was the same, but the
+features had never been seen by any of the party before.
+
+The stranger stopped at the door of the room, and displayed his form and
+face completely. He wore a dark-coloured cloth cloak, which was short
+and full, not falling quite to the knees; his legs were cased in dark
+purple silk stockings, and his shoes were adorned with roses of the same
+colour. The opening of the cloak in front showed the under-suit to
+consist of some very dark, perhaps sable material, and his hands were
+enclosed in a pair of heavy leather gloves which ran up considerably
+above the wrist, in the manner of a gauntlet. In one hand he carried his
+walking-stick and his hat, which he had removed, and the other hung
+heavily by his side. A quantity of grizzled hair descended in long
+tresses from his head, and its folds rested upon the plaits of a stiff
+ruff, which effectually concealed his neck.
+
+So far all was well; but the face!--all the flesh of the face was
+coloured with the bluish leaden hue which is sometimes produced by the
+operation of metallic medicines administered in excessive quantities;
+the eyes were enormous, and the white appeared both above and below the
+iris, which gave to them an expression of insanity, which was heightened
+by their glassy fixedness; the nose was well enough, but the mouth was
+writhed considerably to one side, where it opened in order to give
+egress to two long, discoloured fangs, which projected from the upper
+jaw, far below the lower lip; the hue of the lips themselves bore the
+usual relation to that of the face, and was consequently nearly black.
+The character of the face was malignant, even satanic, to the last
+degree; and, indeed, such a combination of horror could hardly be
+accounted for, except by supposing the corpse of some atrocious
+malefactor, which had long hung blackening upon the gibbet, to have at
+length become the habitation of a demon--the frightful sport of satanic
+possession.
+
+It was remarkable that the worshipful stranger suffered as little as
+possible of his flesh to appear, and that during his visit he did not
+once remove his gloves.
+
+Having stood for some moments at the door, Gerard Douw at length found
+breath and collectedness to bid him welcome, and, with a mute
+inclination of the head, the stranger stepped forward into the room.
+
+There was something indescribably odd, even horrible about all his
+motions, something undefinable, something unnatural, unhuman--it was as
+if the limbs were guided and directed by a spirit unused to the
+management of bodily machinery.
+
+The stranger said hardly anything during his visit, which did not exceed
+half an hour; and the host himself could scarcely muster courage enough
+to utter the few necessary salutations and courtesies: and, indeed, such
+was the nervous terror which the presence of Vanderhausen inspired, that
+very little would have made all his entertainers fly bellowing from the
+room.
+
+They had not so far lost all self-possession, however, as to fail to
+observe two strange peculiarities of their visitor.
+
+During his stay he did not once suffer his eyelids to close, nor even to
+move in the slightest degree; and further, there was a death-like
+stillness in his whole person, owing to the total absence of the heaving
+motion of the chest caused by the process of respiration.
+
+These two peculiarities, though when told they may appear trifling,
+produced a very striking and unpleasant effect when seen and observed.
+Vanderhausen at length relieved the painter of Leyden of his
+inauspicious presence; and with no small gratification the little party
+heard the street door close after him.
+
+"Dear uncle," said Rose, "what a frightful man! I would not see him
+again for the wealth of the States!"
+
+"Tush, foolish girl!" said Douw, whose sensations were anything but
+comfortable. "A man may be as ugly as the devil, and yet if his heart
+and actions are good, he is worth all the pretty-faced, perfumed puppies
+that walk the Mall. Rose, my girl, it is very true he has not thy pretty
+face, but I know him to be wealthy and liberal; and were he ten times
+more ugly--"
+
+"Which is inconceivable," observed Rose.
+
+"These two virtues would be sufficient," continued her uncle, "to
+counterbalance all his deformity; and if not of power sufficient
+actually to alter the shape of the features, at least of efficacy enough
+to prevent one thinking them amiss."
+
+"Do you know, uncle," said Rose, "when I saw him standing at the door,
+I could not get it out of my head that I saw the old, painted, wooden
+figure that used to frighten me so much in the church of St. Laurence at
+Rotterdam."
+
+Gerard laughed, though he could not help inwardly acknowledging the
+justness of the comparison. He was resolved, however, as far as he
+could, to check his niece's inclination to ridicule the ugliness of her
+intended bridegroom, although he was not a little pleased to observe
+that she appeared totally exempt from that mysterious dread of the
+stranger, which, he could not disguise it from himself, considerably
+affected him, as it also did his pupil Godfrey Schalken.
+
+Early on the next day there arrived from various quarters of the town,
+rich presents of silks, velvets, jewellery, and so forth, for Rose; and
+also a packet directed to Gerard Douw, which, on being opened, was found
+to contain a contract of marriage, formally drawn up, between Wilken
+Vanderhausen of the Boom-quay, in Rotterdam, and Rose Velderkaust of
+Leyden, niece to Gerard Douw, master in the art of painting, also of the
+same city; and containing engagements on the part of Vanderhausen to
+make settlements upon his bride far more splendid than he had before led
+her guardian to believe likely, and which were to be secured to her use
+in the most unexceptionable manner possible--the money being placed in
+the hands of Gerard Douw himself.
+
+I have no sentimental scenes to describe, no cruelty of guardians or
+magnanimity of wards, or agonies of lovers. The record I have to make is
+one of sordidness, levity, and interest. In less than a week after the
+first interview which we have just described, the contract of marriage
+was fulfilled, and Schalken saw the prize which he would have risked
+anything to secure, carried off triumphantly by his formidable rival.
+
+For two or three days he absented himself from the school; he then
+returned and worked, if with less cheerfulness, with far more dogged
+resolution than before; the dream of love had given place to that of
+ambition.
+
+Months passed away, and, contrary to his expectation, and, indeed, to
+the direct promise of the parties, Gerard Douw heard nothing of his
+niece or her worshipful spouse. The interest of the money, which was to
+have been demanded in quarterly sums, lay unclaimed in his hands. He
+began to grow extremely uneasy.
+
+Mynher Vanderhausen's direction in Rotterdam he was fully possessed of.
+After some irresolution he finally determined to journey thither--a
+trifling undertaking, and easily accomplished--and thus to satisfy
+himself of the safety and comfort of his ward, for whom he entertained
+an honest and strong affection.
+
+His search was in vain, however. No one in Rotterdam had ever heard of
+Mynher Vanderhausen.
+
+Gerard Douw left not a house in the Boom-quay untried; but all in vain.
+No one could give him any information whatever touching the object of
+his inquiry; and he was obliged to return to Leyden, nothing wiser than
+when he had left it.
+
+On his arrival he hastened to the establishment from which Vanderhausen
+had hired the lumbering, though, considering the times, most luxurious
+vehicle which the bridal party had employed to convey them to Rotterdam.
+From the driver of this machine he learned, that having proceeded by
+slow stages, they had late in the evening approached Rotterdam; but that
+before they entered the city, and while yet nearly a mile from it, a
+small party of men, soberly clad, and after the old fashion, with peaked
+beards and moustaches, standing in the centre of the road, obstructed
+the further progress of the carriage. The driver reined in his horses,
+much fearing, from the obscurity of the hour, and the loneliness of the
+road, that some mischief was intended.
+
+His fears were, however, somewhat allayed by his observing that these
+strange men carried a large litter, of an antique shape, and which they
+immediately set down upon the pavement, whereupon the bridegroom, having
+opened the coach-door from within, descended, and having assisted his
+bride to do likewise, led her, weeping bitterly and wringing her hands,
+to the litter, which they both entered. It was then raised by the men
+who surrounded it, and speedily carried towards the city, and before it
+had proceeded many yards the darkness concealed it from the view of the
+Dutch chariot.
+
+In the inside of the vehicle he found a purse, whose contents more than
+thrice paid the hire of the carriage and man. He saw and could tell
+nothing more of Mynher Vanderhausen and his beautiful lady. This mystery
+was a source of deep anxiety and almost of grief to Gerard Douw.
+
+There was evidently fraud in the dealing of Vanderhausen with him,
+though for what purpose committed he could not imagine. He greatly
+doubted how far it was possible for a man possessing in his countenance
+so strong an evidence of the presence of the most demoniac feelings to
+be in reality anything but a villain; and every day that passed without
+his hearing from or of his niece, instead of inducing him to forget his
+fears, tended more and more to intensify them.
+
+The loss of his niece's cheerful society tended also to depress his
+spirits; and in order to dispel this despondency, which often crept upon
+his mind after his daily employment was over, he was wont frequently to
+prevail upon Schalken to accompany him home, and by his presence to
+dispel, in some degree, the gloom of his otherwise solitary supper.
+
+One evening, the painter and his pupil were sitting by the fire, having
+accomplished a comfortable supper. They had yielded to that silent
+pensiveness sometimes induced by the process of digestion, when their
+reflections were disturbed by a loud sound at the street-door, as if
+occasioned by some person rushing forcibly and repeatedly against it.
+A domestic had run without delay to ascertain the cause of the
+disturbance, and they heard him twice or thrice interrogate the
+applicant for admission, but without producing an answer or any
+cessation of the sounds.
+
+They heard him then open the hall door, and immediately there followed a
+light and rapid tread upon the staircase. Schalken laid his hand on his
+sword, and advanced towards the door. It opened before he reached it,
+and Rose rushed into the room. She looked wild and haggard, and pale
+with exhaustion and terror; but her dress surprised them as much even as
+her unexpected appearance. It consisted of a kind of white woollen
+wrapper, made close about the neck, and descending to the very ground.
+It was much deranged and travel-soiled. The poor creature had hardly
+entered the chamber when she fell senseless on the floor. With some
+difficulty they succeeded in reviving her, and on recovering her senses
+she instantly exclaimed, in a tone of eager, terrified impatience,--
+
+"Wine, wine, quickly, or I'm lost!"
+
+Much alarmed at the strange agitation in which the call was made, they
+at once administered to her wishes, and she drank some wine with a haste
+and eagerness which surprised him. She had hardly swallowed it, when she
+exclaimed with the same urgency,--
+
+"Food, food, at once, or I perish!"
+
+A considerable fragment of a roast joint was upon the table, and
+Schalken immediately proceeded to cut some, but he was anticipated; for
+no sooner had she become aware of its presence than she darted at it
+with the rapacity of a vulture, and, seizing it in her hands, she tore
+off the flesh with her teeth and swallowed it.
+
+When the paroxysm of hunger had been a little appeased, she appeared
+suddenly to become aware how strange her conduct had been, or it may
+have been that other more agitating thoughts recurred to her mind, for
+she began to weep bitterly, and to wring her hands.
+
+"Oh! send for a minister of God," said she; "I am not safe till he
+comes; send for him speedily."
+
+Gerard Douw despatched a messenger instantly, and prevailed on his niece
+to allow him to surrender his bedchamber to her use; he also persuaded
+her to retire to it at once and to rest; her consent was extorted upon
+the condition that they would not leave her for a moment.
+
+"Oh that the holy man were here!" she said; "he can deliver me. The dead
+and the living can never be one--God has forbidden it."
+
+With these mysterious words she surrendered herself to their guidance,
+and they proceeded to the chamber which Gerard Douw had assigned to her
+use.
+
+"Do not--do not leave me for a moment," said she. "I am lost for ever if
+you do."
+
+Gerard Douw's chamber was approached through a spacious apartment, which
+they were now about to enter. Gerard Douw and Schalken each carried a
+wax candle, so that a sufficient degree of light was cast upon all
+surrounding objects. They were now entering the large chamber, which,
+as I have said, communicated with Douw's apartment, when Rose suddenly
+stopped, and, in a whisper which seemed to thrill with horror, she
+said,--
+
+"O God! he is here--he is here! See, see--there he goes!"
+
+She pointed towards the door of the inner room, and Schalken thought
+he saw a shadowy and ill-defined form gliding into that apartment. He
+drew his sword, and raising the candle so as to throw its light with
+increased distinctness upon the objects in the room, he entered the
+chamber into which the figure had glided. No figure was there--nothing
+but the furniture which belonged to the room, and yet he could not be
+deceived as to the fact that something had moved before them into the
+chamber.
+
+A sickening dread came upon him, and the cold perspiration broke out in
+heavy drops upon his forehead; nor was he more composed when he heard
+the increased urgency, the agony of entreaty, with which Rose implored
+them not to leave her for a moment.
+
+"I saw him," said she. "He's here! I cannot be deceived--I know him.
+He's by me--he's with me--he's in the room. Then, for God's sake, as you
+would save, do not stir from beside me!"
+
+They at length prevailed upon her to lie down upon the bed, where she
+continued to urge them to stay by her. She frequently uttered incoherent
+sentences, repeating again and again, "The dead and the living cannot be
+one--God has forbidden it!" and then again, "Rest to the wakeful--sleep
+to the sleep-walkers."
+
+These and such mysterious and broken sentences she continued to utter
+until the clergyman arrived.
+
+Gerard Douw began to fear, naturally enough, that the poor girl, owing
+to terror or ill-treatment, had become deranged; and he half suspected,
+by the suddenness of her appearance, and the unseasonableness of the
+hour, and, above all, from the wildness and terror of her manner, that
+she had made her escape from some place of confinement for lunatics, and
+was in immediate fear of pursuit. He resolved to summon medical advice
+as soon as the mind of his niece had been in some measure set at rest
+by the offices of the clergyman whose attendance she had so earnestly
+desired; and until this object had been attained, he did not venture to
+put any questions to her, which might possibly, by reviving painful or
+horrible recollections, increase her agitation.
+
+The clergyman soon arrived--a man of ascetic countenance and venerable
+age--one whom Gerard Douw respected much, forasmuch as he was a veteran
+polemic, though one, perhaps, more dreaded as a combatant than beloved
+as a Christian--of pure morality, subtle brain, and frozen heart. He
+entered the chamber which communicated with that in which Rose reclined,
+and immediately on his arrival she requested him to pray for her, as for
+one who lay in the hands of Satan, and who could hope for deliverance
+only from Heaven.
+
+That our readers may distinctly understand all the circumstances of the
+event which we are about imperfectly to describe, it is necessary to
+state the relative positions of the parties who were engaged in it.
+The old clergyman and Schalken were in the ante-room of which we have
+already spoken; Rose lay in the inner chamber, the door of which was
+open; and by the side of the bed, at her urgent desire, stood her
+guardian; a candle burned in the bedchamber, and three were lighted in
+the outer apartment.
+
+The old man now cleared his voice, as if about to commence; but before
+he had time to begin, a sudden gust of air blew out the candle which
+served to illuminate the room in which the poor girl lay, and she with
+hurried alarm, exclaimed:
+
+"Godfrey, bring in another candle; the darkness is unsafe."
+
+Gerard Douw, forgetting for the moment her repeated injunctions in the
+immediate impulse, stepped from the bedchamber into the other, in order
+to supply what she desired.
+
+"O God! do not go, dear uncle!" shrieked the unhappy girl; and at the
+same time she sprang from the bed and darted after him, in order, by her
+grasp, to detain him.
+
+But the warning came too late, for scarcely had he passed the threshold,
+and hardly had his niece had time to utter the startling exclamation,
+when the door which divided the two rooms closed violently after him, as
+if swung to by a strong blast of wind.
+
+Schalken and he both rushed to the door, but their united and desperate
+efforts could not avail so much as to shake it.
+
+Shriek after shriek burst from the inner chamber, with all the piercing
+loudness of despairing terror. Schalken and Douw applied every energy
+and strained every nerve to force open the door; but all in vain.
+
+There was no sound of struggling from within, but the screams seemed to
+increase in loudness, and at the same time they heard the bolts of the
+latticed window withdrawn, and the window itself grated upon the sill
+as if thrown open.
+
+One last shriek, so long and piercing and agonized as to be scarcely
+human, swelled from the room, and suddenly there followed a death-like
+silence.
+
+A light step was heard crossing the floor, as if from the bed to the
+window; and almost at the same instant the door gave way, and yielding
+to the pressure of the external applicants, they were nearly
+precipitated into the room. It was empty. The window was open, and
+Schalken sprang to a chair and gazed out upon the street and at the
+canal below. He saw no form, but he beheld, or thought he beheld, the
+waters of the broad canal beneath settling ring after ring in heavy
+circular ripples, as if a moment before disturbed by the immersion of
+some large and heavy mass.
+
+No trace of Rose was ever after discovered, nor was anything certain
+respecting her mysterious wooer detected or even suspected; no clue
+whereby to trace the intricacies of the labyrinth, and to arrive at a
+distinct conclusion was to be found. But an incident occurred, which,
+though it will not be received by our rational readers as at all
+approaching to evidence upon the matter, nevertheless produced a strong
+and a lasting impression upon the mind of Schalken.
+
+[Illustration: THE WATERS OF THE BROAD CANAL BENEATH SETTLING RING AFTER
+RING IN HEAVY CIRCULAR RIPPLES.]
+
+Many years after the events which we have detailed, Schalken, then
+remotely situated, received an intimation of his father's death, and
+of his intended burial upon a fixed day in the church of Rotterdam. It
+was necessary that a very considerable journey should be performed by
+the funeral procession, which, as it will readily be believed, was not
+very numerously attended. Schalken with difficulty arrived in Rotterdam
+late in the day upon which the funeral was appointed to take place. The
+procession had not then arrived. Evening closed in, and still it did not
+appear.
+
+Schalken strolled down to the church--he found it open; notice of the
+arrival of the funeral had been given, and the vault in which the body
+was to be laid had been opened. The official who corresponds to our
+sexton, on seeing a well-dressed gentleman, whose object was to attend
+the expected funeral, pacing the aisle of the church, hospitably invited
+him to share with him the comforts of a blazing wood fire, which as was
+his custom in winter time upon such occasions, he had kindled on the
+hearth of a chamber which communicated by a flight of steps with the
+vault below.
+
+In this chamber Schalken and his entertainer seated themselves; and
+the sexton, after some fruitless attempts to engage his guest in
+conversation, was obliged to apply himself to his tobacco-pipe and can
+to solace his solitude.
+
+In spite of his grief and cares, the fatigues of a rapid journey of
+nearly forty hours gradually overcame the mind and body of Godfrey
+Schalken, and he sank into a deep sleep, from which he was awakened by
+some one shaking him gently by the shoulder. He first thought that the
+old sexton had called him, but _he_ was no longer in the room.
+
+He roused himself, and as soon as he could clearly see what was around
+him, he perceived a female form, clothed in a kind of light robe of
+muslin, part of which was so disposed as to act as a veil, and in her
+hand she carried a lamp. She was moving rather away from him, and
+towards the flight of steps which conducted towards the vaults.
+
+Schalken felt a vague alarm at the sight of this figure, and at the same
+time an irresistible impulse to follow its guidance. He followed it
+towards the vaults, but when it reached the head of the stairs, he
+paused; the figure paused also, and turning gently round, displayed, by
+the light of the lamp it carried, the face and features of his first
+love, Rose Velderkaust. There was nothing horrible, or even sad, in the
+countenance. On the contrary, it wore the same arch smile which used to
+enchant the artist long before in his happy days.
+
+A feeling of awe and of interest, too intense to be resisted, prompted
+him to follow the spectre, if spectre it were. She descended the
+stairs--he followed; and, turning to the left, through a narrow passage
+she led him, to his infinite surprise, into what appeared to be an
+old-fashioned Dutch apartment, such as the pictures of Gerard Douw have
+served to immortalize.
+
+Abundance of costly antique furniture was disposed about the room, and
+in one corner stood a four-post bed, with heavy black cloth curtains
+around it. The figure frequently turned towards him with the same arch
+smile; and when she came to the side of the bed, she drew the curtains,
+and by the light of the lamp which she held towards its contents, she
+disclosed to the horror-stricken painter, sitting bolt upright in the
+bed, the livid and demoniac form of Vanderhausen. Schalken had hardly
+seen him when he fell senseless upon the floor, where he lay until
+discovered, on the next morning, by persons employed in closing the
+passages into the vaults. He was lying in a cell of considerable size,
+which had not been disturbed for a long time, and he had fallen beside
+a large coffin which was supported upon small stone pillars, a security
+against the attacks of vermin.
+
+To his dying day Schalken was satisfied of the reality of the vision
+which he had witnessed, and he has left behind him a curious evidence of
+the impression which it wrought upon his fancy, in a painting executed
+shortly after the event we have narrated, and which is valuable as
+exhibiting not only the peculiarities which have made Schalken's
+pictures sought after, but even more so as presenting a portrait, as
+close and faithful as one taken from memory can be, of his early love,
+Rose Velderkaust, whose mysterious fate must ever remain matter of
+speculation.
+
+[Illustration: SHE DREW THE CURTAINS.]
+
+The picture represents a chamber of antique masonry, such as might be
+found in most old cathedrals, and is lighted faintly by a lamp carried
+in the hand of a female figure, such as we have above attempted to
+describe; and in the background, and to the left of him who examines the
+painting, there stands the form of a man apparently aroused from sleep,
+and by his attitude, his hand being laid upon his sword, exhibiting
+considerable alarm; this last figure is illuminated only by the expiring
+glare of a wood or charcoal fire.
+
+The whole production exhibits a beautiful specimen of that artful and
+singular distribution of light and shade which has rendered the name
+of Schalken immortal among the artists of his country. This tale is
+traditionary, and the reader will easily perceive, by our studiously
+omitting to heighten many points of the narrative, when a little
+additional colouring might have added effect to the recital, that we
+have desired to lay before him, not a figment of the brain, but a
+curious tradition connected with, and belonging to, the biography of
+a famous artist.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh.
+
+    "The earth hath bubbles as the water hath--
+    And these are of them."
+
+
+In the south of Ireland, and on the borders of the county of Limerick,
+there lies a district of two or three miles in length, which is rendered
+interesting by the fact that it is one of the very few spots throughout
+this country in which some vestiges of aboriginal forests still remain.
+It has little or none of the lordly character of the American forest,
+for the axe has felled its oldest and its grandest trees; but in the
+close wood which survives live all the wild and pleasing peculiarities
+of nature: its complete irregularity, its vistas, in whose perspective
+the quiet cattle are browsing; its refreshing glades, where the grey
+rocks arise from amid the nodding fern; the silvery shafts of the old
+birch-trees; the knotted trunks of the hoary oak, the grotesque but
+graceful branches which never shed their honours under the tyrant
+pruning-hook; the soft green sward; the chequered light and shade;
+the wild luxuriant weeds; the lichen and the moss--all are beautiful
+alike in the green freshness of spring or in the sadness and sere of
+autumn. Their beauty is of that kind which makes the heart full with
+joy--appealing to the affections with a power which belongs to nature
+only. This wood runs up, from below the base, to the ridge of a long
+line of irregular hills, having perhaps, in primitive times, formed but
+the skirting of some mighty forest which occupied the level below.
+
+But now, alas! whither have we drifted? whither has the tide of
+civilization borne us? It has passed over a land unprepared for it--it
+has left nakedness behind it; we have lost our forests, but our
+marauders remain; we have destroyed all that is picturesque, while we
+have retained everything that is revolting in barbarism. Through the
+midst of this woodland there runs a deep gully or glen, where the
+stillness of the scene is broken in upon by the brawling of a
+mountain-stream, which, however, in the winter season, swells into
+a rapid and formidable torrent.
+
+There is one point at which the glen becomes extremely deep and narrow;
+the sides descend to the depth of some hundred feet, and are so steep
+as to be nearly perpendicular. The wild trees which have taken root in
+the crannies and chasms of the rock are so intersected and entangled,
+that one can with difficulty catch a glimpse of the stream which wheels,
+flashes, and foams below, as if exulting in the surrounding silence and
+solitude.
+
+This spot was not unwisely chosen, as a point of no ordinary strength,
+for the erection of a massive square tower or keep, one side of which
+rises as if in continuation of the precipitous cliff on which it is
+based. Originally, the only mode of ingress was by a narrow portal in
+the very wall which overtopped the precipice, opening upon a ledge of
+rock which afforded a precarious pathway, cautiously intersected,
+however, by a deep trench cut out with great labour in the living rock;
+so that, in its pristine state, and before the introduction of artillery
+into the art of war, this tower might have been pronounced, and that not
+presumptuously, impregnable.
+
+The progress of improvement and the increasing security of the times
+had, however, tempted its successive proprietors, if not to adorn, at
+least to enlarge their premises, and about the middle of the last
+century, when the castle was last inhabited, the original square tower
+formed but a small part of the edifice.
+
+The castle, and a wide tract of the surrounding country, had from time
+immemorial belonged to a family which, for distinctness, we shall call
+by the name of Ardagh; and owing to the associations which, in Ireland,
+almost always attach to scenes which have long witnessed alike the
+exercise of stern feudal authority, and of that savage hospitality which
+distinguished the good old times, this building has become the subject
+and the scene of many wild and extraordinary traditions. One of them I
+have been enabled, by a personal acquaintance with an eye-witness of the
+events, to trace to its origin; and yet it is hard to say whether the
+events which I am about to record appear more strange and improbable as
+seen through the distorting medium of tradition, or in the appalling
+dimness of uncertainty which surrounds the reality.
+
+Tradition says that, sometime in the last century, Sir Robert Ardagh, a
+young man, and the last heir of that family, went abroad and served in
+foreign armies; and that, having acquired considerable honour and
+emolument, he settled at Castle Ardagh, the building we have just now
+attempted to describe. He was what the country people call a _dark_ man;
+that is, he was considered morose, reserved, and ill-tempered; and, as
+it was supposed from the utter solitude of his life, was upon no terms
+of cordiality with the other members of his family.
+
+The only occasion upon which he broke through the solitary monotony
+of his life was during the continuance of the racing season, and
+immediately subsequent to it; at which time he was to be seen among
+the busiest upon the course, betting deeply and unhesitatingly, and
+invariably with success. Sir Robert was, however, too well known as a
+man of honour, and of too high a family, to be suspected of any unfair
+dealing. He was, moreover, a soldier, and a man of intrepid as well as
+of a haughty character; and no one cared to hazard a surmise, the
+consequences of which would be felt most probably by its originator
+only.
+
+Gossip, however, was not silent; it was remarked that Sir Robert never
+appeared at the race-ground, which was the only place of public resort
+which he frequented, except in company with a certain strange-looking
+person, who was never seen elsewhere, or under other circumstances. It
+was remarked, too, that this man, whose relation to Sir Robert was never
+distinctly ascertained, was the only person to whom he seemed to speak
+unnecessarily; it was observed that while with the country gentry he
+exchanged no further communication than what was unavoidable in
+arranging his sporting transactions, with this person he would converse
+earnestly and frequently. Tradition asserts that, to enhance the
+curiosity which this unaccountable and exclusive preference excited,
+the stranger possessed some striking and unpleasant peculiarities of
+person and of garb--though it is not stated, however, what these
+were--but they, in conjunction with Sir Robert's secluded habits and
+extraordinary run of luck--a success which was supposed to result from
+the suggestions and immediate advice of the unknown--were sufficient to
+warrant report in pronouncing that there was something _queer_ in the
+wind, and in surmising that Sir Robert was playing a fearful and a
+hazardous game, and that, in short, his strange companion was little
+better than the Devil himself.
+
+Years rolled quietly away, and nothing very novel occurred in the
+arrangements of Castle Ardagh, excepting that Sir Robert parted with his
+odd companion, but as nobody could tell whence he came, so nobody could
+say whither he had gone. Sir Robert's habits, however, underwent no
+consequent change; he continued regularly to frequent the race meetings,
+without mixing at all in the convivialities of the gentry, and
+immediately afterwards to relapse into the secluded monotony of his
+ordinary life.
+
+It was said that he had accumulated vast sums of money--and, as his bets
+were always successful and always large, such must have been the case.
+He did not suffer the acquisition of wealth, however, to influence his
+hospitality or his house-keeping--he neither purchased land, nor
+extended his establishment; and his mode of enjoying his money must have
+been altogether that of the miser--consisting merely in the pleasure of
+touching and telling his gold, and in the consciousness of wealth.
+
+Sir Robert's temper, so far from improving, became more than ever gloomy
+and morose. He sometimes carried the indulgence of his evil dispositions
+to such a height that it bordered upon insanity. During these paroxysms
+he would neither eat, drink, nor sleep. On such occasions he insisted on
+perfect privacy, even from the intrusion of his most trusted servants;
+his voice was frequently heard, sometimes in earnest supplication,
+sometimes raised, as if in loud and angry altercation with some unknown
+visitant. Sometimes he would for hours together walk to and fro
+throughout the long oak-wainscoted apartment which he generally
+occupied, with wild gesticulations and agitated pace, in the manner of
+one who has been roused to a state of unnatural excitement by some
+sudden and appalling intimation.
+
+These paroxysms of apparent lunacy were so frightful, that during their
+continuance even his oldest and most faithful domestics dared not
+approach him; consequently his hours of agony were never intruded upon,
+and the mysterious causes of his sufferings appeared likely to remain
+hidden for ever.
+
+On one occasion a fit of this kind continued for an unusual time; the
+ordinary term of their duration--about two days--had been long past,
+and the old servant who generally waited upon Sir Robert after these
+visitations, having in vain listened for the well-known tinkle of his
+master's hand-bell, began to feel extremely anxious; he feared that his
+master might have died from sheer exhaustion, or perhaps put an end to
+his own existence during his miserable depression. These fears at length
+became so strong, that having in vain urged some of his brother servants
+to accompany him, he determined to go up alone, and himself see whether
+any accident had befallen Sir Robert.
+
+He traversed the several passages which conducted from the new to the
+more ancient parts of the mansion, and having arrived in the old hall
+of the castle, the utter silence of the hour--for it was very late in
+the night--the idea of the nature of the enterprise in which he was
+engaging himself, a sensation of remoteness from anything like human
+companionship, but, more than all, the vivid but undefined anticipation
+of something horrible, came upon him with such oppressive weight that
+he hesitated as to whether he should proceed. Real uneasiness, however,
+respecting the fate of his master, for whom he felt that kind of
+attachment which the force of habitual intercourse not unfrequently
+engenders respecting objects not in themselves amiable, and also a
+latent unwillingness to expose his weakness to the ridicule of his
+fellow-servants, combined to overcome his reluctance; and he had just
+placed his foot upon the first step of the staircase which conducted to
+his master's chamber, when his attention was arrested by a low but
+distinct knocking at the hall-door. Not, perhaps, very sorry at finding
+thus an excuse even for deferring his intended expedition, he placed
+the candle upon a stone block which lay in the hall and approached the
+door, uncertain whether his ears had not deceived him. This doubt was
+justified by the circumstance that the hall entrance had been for nearly
+fifty years disused as a mode of ingress to the castle. The situation of
+this gate also, which we have endeavoured to describe, opening upon a
+narrow ledge of rock which overhangs a perilous cliff, rendered it at
+all times, but particularly at night, a dangerous entrance. This
+shelving platform of rock, which formed the only avenue to the door, was
+divided, as I have already stated, by a broad chasm, the planks across
+which had long disappeared, by decay or otherwise; so that it seemed at
+least highly improbable that any man could have found his way across the
+passage in safety to the door, more particularly on a night like this,
+of singular darkness. The old man, therefore, listened attentively, to
+ascertain whether the first application should be followed by another.
+He had not long to wait. The same low but singularly distinct knocking
+was repeated; so low that it seemed as if the applicant had employed
+no harder or heavier instrument than his hand, and yet, despite the
+immense thickness of the door, with such strength that the sound was
+distinctly audible.
+
+The knock was repeated a third time, without any increase of loudness;
+and the old man, obeying an impulse for which to his dying hour he could
+never account, proceeded to remove, one by one, the three great oaken
+bars which secured the door. Time and damp had effectually corroded the
+iron chambers of the lock, so that it afforded little resistance. With
+some effort, as he believed, assisted from without, the old servant
+succeeded in opening the door; and a low, square-built figure,
+apparently that of a man wrapped in a large black cloak, entered
+the hall. The servant could not see much of this visitor with any
+distinctness; his dress appeared foreign, the skirt of his ample cloak
+was thrown over one shoulder; he wore a large felt hat, with a very
+heavy leaf, from under which escaped what appeared to be a mass of long
+sooty-black hair; his feet were cased in heavy riding-boots. Such were
+the few particulars which the servant had time and light to observe. The
+stranger desired him to let his master know instantly that a friend had
+come, by appointment, to settle some business with him. The servant
+hesitated, but a slight motion on the part of his visitor, as if to
+possess himself of the candle, determined him; so, taking it in his
+hand, he ascended the castle stairs, leaving the guest in the hall.
+
+[Illustration: HE PAUSED, BUT THERE WAS NO SOUND.]
+
+On reaching the apartment which opened upon the oak-chamber he was
+surprised to observe the door of that room partly open, and the room
+itself lit up. He paused, but there was no sound; he looked in, and saw
+Sir Robert, his head and the upper part of his body reclining on a
+table, upon which two candles burned; his arms were stretched forward on
+either side, and perfectly motionless; it appeared that, having been
+sitting at the table, he had thus sunk forward, either dead or in a
+swoon. There was no sound of breathing; all was silent, except the
+sharp ticking of a watch, which lay beside the lamp. The servant coughed
+twice or thrice, but with no effect; his fears now almost amounted to
+certainty, and he was approaching the table on which his master partly
+lay, to satisfy himself of his death, when Sir Robert slowly raised his
+head, and, throwing himself back in his chair, fixed his eyes in a
+ghastly and uncertain gaze upon his attendant. At length he said, slowly
+and painfully, as if he dreaded the answer,--
+
+"In God's name, what are you?"
+
+"Sir," said the servant, "a strange gentleman wants to see you below."
+
+At this intimation Sir Robert, starting to his feet and tossing his arms
+wildly upwards, uttered a shriek of such appalling and despairing terror
+that it was almost too fearful for human endurance; and long after the
+sound had ceased it seemed to the terrified imagination of the old
+servant to roll through the deserted passages in bursts of unnatural
+laughter. After a few moments Sir Robert said,--
+
+"Can't you send him away? Why does he come so soon? O Merciful Powers!
+let him leave me for an hour; a little time. I can't see him now; try to
+get him away. You see I can't go down now; I have not strength. O God!
+O God! let him come back in an hour; it is not long to wait. He cannot
+lose anything by it; nothing, nothing, nothing. Tell him that! Say
+anything to him."
+
+The servant went down. In his own words, he did not feel the stairs
+under him till he got to the hall. The figure stood exactly as he had
+left it. He delivered his master's message as coherently as he could.
+The stranger replied in a careless tone:
+
+"If Sir Robert will not come down to me; I must go up to him."
+
+The man returned, and to his surprise he found his master much more
+composed in manner. He listened to the message, and though the cold
+perspiration rose in drops upon his forehead faster than he could wipe
+it away, his manner had lost the dreadful agitation which had marked it
+before. He rose feebly, and casting a last look of agony behind him,
+passed from the room to the lobby, where he signed to his attendant not
+to follow him. The man moved as far as the head of the staircase, from
+whence he had a tolerably distinct view of the hall, which was
+imperfectly lighted by the candle he had left there.
+
+He saw his master reel, rather than walk, down the stairs, clinging all
+the way to the banisters. He walked on, as if about to sink every moment
+from weakness. The figure advanced as if to meet him, and in passing
+struck down the light. The servant could see no more; but there was
+a sound of struggling, renewed at intervals with silent but fearful
+energy. It was evident, however, that the parties were approaching the
+door, for he heard the solid oak sound twice or thrice, as the feet of
+the combatants, in shuffling hither and thither over the floor, struck
+upon it. After a slight pause, he heard the door thrown open with such
+violence that the leaf seemed to strike the side-wall of the hall, for
+it was so dark without that this could only be surmised by the sound.
+The struggle was renewed with an agony and intenseness of energy that
+betrayed itself in deep-drawn gasps. One desperate effort, which
+terminated in the breaking of some part of the door, producing a sound
+as if the door-post was wrenched from its position, was followed by
+another wrestle, evidently upon the narrow ledge which ran outside the
+door, overtopping the precipice. This proved to be the final struggle;
+it was followed by a crashing sound as if some heavy body had fallen
+over, and was rushing down the precipice through the light boughs that
+crossed near the top. All then became still as the grave, except when
+the moan of the night-wind sighed up the wooded glen.
+
+The old servant had not nerve to return through the hall, and to him the
+darkness seemed all but endless; but morning at length came, and with
+it the disclosure of the events of the night. Near the door, upon the
+ground, lay Sir Robert's sword-belt, which had given way in the scuffle.
+A huge splinter from the massive door-post had been wrenched off by
+an almost superhuman effort--one which nothing but the gripe of a
+despairing man could have severed--and on the rocks outside were left
+the marks of the slipping and sliding of feet.
+
+[Illustration: AT THE FOOT OF THE PRECIPICE.]
+
+At the foot of the precipice, not immediately under the castle, but
+dragged some way up the glen, were found the remains of Sir Robert,
+with hardly a vestige of a limb or feature left distinguishable. The
+right hand, however, was uninjured, and in its fingers were clutched,
+with the fixedness of death, a long lock of coarse sooty hair--the only
+direct circumstantial evidence of the presence of a second person.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The Dream.
+
+
+Dreams! What age, or what country of the world, has not felt and
+acknowledged the mystery of their origin and end? I have thought not a
+little upon the subject, seeing it is one which has been often forced
+upon my attention, and sometimes strangely enough; and yet I have never
+arrived at anything which at all appeared a satisfactory conclusion. It
+does appear that a mental phenomenon so extraordinary cannot be wholly
+without its use. We know, indeed, that in the olden times it has been
+made the organ of communication between the Deity and His creatures;
+and when a dream produces upon a mind, to all appearance hopelessly
+reprobate and depraved, an effect so powerful and so lasting as to break
+down the inveterate habits, and to reform the life of an abandoned
+sinner, we see in the result, in the reformation of morals which
+appeared incorrigible, in the reclamation of a human soul which seemed
+to be irretrievably lost, something more than could be produced by a
+mere chimera of the slumbering fancy, something more than could arise
+from the capricious images of a terrified imagination. And while Reason
+rejects as absurd the superstition which will read a prophecy in every
+dream, she may, without violence to herself, recognize, even in the
+wildest and most incongruous of the wanderings of a slumbering
+intellect, the evidences and the fragments of a language which may be
+spoken, which _has_ been spoken, to terrify, to warn and to command. We
+have reason to believe too, by the promptness of action which in the
+age of the prophets followed all intimations of this kind, and by the
+strength of conviction and strange permanence of the effects resulting
+from certain dreams in latter times--which effects we ourselves may have
+witnessed--that when this medium of communication has been employed
+by the Deity, the evidences of His presence have been unequivocal. My
+thoughts were directed to this subject in a manner to leave a lasting
+impression upon my mind, by the events which I shall now relate, the
+statement of which, however extraordinary, is nevertheless accurate.
+
+About the year 17--, having been appointed to the living of C----h, I
+rented a small house in the town which bears the same name: one morning
+in the month of November, I was awakened before my usual time by my
+servant, who bustled into my bedroom for the purpose of announcing a
+sick call. As the Catholic Church holds her last rites to be totally
+indispensable to the safety of the departing sinner, no conscientious
+clergyman can afford a moment's unnecessary delay, and in little more
+than five minutes I stood ready, cloaked and booted for the road, in the
+small front parlour in which the messenger, who was to act as my guide,
+awaited my coming. I found a poor little girl crying piteously near the
+door, and after some slight difficulty I ascertained that her father was
+either dead or just dying.
+
+"And what may be your father's name, my poor child?" said I. She held
+down her head as if ashamed. I repeated the question, and the wretched
+little creature burst into floods of tears still more bitter than she
+had shed before. At length, almost angered by conduct which appeared to
+me so unreasonable, I began to lose patience, and I said rather
+harshly,--
+
+"If you will not tell me the name of the person to whom you would lead
+me, your silence can arise from no good motive, and I might be justified
+in refusing to go with you at all."
+
+"Oh, don't say that--don't say that!" cried she. "Oh, sir, it was that
+I was afeard of when I would not tell you--I was afeard, when you heard
+his name, you would not come with me; but it is no use hidin' it
+now--it's Pat Connell, the carpenter, your honour."
+
+She looked in my face with the most earnest anxiety, as if her very
+existence depended upon what she should read there. I relieved the child
+at once. The name, indeed, was most unpleasantly familiar to me; but,
+however fruitless my visits and advice might have been at another time,
+the present was too fearful an occasion to suffer my doubts of their
+utility, or my reluctance to re-attempting what appeared a hopeless
+task, to weigh even against the lightest chance that a consciousness of
+his imminent danger might produce in him a more docile and tractable
+disposition. Accordingly I told the child to lead the way, and followed
+her in silence. She hurried rapidly through the long narrow street which
+forms the great thoroughfare of the town. The darkness of the hour,
+rendered still deeper by the close approach of the old-fashioned houses,
+which lowered in tall obscurity on either side of the way; the damp,
+dreary chill which renders the advance of morning peculiarly cheerless,
+combined with the object of my walk--to visit the death-bed of a
+presumptuous sinner, to endeavour, almost against my own conviction,
+to infuse a hope into the heart of a dying reprobate--a drunkard but
+too probably perishing under the consequences of some mad fit of
+intoxication; all these circumstances served to enhance the gloom and
+solemnity of my feelings, as I silently followed my little guide, who
+with quick steps traversed the uneven pavement of the Main Street. After
+a walk of about five minutes, she turned off into a narrow lane, of that
+obscure and comfortless class which is to be found in almost all small
+old-fashioned towns, chill, without ventilation, reeking with all manner
+of offensive effluviæ, and lined by dingy, smoky, sickly and pent-up
+buildings, frequently not only in a wretched but in a dangerous
+condition.
+
+"Your father has changed his abode since I last visited him, and, I am
+afraid, much for the worse," said I.
+
+"Indeed he has, sir; but we must not complain," replied she. "We have to
+thank God that we have lodging and food, though it's poor enough, it is,
+your honour."
+
+Poor child! thought I. How many an older head might learn wisdom from
+thee--how many a luxurious philosopher, who is skilled to preach but not
+to suffer, might not thy patient words put to the blush! The manner and
+language of my companion were alike above her years and station; and,
+indeed, in all cases in which the cares and sorrows of life have
+anticipated their usual date, and have fallen, as they sometimes do,
+with melancholy prematurity to the lot of childhood, I have observed the
+result to have proved uniformly the same. A young mind, to which joy and
+indulgence have been strangers, and to which suffering and self-denial
+have been familiarized from the first, acquires a solidity and an
+elevation which no other discipline could have bestowed, and which, in
+the present case, communicated a striking but mournful peculiarity to
+the manners, even to the voice, of the child. We paused before a narrow,
+crazy door, which she opened by means of a latch, and we forthwith began
+to ascend the steep and broken stairs which led to the sick man's room.
+
+As we mounted flight after flight towards the garret-floor, I heard more
+and more distinctly the hurried talking of many voices. I could also
+distinguish the low sobbing of a female. On arriving upon the uppermost
+lobby, these sounds became fully audible.
+
+"This way, your honour," said my little conductress; at the same time,
+pushing open a door of patched and half-rotten plank, she admitted me
+into the squalid chamber of death and misery. But one candle, held in
+the fingers of a scared and haggard-looking child, was burning in the
+room, and that so dim that all was twilight or darkness except within
+its immediate influence. The general obscurity, however, served to throw
+into prominent and startling relief the death-bed and its occupant. The
+light fell with horrible clearness upon the blue and swollen features of
+the drunkard. I did not think it possible that a human countenance could
+look so terrific. The lips were black and drawn apart; the teeth were
+firmly set; the eyes a little unclosed, and nothing but the whites
+appearing. Every feature was fixed and livid, and the whole face wore a
+ghastly and rigid expression of despairing terror such as I never saw
+equalled. His hands were crossed upon his breast, and firmly clenched;
+while, as if to add to the corpse-like effect of the whole, some white
+cloths, dipped in water, were wound about the forehead and temples.
+
+As soon as I could remove my eyes from this horrible spectacle, I
+observed my friend Dr. D----, one of the most humane of a humane
+profession, standing by the bedside. He had been attempting, but
+unsuccessfully, to bleed the patient, and had now applied his finger to
+the pulse.
+
+"Is there any hope?" I inquired in a whisper.
+
+A shake of the head was the reply. There was a pause, while he continued
+to hold the wrist; but he waited in vain for the throb of life--it was
+not there: and when he let go the hand, it fell stiffly back into its
+former position upon the other.
+
+"The man is dead," said the physician, as he turned from the bed where
+the terrible figure lay.
+
+Dead! thought I, scarcely venturing to look upon the tremendous and
+revolting spectacle. Dead! without an hour for repentance, even a moment
+for reflection. Dead! without the rites which even the best should have.
+Was there a hope for him? The glaring eyeball, the grinning mouth, the
+distorted brow--that unutterable look in which a painter would have
+sought to embody the fixed despair of the nethermost hell--These were my
+answer.
+
+The poor wife sat at a little distance, crying as if her heart would
+break--the younger children clustered round the bed, looking with
+wondering curiosity upon the form of death, never seen before.
+
+When the first tumult of uncontrollable sorrow had passed away, availing
+myself of the solemnity and impressiveness of the scene, I desired the
+heart-stricken family to accompany me in prayer, and all knelt down
+while I solemnly and fervently repeated some of those prayers which
+appeared most applicable to the occasion. I employed myself thus in a
+manner which I trusted was not unprofitable, at least to the living, for
+about ten minutes; and having accomplished my task, I was the first to
+arise.
+
+I looked upon the poor, sobbing, helpless creatures who knelt so humbly
+around me, and my heart bled for them. With a natural transition I
+turned my eyes from them to the bed in which the body lay; and, great
+God! what was the revulsion, the horror which I experienced on seeing
+the corpse-like, terrific thing seated half upright before me. The white
+cloths which had been wound about the head had now partly slipped from
+their position, and were hanging in grotesque festoons about the face
+and shoulders, while the distorted eyes leered from amid them--
+
+    "A sight to dream of, not to tell."
+
+I stood actually riveted to the spot. The figure nodded its head and
+lifted its arm, I thought, with a menacing gesture. A thousand confused
+and horrible thoughts at once rushed upon my mind. I had often read
+that the body of a presumptuous sinner, who, during life, had been the
+willing creature of every satanic impulse, had been known, after the
+human tenant had deserted it, to become the horrible sport of demoniac
+possession.
+
+I was roused by the piercing scream of the mother, who now, for the
+first time, perceived the change which had taken place. She rushed
+towards the bed, but, stunned by the shock and overcome by the conflict
+of violent emotions, before she reached it she fell prostrate upon the
+floor.
+
+I am perfectly convinced that had I not been startled from the torpidity
+of horror in which I was bound by some powerful and arousing stimulant,
+I should have gazed upon this unearthly apparition until I had fairly
+lost my senses. As it was, however, the spell was broken--superstition
+gave way to reason: the man whom all believed to have been actually dead
+was living!
+
+Dr. D---- was instantly standing by the bedside, and upon examination he
+found that a sudden and copious flow of blood had taken place from the
+wound which the lancet had left; and this, no doubt, had effected his
+sudden and almost preternatural restoration to an existence from which
+all thought he had been for ever removed. The man was still speechless,
+but he seemed to understand the physician when he forbade his repeating
+the painful and fruitless attempts which he made to articulate, and he
+at once resigned himself quietly into his hands.
+
+I left the patient with leeches upon his temples, and bleeding freely,
+apparently with little of the drowsiness which accompanies apoplexy.
+Indeed, Dr. D---- told me that he had never before witnessed a seizure
+which seemed to combine the symptoms of so many kinds, and yet which
+belonged to none of the recognized classes; it certainly was not
+apoplexy, catalepsy, nor _delirium tremens_, and yet it seemed, in some
+degree, to partake of the properties of all. It was strange, but
+stranger things are coming.
+
+During two or three days Dr. D---- would not allow his patient to
+converse in a manner which could excite or exhaust him, with anyone; he
+suffered him merely as briefly as possible to express his immediate
+wants. And it was not until the fourth day after my early visit, the
+particulars of which I have just detailed, that it was thought expedient
+that I should see him, and then only because it appeared that his
+extreme importunity and impatience to meet me were likely to retard
+his recovery more than the mere exhaustion attendant upon a short
+conversation could possibly do. Perhaps, too, my friend entertained some
+hope that if by holy confession his patient's bosom were eased of the
+perilous stuff which no doubt oppressed it, his recovery would be more
+assured and rapid. It was then, as I have said, upon the fourth day
+after my first professional call, that I found myself once more in the
+dreary chamber of want and sickness.
+
+The man was in bed, and appeared low and restless. On my entering the
+room he raised himself in the bed, and muttered, twice or thrice,--
+
+"Thank God! thank God!"
+
+I signed to those of his family who stood by to leave the room, and took
+a chair beside the bed. So soon as we were alone, he said, rather
+doggedly,--
+
+"There's no use in telling me of the sinfulness of bad ways--I know it
+all. I know where they lead to--I have seen everything about it with my
+own eyesight, as plain as I see you." He rolled himself in the bed, as
+if to hide his face in the clothes; and then suddenly raising himself,
+he exclaimed with startling vehemence, "Look, sir! there is no use in
+mincing the matter: I'm blasted with the fires of hell; I have been in
+hell. What do you think of that? In hell--I'm lost for ever--I have not
+a chance. I am damned already--damned--damned!"
+
+The end of this sentence he actually shouted. His vehemence was
+perfectly terrific; he threw himself back, and laughed, and sobbed
+hysterically. I poured some water into a tea-cup, and gave it to him.
+After he had swallowed it, I told him if he had anything to communicate,
+to do so as briefly as he could, and in a manner as little agitating to
+himself as possible; threatening at the same time, though I had no
+intention of doing so, to leave him at once in case he again gave way to
+such passionate excitement.
+
+"It's only foolishness," he continued, "for me to try to thank you for
+coming to such a villain as myself at all. It's no use for me to wish
+good to you, or to bless you; for such as me has no blessings to give."
+
+I told him that I had but done my duty, and urged him to proceed to the
+matter which weighed upon his mind. He then spoke nearly as follows:--
+
+"I came in drunk on Friday night last, and got to my bed here; I don't
+remember how. Sometime in the night it seemed to me I wakened, and
+feeling unasy in myself, I got up out of the bed. I wanted the fresh
+air; but I would not make a noise to open the window, for fear I'd waken
+the crathurs. It was very dark and throublesome to find the door; but at
+last I did get it, and I groped my way out, and went down as asy as I
+could. I felt quite sober, and I counted the steps one after another, as
+I was going down, that I might not stumble at the bottom.
+
+"When I came to the first landing-place--God be about us always!--the
+floor of it sunk under me, and I went down--down--down, till the senses
+almost left me. I do not know how long I was falling, but it seemed to
+me a great while. When I came rightly to myself at last, I was sitting
+near the top of a great table; and I could not see the end of it, if it
+had any, it was so far off. And there was men beyond reckoning sitting
+down all along by it, at each side, as far as I could see at all. I did
+not know at first was it in the open air; but there was a close
+smothering feel in it that was not natural. And there was a kind of
+light that my eyesight never saw before, red and unsteady; and I did not
+see for a long time where it was coming from, until I looked straight
+up, and then I seen that it came from great balls of blood-coloured fire
+that were rolling high overhead with a sort of rushing, trembling sound,
+and I perceived that they shone on the ribs of a great roof of rock
+that was arched overhead instead of the sky. When I seen this, scarce
+knowing what I did, I got up, and I said, 'I have no right to be here; I
+must go.' And the man that was sitting at my left hand only smiled, and
+said, 'Sit down again; you can _never_ leave this place.' And his voice
+was weaker than any child's voice I ever heerd; and when he was done
+speaking he smiled again.
+
+"Then I spoke out very loud and bold, and I said, 'In the name of God,
+let me out of this bad place.' And there was a great man that I did not
+see before, sitting at the end of the table that I was near; and he was
+taller than twelve men, and his face was very proud and terrible to look
+at. And he stood up and stretched out his hand before him; and when he
+stood up, all that was there, great and small, bowed down with a sighing
+sound; and a dread came on my heart, and he looked at me, and I could
+not speak. I felt I was his own, to do what he liked with, for I knew at
+once who he was; and he said, 'If you promise to return, you may depart
+for a season;' and the voice he spoke with was terrible and mournful,
+and the echoes of it went rolling and swelling down the endless cave,
+and mixing with the trembling of the fire overhead; so that when he sat
+down there was a sound after him, all through the place, like the
+roaring of a furnace. And I said, with all the strength I had, 'I
+promise to come back--in God's name let me go!'
+
+"And with that I lost the sight and the hearing of all that was there,
+and when my senses came to me again, I was sitting in the bed with the
+blood all over me, and you and the rest praying around the room."
+
+Here he paused, and wiped away the chill drops which hung upon his
+forehead.
+
+I remained silent for some moments. The vision which he had just
+described struck my imagination not a little, for this was long before
+Vathek and the "Hall of Eblis" had delighted the world; and the
+description which he gave had, as I received it, all the attractions of
+novelty beside the impressiveness which always belongs to the narration
+of an _eye-witness_, whether in the body or in the spirit, of the scenes
+which he describes. There was something, too, in the stern horror with
+which the man related these things, and in the incongruity of his
+description with the vulgarly received notions of the great place of
+punishment, and of its presiding spirit, which struck my mind with awe,
+almost with fear. At length he said, with an expression of horrible,
+imploring earnestness, which I shall never forget,--
+
+"Well, sir, is there any hope; is there any chance at all? or is my soul
+pledged and promised away for ever? is it gone out of my power? must I
+go back to the place?"
+
+In answering him, I had no easy task to perform; for however clear
+might be my internal conviction of the groundlessness of his fears, and
+however strong my scepticism respecting the reality of what he had
+described, I nevertheless felt that his impression to the contrary, and
+his humility and terror resulting from it, might be made available as no
+mean engines in the work of his conversion from profligacy, and of his
+restoration to decent habits and to religious feeling.
+
+I therefore told him that he was to regard his dream rather in the light
+of a warning than in that of a prophecy; that our salvation depended not
+upon the word or deed of a moment, but upon the habits of a life; that,
+in fine, if he at once discarded his idle companions and evil habits,
+and firmly adhered to a sober, industrious, and religious course of
+life, the powers of darkness might claim his soul in vain, for that
+there were higher and firmer pledges than human tongue could utter,
+which promised salvation to him who should repent and lead a new life.
+
+I left him much comforted, and with a promise to return upon the next
+day. I did so, and found him much more cheerful, and without any remains
+of the dogged sullenness which I suppose had arisen from his despair.
+His promises of amendment were given in that tone of deliberate
+earnestness which belongs to deep and solemn determination; and it was
+with no small delight that I observed, after repeated visits, that his
+good resolutions, so far from failing, did but gather strength by time;
+and when I saw that man shake off the idle and debauched companions
+whose society had for years formed alike his amusement and his ruin, and
+revive his long-discarded habits of industry and sobriety, I said within
+myself, There is something more in all this than the operation of an
+idle dream.
+
+One day, some time after his perfect restoration to health, I was
+surprised, on ascending the stairs for the purpose of visiting this
+man, to find him busily employed in nailing down some planks upon the
+landing-place, through which, at the commencement of his mysterious
+vision, it seemed to him that he had sunk. I perceived at once that he
+was strengthening the floor with a view to securing himself against such
+a catastrophe, and could scarcely forbear a smile as I bid "God bless
+his work."
+
+He perceived my thoughts, I suppose, for he immediately said:
+
+"I can never pass over that floor without trembling. I'd leave this
+house if I could, but I can't find another lodging in the town so cheap,
+and I'll not take a better till I've paid off all my debts, please God;
+but I could not be asy in my mind till I made it as safe as I could.
+You'll hardly believe me, your honour, that while I'm working, maybe a
+mile away, my heart is in a flutter the whole way back, with the bare
+thoughts of the two little steps I have to walk upon this bit of a
+floor. So it's no wonder, sir, I'd thry to make it sound and firm with
+any idle timber I have."
+
+I applauded his resolution to pay off his debts, and the steadiness with
+which he perused his plans of conscientious economy, and passed on.
+
+Many months elapsed, and still there appeared no alteration in his
+resolutions of amendment. He was a good workman, and with his better
+habits he recovered his former extensive and profitable employment.
+Everything seemed to promise comfort and respectability. I have little
+more to add, and that shall be told quickly. I had one evening met Pat
+Connell, as he returned from his work, and as usual, after a mutual, and
+on his side respectful salutation, I spoke a few words of encouragement
+and approval. I left him industrious, active, healthy--when next I saw
+him, not three days after, he was a corpse.
+
+The circumstances which marked the event of his death were somewhat
+strange--I might say fearful. The unfortunate man had accidentally met
+an old friend just returned, after a long absence; and in a moment of
+excitement, forgetting everything in the warmth of his joy, he yielded
+to his urgent invitation to accompany him into a public house, which lay
+close by the spot where the encounter had taken place. Connell, however,
+previously to entering the room, had announced his determination to take
+nothing more than the strictest temperance would warrant.
+
+But oh! who can describe the inveterate tenacity with which a drunkard's
+habits cling to him through life? He may repent, he may reform, he may
+look with actual abhorrence upon his past profligacy; but amid all this
+reformation and compunction, who can tell the moment in which the base
+and ruinous propensity may not recur, triumphing over resolution,
+remorse, shame, everything, and prostrating its victim once more in all
+that is destructive and revolting in that fatal vice?
+
+The wretched man left the place in a state of utter intoxication. He was
+brought home nearly insensible, and placed in his bed. The younger part
+of the family retired to rest much after their usual hour; but the poor
+wife remained up sitting by the fire, too much grieved and shocked at
+the occurrence of what she had so little expected, to settle to rest.
+Fatigue, however, at length overcame her, and she sank gradually into an
+uneasy slumber. She could not tell how long she had remained in this
+state; but when she awakened, and immediately on opening her eyes, she
+perceived by the faint red light of the smouldering turf embers, two
+persons, one of whom she recognized as her husband, noiselessly gliding
+out of the room.
+
+"Pat, darling, where are you going?" said she.
+
+There was no answer--the door closed after them; but in a moment she was
+startled and terrified by a loud and heavy crash, as if some ponderous
+body had been hurled down the stair.
+
+[Illustration: NOISELESSLY GLIDING OUT OF THE ROOM.]
+
+Much alarmed, she started up, and going to the head of the staircase,
+she called repeatedly upon her husband, but in vain.
+
+She returned to the room, and with the assistance of her daughter, whom
+I had occasion to mention before, she succeeded in finding and lighting
+a candle, with which she hurried again to the head of the staircase.
+
+At the bottom lay what seemed to be a bundle of clothes, heaped
+together, motionless, lifeless--it was her husband. In going down
+the stairs, for what purpose can never now be known, he had fallen
+helplessly and violently to the bottom, and coming head foremost, the
+spine of the neck had been dislocated by the shock, and instant death
+must have ensued.
+
+The body lay upon that landing-place to which his dream had referred.
+
+It is scarcely worth endeavouring to clear up a single point in a
+narrative where all is mystery; yet I could not help suspecting that the
+second figure which had been seen in the room by Connell's wife on the
+night of his death might have been no other than his own shadow.
+
+I suggested this solution of the difficulty; but she told me that the
+unknown person had been considerably in advance of her husband, and on
+reaching the door, had turned back as if to communicate something to his
+companion.
+
+It was, then, a mystery.
+
+[Illustration: AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS.]
+
+Was the dream verified?--whither had the disembodied spirit sped? who
+can say? We know not. But I left the house of death that day in a state
+of horror which I could not describe. It seemed to me that I was scarce
+awake. I heard and saw everything as if under the spell of a nightmare.
+The coincidence was terrible.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+A Chapter in the history of a Tyrone Family
+
+
+In the following narrative I have endeavoured to give as nearly as
+possible the _ipsissima verba_ of the valued friend from whom I received
+it, conscious that any aberration from _her_ mode of telling the tale of
+her own life would at once impair its accuracy and its effect.
+
+Would that, with her words, I could also bring before you her animated
+gesture, the expressive countenance, the solemn and thrilling air and
+accent with which she related the dark passages in her strange story;
+and, above all, that I could communicate the impressive consciousness
+that the narrator had seen with her own eyes, and personally acted in
+the scenes which she described. These accompaniments, taken with the
+additional circumstance that she who told the tale was one far too
+deeply and sadly impressed with religious principle to misrepresent
+or fabricate what she repeated as fact, gave to the tale a depth of
+interest which the recording of the events themselves could hardly have
+produced.
+
+I became acquainted with the lady from whose lips I heard this narrative
+nearly twenty years since, and the story struck my fancy so much that I
+committed it to paper while it was still fresh in my mind; and should
+its perusal afford you entertainment for a listless half hour, my labour
+shall not have been bestowed in vain.
+
+I find that I have taken the story down as she told it, in the first
+person, and perhaps this is as it should be.
+
+She began as follows:
+
+My maiden name was Richardson, the designation of a family of some
+distinction in the county of Tyrone. I was the younger of two daughters,
+and we were the only children. There was a difference in our ages of
+nearly six years, so that I did not, in my childhood, enjoy that close
+companionship which sisterhood, in other circumstances, necessarily
+involves; and while I was still a child, my sister was married.
+
+The person upon whom she bestowed her hand was a Mr. Carew, a gentleman
+of property and consideration in the north of England.
+
+I remember well the eventful day of the wedding; the thronging
+carriages, the noisy menials, the loud laughter, the merry faces, and
+the gay dresses. Such sights were then new to me, and harmonized ill
+with the sorrowful feelings with which I regarded the event which was to
+separate me from a sister whose tenderness alone had hitherto more than
+supplied all that I wanted in my mother's affection.
+
+The day soon arrived which was to remove the happy couple from Ashtown
+House. The carriage stood at the hall-door, and my poor sister kissed me
+again and again, telling me that I should see her soon.
+
+The carriage drove away, and I gazed after it until my eyes filled with
+tears, and, returning slowly to my chamber, I wept more bitterly and, so
+to speak, more desolately, than ever I had wept before.
+
+My father had never seemed to love or to take an interest in me. He had
+desired a son, and I think he never thoroughly forgave me my unfortunate
+sex.
+
+My having come into the world at all as his child he regarded as a kind
+of fraudulent intrusion; and as his antipathy to me had its origin in an
+imperfection of mine too radical for removal, I never even hoped to
+stand high in his good graces.
+
+My mother was, I dare say, as fond of me as she was of anyone; but she
+was a woman of a masculine and a worldly cast of mind. She had no
+tenderness or sympathy for the weaknesses, or even for the affections,
+of woman's nature, and her demeanour towards me was peremptory, and
+often even harsh.
+
+It is not to be supposed, then, that I found in the society of my
+parents much to supply the loss of my sister. About a year after her
+marriage, we received letters from Mr. Carew, containing accounts of my
+sister's health, which, though not actually alarming, were calculated to
+make us seriously uneasy. The symptoms most dwelt upon were loss of
+appetite, and a cough.
+
+The letters concluded by intimating that he would avail himself of my
+father and mother's repeated invitation to spend some time at Ashtown,
+particularly as the physician who had been consulted as to my sister's
+health had strongly advised a removal to her native air.
+
+There were added repeated assurances that nothing serious was
+apprehended, as it was supposed that a deranged state of the liver was
+the only source of the symptoms which at first had seemed to intimate
+consumption.
+
+In accordance with this announcement, my sister and Mr. Carew arrived in
+Dublin, where one of my father's carriages awaited them, in readiness to
+start upon whatever day or hour they might choose for their departure.
+
+It was arranged that Mr. Carew was, as soon as the day upon which they
+were to leave Dublin was definitely fixed, to write to my father, who
+intended that the two last stages should be performed by his own
+horses, upon whose speed and safety far more reliance might be placed
+than upon those of the ordinary post-horses, which were at that time,
+almost without exception, of the very worst order. The journey, one of
+about ninety miles, was to be divided; the larger portion being reserved
+for the second day.
+
+On Sunday a letter reached us, stating that the party would leave Dublin
+on Monday, and in due course reach Ashtown upon Tuesday evening.
+
+Tuesday came: the evening closed in, and yet no carriage; darkness came
+on, and still no sign of our expected visitors.
+
+Hour after hour passed away, and it was now past twelve; the night was
+remarkably calm, scarce a breath stirring, so that any sound, such as
+that produced by the rapid movement of a vehicle, would have been
+audible at a considerable distance. For some such sound I was feverishly
+listening.
+
+It was, however, my father's rule to close the house at nightfall, and
+the window-shutters being fastened, I was unable to reconnoitre the
+avenue as I would have wished. It was nearly one o'clock, and we began
+almost to despair of seeing them upon that night, when I thought I
+distinguished the sound of wheels, but so remote and faint as to make me
+at first very uncertain. The noise approached; it became louder and
+clearer; it stopped for a moment.
+
+I now heard the shrill screaming of the rusty iron, as the avenue gate
+revolved on its hinges; again came the sound of wheels in rapid motion.
+
+"It is they," said I, starting up; "the carriage is in the avenue."
+
+We all stood for a few moments breathlessly listening. On thundered
+the vehicle with the speed of the whirlwind; crack went the whip, and
+clatter went the wheels, as it rattled over the uneven pavement of the
+court. A general and furious barking from all the dogs about the house
+hailed its arrival.
+
+We hurried to the hall in time to hear the steps let down with the sharp
+clanging noise peculiar to the operation, and the hum of voices exerted
+in the bustle of arrival. The hall door was now thrown open, and we all
+stepped forth to greet our visitors.
+
+The court was perfectly empty; the moon was shining broadly and brightly
+upon all around; nothing was to be seen but the tall trees with their
+long spectral shadows, now wet with the dews of midnight.
+
+We stood gazing from right to left as if suddenly awakened from a dream;
+the dogs walked suspiciously, growling and snuffling about the court,
+and by totally and suddenly ceasing their former loud barking, expressed
+the predominance of fear.
+
+We stared one upon another in perplexity and dismay, and I think I never
+beheld more pale faces assembled. By my father's directions, we looked
+about to find anything which might indicate or account for the noise
+which we had heard; but no such thing was to be seen--even the mire
+which lay upon the avenue was undisturbed. We returned to the house,
+more panic-struck than I can describe.
+
+On the next day, we learned by a messenger, who had ridden hard the
+greater part of the night, that my sister was dead. On Sunday evening
+she had retired to bed rather unwell, and on Monday her indisposition
+declared itself unequivocally to be malignant fever. She became hourly
+worse, and, on Tuesday night, a little after midnight, she expired.
+
+I mention this circumstance, because it was one upon which a thousand
+wild and fantastical reports were founded, though one would have thought
+that the truth scarcely required to be improved upon; and again, because
+it produced a strong and lasting effect upon my spirits, and indeed, I
+am inclined to think, upon my character.
+
+I was, for several years after this occurrence, long after the violence
+of my grief subsided, so wretchedly low-spirited and nervous, that I
+could scarcely be said to live; and during this time, habits of
+indecision, arising out of a listless acquiescence in the will of
+others, a fear of encountering even the slightest opposition, and a
+disposition to shrink from what are commonly called amusements, grew
+upon me so strongly, that I have scarcely even yet altogether overcome
+them.
+
+We saw nothing more of Mr. Carew. He returned to England as soon as the
+melancholy rites attendant upon the event which I have just mentioned
+were performed; and not being altogether inconsolable, he married again
+within two years; after which, owing to the remoteness of our relative
+situations, and other circumstances, we gradually lost sight of him.
+
+I was now an only child; and, as my elder sister had died without issue,
+it was evident that, in the ordinary course of things, my father's
+property, which was altogether in his power, would go to me; and the
+consequence was, that before I was fourteen, Ashtown House was besieged
+by a host of suitors. However, whether it was that I was too young, or
+that none of the aspirants to my hand stood sufficiently high in rank or
+wealth, I was suffered by both parents to do exactly as I pleased; and
+well was it for me, as I afterwards found, that fortune, or rather
+Providence, had so ordained it, that I had not suffered my affections to
+become in any degree engaged, for my mother would never have suffered
+any silly fancy of mine, as she was in the habit of styling an
+attachment, to stand in the way of her ambitious views--views which she
+was determined to carry into effect in defiance of every obstacle, and
+in order to accomplish which she would not have hesitated to sacrifice
+anything so unreasonable and contemptible as a girlish passion.
+
+When I reached the age of sixteen, my mother's plans began to develop
+themselves; and, at her suggestion, we moved to Dublin to sojourn for
+the winter, in order that no time might be lost in disposing of me to
+the best advantage.
+
+I had been too long accustomed to consider myself as of no importance
+whatever, to believe for a moment that I was in reality the cause of all
+the bustle and preparation which surrounded me; and being thus relieved
+from the pain which a consciousness of my real situation would have
+inflicted, I journeyed towards the capital with a feeling of total
+indifference.
+
+My father's wealth and connection had established him in the best
+society, and consequently, upon our arrival in the metropolis, we
+commanded whatever enjoyment or advantages its gaieties afforded.
+
+The tumult and novelty of the scenes in which I was involved did not
+fail considerably to amuse me, and my mind gradually recovered its tone,
+which was naturally cheerful.
+
+It was almost immediately known and reported that I was an heiress, and
+of course my attractions were pretty generally acknowledged.
+
+Among the many gentlemen whom it was my fortune to please, one, ere
+long, established himself in my mother's good graces, to the exclusion
+of all less important aspirants. However, I had not understood or even
+remarked his attentions, nor in the slightest degree suspected his or my
+mother's plans respecting me, when I was made aware of them rather
+abruptly by my mother herself.
+
+We had attended a splendid ball, given by Lord M----, at his residence
+in Stephen's Green, and I was, with the assistance of my waiting-maid,
+employed in rapidly divesting myself of the rich ornaments which, in
+profuseness and value, could scarcely have found their equals in any
+private family in Ireland.
+
+I had thrown myself into a lounging-chair beside the fire, listless and
+exhausted after the fatigues of the evening, when I was aroused from the
+reverie into which I had fallen by the sound of footsteps approaching my
+chamber, and my mother entered.
+
+"Fanny, my dear," said she, in her softest tone, "I wish to say a word
+or two with you before I go to rest. You are not fatigued, love, I
+hope?"
+
+"No, no, madam, I thank you," said I, rising at the same time from my
+seat, with the formal respect so little practised now.
+
+"Sit down, my dear," said she, placing herself upon a chair beside me;
+"I must chat with you for a quarter of an hour or so. Saunders" (to the
+maid), "you may leave the room; do not close the room door, but shut
+that of the lobby."
+
+This precaution against curious ears having been taken as directed, my
+mother proceeded:
+
+"You have observed, I should suppose, my dearest Fanny--indeed, you
+_must_ have observed Lord Glenfallen's marked attentions to you?"
+
+"I assure you, madam--" I began.
+
+"Well, well, that is all right," interrupted my mother. "Of course, you
+must be modest upon the matter; but listen to me for a few moments, my
+love, and I will prove to your satisfaction that your modesty is quite
+unnecessary in this case. You have done better than we could have hoped,
+at least, so very soon. Lord Glenfallen is in love with you. I give you
+joy of your conquest;" and, saying this, my mother kissed my forehead.
+
+"In love with me!" I exclaimed in unfeigned astonishment.
+
+"Yes, in love with you," repeated my mother; "devotedly, distractedly in
+love with you. Why, my dear, what is there wonderful in it? Look in the
+glass, and look at these," she continued, pointing, with a smile, to the
+jewels which I had just removed from my person, and which now lay in a
+glittering heap upon the table.
+
+"May there not--" said I, hesitating between confusion and real alarm,
+"is it not possible that some mistake may be at the bottom of all
+this?"
+
+"Mistake, dearest! none," said my mother. "None; none in the world.
+Judge for yourself; read this, my love." And she placed in my hand a
+letter, addressed to herself, the seal of which was broken. I read it
+through with no small surprise. After some very fine complimentary
+flourishes upon my beauty and perfections, as also upon the antiquity
+and high reputation of our family, it went on to make a formal proposal
+of marriage, to be communicated or not to me at present, as my mother
+should deem expedient; and the letter wound up by a request that the
+writer might be permitted, upon our return to Ashtown House, which was
+soon to take place, as the spring was now tolerably advanced, to visit
+us for a few days, in case his suit was approved.
+
+"Well, well, my dear," said my mother, impatiently; "do you know who
+Lord Glenfallen is?"
+
+"I do, madam," said I, rather timidly; for I dreaded an altercation with
+my mother.
+
+"Well, dear, and what frightens you?" continued she. "Are you afraid of
+a title? What has he done to alarm you? He is neither old nor ugly."
+
+I was silent, though I might have said, "He is neither young nor
+handsome."
+
+"My dear Fanny," continued my mother, "in sober seriousness, you have
+been most fortunate in engaging the affections of a nobleman such as
+Lord Glenfallen, young and wealthy, with first-rate--yes, acknowledged
+_first-rate_ abilities, and of a family whose influence is not exceeded
+by that of any in Ireland. Of course, you see the offer in the same
+light that I do--indeed, I think you _must_."
+
+This was uttered in no very dubious tone. I was so much astonished by
+the suddenness of the whole communication, that I literally did not know
+what to say.
+
+"You are not in love?" said my mother, turning sharply, and fixing her
+dark eyes upon me with severe scrutiny.
+
+"No, madam," said I, promptly; horrified--what young lady would not have
+been?--at such a query.
+
+"I'm glad to hear it," said my mother, drily. "Once, nearly twenty years
+ago, a friend of mine consulted me as to how he should deal with a
+daughter who had made what they call a love-match--beggared herself, and
+disgraced her family; and I said, without hesitation, take no care for
+her, but cast her off. Such punishment I awarded for an offence
+committed against the reputation of a family not my own; and what I
+advised respecting the child of another, with full as small compunction
+I would _do_ with mine. I cannot conceive anything more unreasonable or
+intolerable than that the fortune and the character of a family should
+be marred by the idle caprices of a girl."
+
+She spoke this with great severity, and paused as if she expected some
+observation from me.
+
+I, however, said nothing.
+
+"But I need not explain to you, my dear Fanny," she continued, "my views
+upon this subject; you have always known them well, and I have never yet
+had reason to believe you are likely to offend me voluntarily, or to
+abuse or neglect any of those advantages which reason and duty tell you
+should be improved. Come hither, my dear; kiss me, and do not look so
+frightened. Well, now, about this letter--you need not answer it yet; of
+course, you must be allowed time to make up your mind. In the meantime,
+I will write to his lordship to give him my permission to visit us at
+Ashtown. Good-night, my love."
+
+And thus ended one of the most disagreeable, not to say astounding,
+conversations I had ever had. It would not be easy to describe exactly
+what were my feelings towards Lord Glenfallen;--whatever might have been
+my mother's suspicions, my heart was perfectly disengaged--and hitherto,
+although I had not been made in the slightest degree acquainted with his
+real views, I had liked him very much as an agreeable, well-informed
+man, whom I was always glad to meet in society. He had served in the
+navy in early life, and the polish which his manners received in his
+after intercourse with courts and cities had not served to obliterate
+that frankness of manner which belongs proverbially to the sailor.
+
+Whether this apparent candour went deeper than the outward bearing, I
+was yet to learn. However, there was no doubt that, as far as I had seen
+of Lord Glenfallen, he was, though perhaps not so young as might have
+been desired in a lover, a singularly pleasing man; and whatever feeling
+unfavourable to him had found its way into my mind, arose altogether
+from the dread, not an unreasonable one, that constraint might be
+practised upon my inclinations. I reflected, however, that Lord
+Glenfallen was a wealthy man, and one highly thought of; and although I
+could never expect to love him in the romantic sense of the term, yet I
+had no doubt but that, all things considered, I might be more happy with
+him than I could hope to be at home.
+
+When next I met him it was with no small embarrassment; his tact and
+good breeding, however, soon reassured me, and effectually prevented
+my awkwardness being remarked upon. And I had the satisfaction of
+leaving Dublin for the country with the full conviction that nobody,
+not even those most intimate with me, even suspected the fact of Lord
+Glenfallen's having made me a formal proposal.
+
+This was to me a very serious subject of self-gratulation, for, besides
+my instinctive dread of becoming the topic of the speculations of
+gossip, I felt that if the situation which I occupied in relation to
+him were made publicly known, I should stand committed in a manner which
+would scarcely leave me the power of retraction.
+
+The period at which Lord Glenfallen had arranged to visit Ashtown House
+was now fast approaching, and it became my mother's wish to form me
+thoroughly to her will, and to obtain my consent to the proposed
+marriage before his arrival, so that all things might proceed smoothly,
+without apparent opposition or objection upon my part. Whatever
+objections, therefore, I had entertained were to be subdued; whatever
+disposition to resistance I had exhibited or had been supposed to feel,
+were to be completely eradicated before he made his appearance; and my
+mother addressed herself to the task with a decision and energy against
+which even the barriers her imagination had created could hardly have
+stood.
+
+If she had, however, expected any determined opposition from me, she was
+agreeably disappointed. My heart was perfectly free, and all my feelings
+of liking and preference were in favour of Lord Glenfallen; and I well
+knew that in case I refused to dispose of myself as I was desired, my
+mother had alike the power and the will to render my existence as
+utterly miserable as even the most ill-assorted marriage could possibly
+have made it.
+
+You will remember, my good friend, that I was very young and very
+completely under the control of my parents, both of whom, my mother
+particularly, were unscrupulously determined in matters of this kind,
+and willing, when voluntary obedience on the part of those within their
+power was withheld, to compel a forced acquiescence by an unsparing use
+of all the engines of the most stern and rigorous domestic discipline.
+
+All these combined, not unnaturally induced me to resolve upon yielding
+at once, and without useless opposition, to what appeared almost to be
+my fate.
+
+The appointed time was come, and my now accepted suitor arrived; he was
+in high spirits, and, if possible, more entertaining than ever.
+
+I was not, however, quite in the mood to enjoy his sprightliness; but
+whatever I wanted in gaiety was amply made up in the triumphant and
+gracious good-humour of my mother, whose smiles of benevolence and
+exultation were showered around as bountifully as the summer sunshine.
+
+I will not weary you with unnecessary details. Let it suffice to say,
+that I was married to Lord Glenfallen with all the attendant pomp and
+circumstance of wealth, rank, and grandeur. According to the usage of
+the times, now humanely reformed, the ceremony was made, until long past
+midnight, the season of wild, uproarious, and promiscuous feasting and
+revelry.
+
+Of all this I have a painfully vivid recollection, and particularly of
+the little annoyances inflicted upon me by the dull and coarse jokes of
+the wits and wags who abound in all such places, and upon all such
+occasions.
+
+I was not sorry when, after a few days, Lord Glenfallen's carriage
+appeared at the door to convey us both from Ashtown; for any change
+would have been a relief from the irksomeness of ceremonial and
+formality which the visits received in honour of my newly-acquired
+titles hourly entailed upon me.
+
+[Illustration: THE SEASON OF WILD, UPROARIOUS, AND PROMISCUOUS FEASTING
+AND REVELRY.]
+
+It was arranged that we were to proceed to Cahergillagh, one of the
+Glenfallen estates, lying, however, in a southern county; so that, owing
+to the difficulty of the roads at the time, a tedious journey of three
+days intervened.
+
+I set forth with my noble companion, followed by the regrets of some,
+and by the envy of many; though God knows I little deserved the latter.
+The three days of travel were now almost spent, when passing the brow of
+a wild heathy hill, the domain of Cahergillagh opened suddenly upon our
+view.
+
+It formed a striking and a beautiful scene. A lake of considerable
+extent stretching away towards the west, and reflecting from its broad,
+smooth waters the rich glow of the setting sun, was overhung by steep
+hills, covered by a rich mantle of velvet sward, broken here and there
+by the grey front of some old rock, and exhibiting on their shelving
+sides and on their slopes and hollows every variety of light and shade.
+A thick wood of dwarf oak, birch, and hazel skirted these hills, and
+clothed the shores of the lake, running out in rich luxuriance upon
+every promontory, and spreading upward considerably upon the side of the
+hills.
+
+"There lies the enchanted castle," said Lord Glenfallen, pointing
+towards a considerable level space intervening between two of the
+picturesque hills which rose dimly around the lake.
+
+This little plain was chiefly occupied by the same low, wild wood which
+covered the other parts of the domain; but towards the centre, a mass of
+taller and statelier forest trees stood darkly grouped together, and
+among them stood an ancient square tower, with many buildings of a
+humbler character, forming together the manor-house, or, as it was more
+usually called, the Court of Cahergillagh.
+
+As we approached the level upon which the mansion stood, the winding
+road gave us many glimpses of the time-worn castle and its surrounding
+buildings; and seen as it was through the long vistas of the fine old
+trees, and with the rich glow of evening upon it, I have seldom beheld
+an object more picturesquely striking.
+
+I was glad to perceive, too, that here and there the blue curling smoke
+ascended from stacks of chimneys now hidden by the rich, dark ivy which,
+in a great measure, covered the building. Other indications of comfort
+made themselves manifest as we approached; and indeed, though the place
+was evidently one of considerable antiquity, it had nothing whatever of
+the gloom of decay about it.
+
+"You must not, my love," said Lord Glenfallen, "imagine this place
+worse than it is. I have no taste for antiquity--at least I should
+not choose a house to reside in because it is old. Indeed, I do not
+recollect that I was even so romantic as to overcome my aversion to
+rats and rheumatism, those faithful attendants upon your noble relics
+of feudalism; and I much prefer a snug, modern, unmysterious bedroom,
+with well-aired sheets, to the waving tapestry, mildewed cushions, and
+all the other interesting appliances of romance. However, though I
+cannot promise you all the discomfort generally belonging to an old
+castle, you will find legends and ghostly lore enough to claim your
+respect; and if old Martha be still to the fore, as I trust she is,
+you will soon have a supernatural and appropriate anecdote for every
+closet and corner of the mansion. But here we are--so, without more
+ado, welcome to Cahergillagh!"
+
+We now entered the hall of the castle, and while the domestics were
+employed in conveying our trunks and other luggage which we had
+brought with us for immediate use, to the apartments which Lord
+Glenfallen had selected for himself and me, I went with him into a
+spacious sitting-room, wainscoted with finely-polished black oak, and
+hung round with the portraits of various worthies of the Glenfallen
+family.
+
+This room looked out upon an extensive level covered with the softest
+green sward, and irregularly bounded by the wild wood I have before
+mentioned, through the leafy arcade formed by whose boughs and trunks
+the level beams of the setting sun were pouring. In the distance a group
+of dairy-maids were plying their task, which they accompanied throughout
+with snatches of Irish songs which, mellowed by the distance, floated
+not unpleasingly to the ear; and beside them sat or lay, with all the
+grave importance of conscious protection, six or seven large dogs of
+various kinds. Farther in the distance, and through the cloisters of the
+arching wood, two or three ragged urchins were employed in driving such
+stray kine as had wandered farther than the rest to join their fellows.
+
+As I looked upon the scene which I have described, a feeling of
+tranquillity and happiness came upon me, which I have never experienced
+in so strong a degree; and so strange to me was the sensation that my
+eyes filled with tears.
+
+Lord Glenfallen mistook the cause of my emotion, and taking me kindly
+and tenderly by the hand, he said:
+
+"Do not suppose, my love, that it is my intention to _settle_ here.
+Whenever you desire to leave this, you have only to let me know your
+wish, and it shall be complied with; so I must entreat of you not to
+suffer any circumstances which I can control to give you one moment's
+uneasiness. But here is old Martha; you must be introduced to her, one
+of the heirlooms of our family."
+
+A hale, good-humoured, erect old woman was Martha, and an agreeable
+contrast to the grim, decrepit hag which my fancy had conjured up, as
+the depositary of all the horrible tales in which I doubted not this old
+place was most fruitful.
+
+She welcomed me and her master with a profusion of gratulations,
+alternately kissing our hands and apologizing for the liberty; until at
+length Lord Glenfallen put an end to this somewhat fatiguing ceremonial
+by requesting her to conduct me to my chamber, if it were prepared for
+my reception.
+
+I followed Martha up an old-fashioned oak staircase into a long, dim
+passage, at the end of which lay the door which communicated with the
+apartments which had been selected for our use; here the old woman
+stopped, and respectfully requested me to proceed.
+
+I accordingly opened the door, and was about to enter, when something
+like a mass of black tapestry, as it appeared, disturbed by my sudden
+approach, fell from above the door, so as completely to screen the
+aperture; the startling unexpectedness of the occurrence, and the
+rustling noise which the drapery made in its descent, caused me
+involuntarily to step two or three paces backward. I turned, smiling
+and half-ashamed, to the old servant, and said,--
+
+"You see what a coward I am."
+
+The woman looked puzzled, and, without saying any more, I was about to
+draw aside the curtain and enter the room, when, upon turning to do so,
+I was surprised to find that nothing whatever interposed to obstruct the
+passage.
+
+I went into the room, followed by the servant-woman, and was amazed to
+find that it, like the one below, was wainscoted, and that nothing like
+drapery was to be found near the door.
+
+"Where is it?" said I; "what has become of it?"
+
+"What does your ladyship wish to know?" said the old woman.
+
+"Where is the black curtain that fell across the door, when I attempted
+first to come to my chamber?" answered I.
+
+"The cross of Christ about us!" said the old woman, turning suddenly
+pale.
+
+"What is the matter, my good friend?" said I; "you seem frightened."
+
+"Oh no, no, your ladyship," said the old woman, endeavouring to conceal
+her agitation; but in vain, for tottering towards a chair, she sank into
+it, looking so deadly pale and horror-struck that I thought every moment
+she would faint.
+
+"Merciful God, keep us from harm and danger!" muttered she at length.
+
+"What can have terrified you so?" said I, beginning to fear that she had
+seen something more than had met my eye. "You appear ill, my poor
+woman!"
+
+"Nothing, nothing, my lady," said she, rising. "I beg your ladyship's
+pardon for making so bold. May the great God defend us from misfortune!"
+
+"Martha," said I, "something _has_ frightened you very much, and I
+insist on knowing what it is; your keeping me in the dark upon the
+subject will make me much more uneasy than anything you could tell me.
+I desire you, therefore, to let me know what agitates you; I command you
+to tell me."
+
+"Your ladyship said you saw a black curtain falling across the door when
+you were coming into the room," said the old woman.
+
+"I did," said I; "but though the whole thing appears somewhat strange, I
+cannot see anything in the matter to agitate you so excessively."
+
+"It's for no good you saw that, my lady," said the crone; "something
+terrible is coming. It's a sign, my lady--a sign that never fails."
+
+"Explain, explain what you mean, my good woman," said I, in spite of
+myself, catching more than I could account for, of her superstitious
+terror.
+
+"Whenever something--something _bad_ is going to happen to the
+Glenfallen family, some one that belongs to them sees a black
+handkerchief or curtain just waved or falling before their faces. I saw
+it myself," continued she, lowering her voice, "when I was only a little
+girl, and I'll never forget it. I often heard of it before, though I
+never saw it till then, nor since, praised be God. But I was going into
+Lady Jane's room to waken her in the morning; and sure enough when I got
+first to the bed and began to draw the curtain, something dark was waved
+across the division, but only for a moment; and when I saw rightly into
+the bed, there she was lying cold and dead, God be merciful to me! So,
+my lady, there is small blame to me to be daunted when any one of the
+family sees it; for it's many the story I heard of it, though I saw it
+but once."
+
+I was not of a superstitious turn of mind, yet I could not resist a
+feeling of awe very nearly allied to the fear which my companion had
+so unreservedly expressed; and when you consider my situation, the
+loneliness, antiquity, and gloom of the place, you will allow that the
+weakness was not without excuse.
+
+In spite of old Martha's boding predictions, however, time flowed on in
+an unruffled course. One little incident, however, though trifling in
+itself, I must relate, as it serves to make what follows more
+intelligible.
+
+Upon the day after my arrival, Lord Glenfallen of course desired to make
+me acquainted with the house and domain; and accordingly we set forth
+upon our ramble. When returning, he became for some time silent and
+moody, a state so unusual with him as considerably to excite my
+surprise.
+
+I endeavoured by observations and questions to arouse him--but in vain.
+At length, as we approached the house, he said, as if speaking to
+himself,--
+
+"'Twere madness--madness--madness," repeating the words bitterly; "sure
+and speedy ruin."
+
+There was here a long pause; and at length, turning sharply towards me,
+in a tone very unlike that in which he had hitherto addressed me, he
+said,--
+
+"Do you think it possible that a woman can keep a secret?"
+
+"I am sure," said I, "that women are very much belied upon the score of
+talkativeness, and that I may answer your question with the same
+directness with which you put it--I reply that I _do_ think a woman can
+keep a secret."
+
+"But I do not," said he, drily.
+
+We walked on in silence for a time. I was much astonished at his
+unwonted abruptness--I had almost said rudeness.
+
+After a considerable pause he seemed to recollect himself, and with an
+effort resuming his sprightly manner, he said,--
+
+"Well, well, the next thing to keeping a secret well is not to desire to
+possess one; talkativeness and curiosity generally go together. Now I
+shall make test of you, in the first place, respecting the latter of
+these qualities. I shall be your _Bluebeard_--tush, why do I trifle
+thus? Listen to me, my dear Fanny; I speak now in solemn earnest. What I
+desire is intimately, inseparably connected with your happiness and
+honour as well as my own; and your compliance with my request will not
+be difficult. It will impose upon you a very trifling restraint during
+your sojourn here, which certain events which have occurred since our
+arrival have determined me shall not be a long one. You must promise me,
+upon your sacred honour, that you will visit _only_ that part of the
+castle which can be reached from the front entrance, leaving the back
+entrance and the part of the building commanded immediately by it to the
+menials, as also the small garden whose high wall you see yonder; and
+never at any time seek to pry or peep into them, nor to open the door
+which communicates from the front part of the house through the corridor
+with the back. I do not urge this in jest or in caprice, but from
+a solemn conviction that danger and misery will be the certain
+consequences of your not observing what I prescribe. I cannot explain
+myself further at present. Promise me, then, these things, as you hope
+for peace here and for mercy hereafter."
+
+I did make the promise as desired, and he appeared relieved; his manner
+recovered all its gaiety and elasticity: but the recollection of the
+strange scene which I have just described dwelt painfully upon my mind.
+
+More than a month passed away without any occurrence worth recording;
+but I was not destined to leave Cahergillagh without further adventure.
+One day, intending to enjoy the pleasant sunshine in a ramble through
+the woods, I ran up to my room to procure my hat and cloak. Upon
+entering the chamber I was surprised and somewhat startled to find it
+occupied. Beside the fireplace, and nearly opposite the door, seated in
+a large, old-fashioned elbow-chair, was placed the figure of a lady. She
+appeared to be nearer fifty than forty, and was dressed suitably to her
+age, in a handsome suit of flowered silk; she had a profusion of
+trinkets and jewellery about her person, and many rings upon her
+fingers. But although very rich, her dress was not gaudy or in ill
+taste. But what was remarkable in the lady was, that although her
+features were handsome, and upon the whole pleasing, the pupil of each
+eye was dimmed with the whiteness of cataract, and she was evidently
+stone-blind. I was for some seconds so surprised at this unaccountable
+apparition, that I could not find words to address her.
+
+[Illustration: UPON ENTERING THE CHAMBER, I WAS SURPRISED AND SOMEWHAT
+STARTLED TO FIND IT OCCUPIED.]
+
+"Madam," said I, "there must be some mistake here--this is my
+bedchamber."
+
+"Marry come up," said the lady, sharply; "_your_ chamber! Where is Lord
+Glenfallen?"
+
+"He is below, madam," replied I; "and I am convinced he will be not a
+little surprised to find you here."
+
+"I do not think he will," said she, "with your good leave; talk of what
+you know something about. Tell him I want him. Why does the minx
+dilly-dally so?"
+
+In spite of the awe which this grim lady inspired, there was something
+in her air of confident superiority which, when I considered our
+relative situations, was not a little irritating.
+
+"Do you know, madam, to whom you speak?" said I.
+
+"I neither know nor care," said she; "but I presume that you are some
+one about the house, so again I desire you, if you wish to continue
+here, to bring your master hither forthwith."
+
+"I must tell you, madam," said I, "that I am Lady Glenfallen."
+
+"What's that?" said the stranger, rapidly.
+
+"I say, madam," I repeated, approaching her that I might be more
+distinctly heard, "that I am Lady Glenfallen."
+
+"It's a lie, you trull!" cried she, in an accent which made me start,
+and at the same time, springing forward, she seized me in her grasp, and
+shook me violently, repeating, "It's a lie--it's a lie!" with a rapidity
+and vehemence which swelled every vein of her face. The violence of her
+action, and the fury which convulsed her face, effectually terrified me,
+and disengaging myself from her grasp, I screamed as loud as I could for
+help. The blind woman continued to pour out a torrent of abuse upon me,
+foaming at the mouth with rage, and impotently shaking her clenched fist
+towards me.
+
+I heard Lord Glenfallen's step upon the stairs, and I instantly ran out;
+as I passed him I perceived that he was deadly pale, and just caught the
+words: "I hope that demon has not hurt you?"
+
+I made some answer, I forget what, and he entered the chamber, the door
+of which he locked upon the inside. What passed within I know not; but I
+heard the voices of the two speakers raised in loud and angry
+altercation.
+
+I thought I heard the shrill accents of the woman repeat the words,
+"Let her look to herself;" but I could not be quite sure. This short
+sentence, however, was, to my alarmed imagination, pregnant with fearful
+meaning.
+
+The storm at length subsided, though not until after a conference of
+more than two long hours. Lord Glenfallen then returned, pale and
+agitated.
+
+"That unfortunate woman," said he, "is out of her mind. I daresay she
+treated you to some of her ravings; but you need not dread any further
+interruption from her: I have brought her so far to reason. She did not
+hurt you, I trust."
+
+"No, no," said I; "but she terrified me beyond measure."
+
+"Well," said he, "she is likely to behave better for the future; and I
+dare swear that neither you nor she would desire, after what has passed,
+to meet again."
+
+This occurrence, so startling and unpleasant, so involved in mystery,
+and giving rise to so many painful surmises, afforded me no very
+agreeable food for rumination.
+
+All attempts on my part to arrive at the truth were baffled; Lord
+Glenfallen evaded all my inquiries, and at length peremptorily forbade
+any further allusion to the matter. I was thus obliged to rest satisfied
+with what I had actually seen, and to trust to time to resolve the
+perplexities in which the whole transaction had involved me.
+
+Lord Glenfallen's temper and spirits gradually underwent a complete and
+most painful change; he became silent and abstracted, his manner to me
+was abrupt and often harsh, some grievous anxiety seemed ever present to
+his mind; and under its influence his spirits sank and his temper became
+soured.
+
+I soon perceived that his gaiety was rather that which the stir and
+excitement of society produce, than the result of a healthy habit of
+mind; every day confirmed me in the opinion, that the considerate
+good-nature which I had so much admired in him was little more than
+a mere manner; and to my infinite grief and surprise, the gay, kind,
+open-hearted nobleman who had for months followed and flattered me, was
+rapidly assuming the form of a gloomy, morose, and singularly selfish
+man. This was a bitter discovery, and I strove to conceal it from myself
+as long as I could; but the truth was not to be denied, and I was forced
+to believe that my husband no longer loved me, and that he was at little
+pains to conceal the alteration in his sentiments.
+
+One morning after breakfast, Lord Glenfallen had been for some time
+walking silently up and down the room, buried in his moody reflections,
+when pausing suddenly, and turning towards me, he exclaimed:
+
+"I have it--I have it! We must go abroad, and stay there too; and
+if that does not answer, why--why, we must try some more effectual
+expedient. Lady Glenfallen, I have become involved in heavy
+embarrassments. A wife, you know, must share the fortunes of her
+husband, for better for worse; but I will waive my right if you prefer
+remaining here--here at Cahergillagh. For I would not have you seen
+elsewhere without the state to which your rank entitles you; besides, it
+would break your poor mother's heart," he added, with sneering gravity.
+"So make up your mind--Cahergillagh or France. I will start if possible
+in a week, so determine between this and then."
+
+He left the room, and in a few moments I saw him ride past the window,
+followed by a mounted servant. He had directed a domestic to inform me
+that he should not be back until the next day.
+
+I was in very great doubt as to what course of conduct I should pursue
+as to accompanying him in the continental tour so suddenly determined
+upon. I felt that it would be a hazard too great to encounter; for at
+Cahergillagh I had always the consciousness to sustain me, that if his
+temper at any time led him into violent or unwarrantable treatment of
+me, I had a remedy within reach, in the protection and support of my own
+family, from all useful and effective communication with whom, if once
+in France, I should be entirely debarred.
+
+As to remaining at Cahergillagh in solitude, and, for aught I
+knew, exposed to hidden dangers, it appeared to me scarcely less
+objectionable than the former proposition; and yet I feared that with
+one or other I must comply, unless I was prepared to come to an actual
+breach with Lord Glenfallen. Full of these unpleasing doubts and
+perplexities, I retired to rest.
+
+I was wakened, after having slept uneasily for some hours, by some
+person shaking me rudely by the shoulder; a small lamp burned in my
+room, and by its light, to my horror and amazement, I discovered that my
+visitant was the self-same blind old lady who had so terrified me a few
+weeks before.
+
+I started up in the bed, with a view to ring the bell, and alarm the
+domestics; but she instantly anticipated me by saying:
+
+"Do not be frightened, silly girl! If I had wished to harm you, I could
+have done it while you were sleeping; I need not have wakened you.
+Listen to me, now, attentively and fearlessly, for what I have to say
+interests you to the full as much as it does me. Tell me here, in the
+presence of God, did Lord Glenfallen marry you--_actually marry you_?
+Speak the truth, woman."
+
+"As surely as I live and speak," I replied, "did Lord Glenfallen marry
+me, in presence of more than a hundred witnesses."
+
+"Well," continued she, "he should have told you _then_, before you
+married him, that he had a wife living,--that I am his wife. I feel you
+tremble--tush! do not be frightened. I do not mean to harm you. Mark me
+now--you are _not_ his wife. When I make my story known you will be so
+neither in the eye of God nor of man. You must leave this house upon
+to-morrow. Let the world know that your husband has another wife living;
+go you into retirement, and leave him to justice, which will surely
+overtake him. If you remain in this house after to-morrow, you will reap
+the bitter fruits of your sin."
+
+So saying, she quitted the room, leaving me very little disposed to
+sleep.
+
+Here was food for my very worst and most terrible suspicions; still
+there was not enough to remove all doubt. I had no proof of the truth of
+this woman's statement.
+
+Taken by itself, there was nothing to induce me to attach weight to
+it; but when I viewed it in connection with the extraordinary mystery
+of some of Lord Glenfallen's proceedings, his strange anxiety to
+exclude me from certain portions of the mansion, doubtless lest I
+should encounter this person--the strong influence, nay, command which
+she possessed over him, a circumstance clearly established by the very
+fact of her residing in the very place where, of all others, he should
+least have desired to find her--her thus acting, and continuing to act
+in direct contradiction to his wishes; when, I say, I viewed her
+disclosure in connection with all these circumstances, I could not
+help feeling that there was at least a fearful verisimilitude in the
+allegations which she had made.
+
+Still I was not satisfied, nor nearly so. Young minds have a
+reluctance almost insurmountable to believing, upon anything short of
+unquestionable proof, the existence of premeditated guilt in anyone
+whom they have ever trusted; and in support of this feeling I was
+assured that if the assertion of Lord Glenfallen, which nothing in
+this woman's manner had led me to disbelieve, were true, namely that
+her mind was unsound, the whole fabric of my doubts and fears must
+fall to the ground.
+
+I determined to state to Lord Glenfallen freely and accurately the
+substance of the communication which I had just heard, and in his words
+and looks to seek for its proof or refutation. Full of these thoughts,
+I remained wakeful and excited all night, every moment fancying that I
+heard the step or saw the figure of my recent visitor, towards whom I
+felt a species of horror and dread which I can hardly describe.
+
+There was something in her face, though her features had evidently been
+handsome, and were not, at first sight, unpleasing, which, upon a nearer
+inspection, seemed to indicate the habitual prevalence and indulgence
+of evil passions, and a power of expressing mere animal anger with an
+intenseness that I have seldom seen equalled, and to which an almost
+unearthly effect was given by the convulsive quivering of the sightless
+eyes.
+
+You may easily suppose that it was no very pleasing reflection to me to
+consider that, whenever caprice might induce her to return, I was within
+the reach of this violent and, for aught I knew, insane woman, who had,
+upon that very night, spoken to me in a tone of menace, of which her
+mere words, divested of the manner and look with which she uttered them,
+can convey but a faint idea.
+
+Will you believe me when I tell you that I was actually afraid to leave
+my bed in order to secure the door, lest I should again encounter the
+dreadful object lurking in some corner or peeping from behind the
+window-curtains, so very a child was I in my fears?
+
+The morning came, and with it Lord Glenfallen. I knew not, and indeed I
+cared not, where he might have been; my thoughts were wholly engrossed
+by the terrible fears and suspicions which my last night's conference
+had suggested to me. He was, as usual, gloomy and abstracted, and I
+feared in no very fitting mood to hear what I had to say with patience,
+whether the charges were true or false.
+
+I was, however, determined not to suffer the opportunity to pass, or
+Lord Glenfallen to leave the room, until, at all hazards, I had
+unburdened my mind.
+
+"My lord," said I, after a long silence, summoning up all my firmness,
+"my lord, I wish to say a few words to you upon a matter of very great
+importance, of very deep concernment to you and to me."
+
+I fixed my eyes upon him to discern, if possible, whether the
+announcement caused him any uneasiness; but no symptom of any such
+feeling was perceptible.
+
+"Well, my dear," said he, "this is no doubt a very grave preface, and
+portends, I have no doubt, something extraordinary. Pray let us have it
+without more ado."
+
+He took a chair, and seated himself nearly opposite to me.
+
+"My lord," said I, "I have seen the person who alarmed me so much a
+short time since, the blind lady, again, upon last night." His face,
+upon which my eyes were fixed, turned pale; he hesitated for a moment,
+and then said:
+
+"And did you, pray, madam, so totally forget or spurn my express
+command, as to enter that portion of the house from which your promise,
+I might say your oath, excluded you? Answer me that!" he added fiercely.
+
+"My lord," said I, "I have neither forgotten your _commands_, since
+such they were, nor disobeyed them. I was, last night, wakened from my
+sleep, as I lay in my own chamber, and accosted by the person whom I
+have mentioned. How she found access to the room I cannot pretend to
+say."
+
+"Ha! this must be looked to," said he, half reflectively. "And pray,"
+added he quickly, while in turn he fixed his eyes upon me, "what did
+this person say? since some comment upon her communication forms, no
+doubt, the sequel to your preface."
+
+"Your lordship is not mistaken," said I; "her statement was so
+extraordinary that I could not think of withholding it from you. She
+told me, my lord, that you had a wife living at the time you married me,
+and that she was that wife."
+
+Lord Glenfallen became ashy pale, almost livid; he made two or three
+efforts to clear his voice to speak, but in vain, and turning suddenly
+from me, he walked to the window. The horror and dismay which, in the
+olden time, overwhelmed the woman of Endor when her spells unexpectedly
+conjured the dead into her presence, were but types of what I felt when
+thus presented with what appeared to be almost unequivocal evidence of
+the guilt whose existence I had before so strongly doubted.
+
+There was a silence of some moments, during which it were hard to
+conjecture whether I or my companion suffered most.
+
+Lord Glenfallen soon recovered his self-command; he returned to the
+table, again sat down, and said:
+
+"What you have told me has so astonished me, has unfolded such a tissue
+of motiveless guilt, and in a quarter from which I had so little reason
+to look for ingratitude or treachery, that your announcement almost
+deprived me of speech; the person in question, however, has one excuse,
+her mind is, as I told you before, unsettled. You should have remembered
+that, and hesitated to receive as unexceptionable evidence against the
+honour of your husband, the ravings of a lunatic. I now tell you that
+this is the last time I shall speak to you upon this subject, and, in
+the presence of the God who is to judge me, and as I hope for mercy in
+the day of judgment, I swear that the charge thus brought against me is
+utterly false, unfounded, and ridiculous. I defy the world in any point
+to taint my honour; and, as I have never taken the opinion of madmen
+touching your character or morals, I think it but fair to require that
+you will evince a like tenderness for me; and now, once for all, never
+again dare to repeat to me your insulting suspicions, or the clumsy and
+infamous calumnies of fools. I shall instantly let the worthy lady who
+contrived this somewhat original device understand fully my opinion upon
+the matter. Good morning."
+
+And with these words he left me again in doubt, and involved in all the
+horrors of the most agonizing suspense.
+
+I had reason to think that Lord Glenfallen wreaked his vengeance upon
+the author of the strange story which I had heard, with a violence which
+was not satisfied with mere words, for old Martha, with whom I was a
+great favourite, while attending me in my room, told me that she feared
+her master had ill-used the poor blind Dutchwoman, for that she had
+heard her scream as if the very life were leaving her, but added a
+request that I should not speak of what she had told me to any one,
+particularly to the master.
+
+"How do you know that she is a Dutchwoman?" inquired I, anxious to learn
+anything whatever that might throw a light upon the history of this
+person, who seemed to have resolved to mix herself up in my fortunes.
+
+"Why, my lady," answered Martha, "the master often calls her the Dutch
+hag, and other names you would not like to hear, and I am sure she is
+neither English nor Irish; for, whenever they talk together, they speak
+some queer foreign lingo, and fast enough, I'll be bound. But I ought
+not to talk about her at all; it might be as much as my place is worth
+to mention her, only you saw her first yourself, so there can be no
+great harm in speaking of her now."
+
+"How long has this lady been here?" continued I.
+
+"She came early on the morning after your ladyship's arrival," answered
+she; "but do not ask me any more, for the master would think nothing of
+turning me out of doors for daring to speak of her at all, much less to
+_you_, my lady."
+
+I did not like to press the poor woman further, for her reluctance to
+speak on this topic was evident and strong.
+
+You will readily believe that upon the very slight grounds which my
+information afforded, contradicted as it was by the solemn oath of my
+husband, and derived from what was, at best, a very questionable source,
+I could not take any very decisive measures whatever; and as to the
+menace of the strange woman who had thus unaccountably twice intruded
+herself into my chamber, although, at the moment, it occasioned me some
+uneasiness, it was not, even in my eyes, sufficiently formidable to
+induce my departure from Cahergillagh.
+
+A few nights after the scene which I have just mentioned, Lord
+Glenfallen having, as usual, retired early to his study, I was left
+alone in the parlour to amuse myself as best I might.
+
+It was not strange that my thoughts should often recur to the agitating
+scenes in which I had recently taken a part.
+
+The subject of my reflections, the solitude, the silence, and the
+lateness of the hour, as also the depression of spirits to which I had
+of late been a constant prey, tended to produce that nervous excitement
+which places us wholly at the mercy of the imagination.
+
+In order to calm my spirits I was endeavouring to direct my thoughts
+into some more pleasing channel, when I heard, or thought I heard,
+uttered within a few yards of me, in an odd, half-sneering tone, the
+words,--
+
+"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat."
+
+So vivid was the impression that I started to my feet, and involuntarily
+placed my hand upon my neck.
+
+I looked around the room for the speaker, but in vain.
+
+I went then to the room-door, which I opened, and peered into the
+passage, nearly faint with horror lest some leering, shapeless thing
+should greet me upon the threshold.
+
+When I had gazed long enough to assure myself that no strange object was
+within sight,--
+
+"I have been too much of a rake lately; I am racking out my nerves,"
+said I, speaking aloud, with a view to reassure myself.
+
+I rang the bell, and, attended by old Martha, I retired to settle for
+the night.
+
+While the servant was--as was her custom--arranging the lamp which I
+have already stated always burned during the night in my chamber, I was
+employed in undressing, and, in doing so, I had recourse to a large
+looking-glass which occupied a considerable portion of the wall in which
+it was fixed, rising from the ground to a height of about six feet; this
+mirror filled the space of a large panel in the wainscoting opposite the
+foot of the bed.
+
+[Illustration: SOMETHING LIKE A BLACK PALL WAS SLOWLY WAVED.]
+
+I had hardly been before it for the lapse of a minute when something
+like a black pall was slowly waved between me and it.
+
+"Oh, God! there it is," I exclaimed, wildly. "I have seen it again,
+Martha--the black cloth."
+
+"God be merciful to us, then!" answered she, tremulously crossing
+herself. "Some misfortune is over us."
+
+"No, no, Martha," said I, almost instantly recovering my collectedness;
+for, although of a nervous temperament, I had never been superstitious.
+"I do not believe in omens. You know I saw, or fancied I saw, this thing
+before, and nothing followed."
+
+"The Dutch lady came the next morning," replied she.
+
+"But surely her coming scarcely deserved such a dreadful warning," I
+replied.
+
+"She is a strange woman, my lady," said Martha; "and she is not _gone_
+yet--mark my words."
+
+"Well, well, Martha," said I, "I have not wit enough to change your
+opinions, nor inclination to alter mine; so I will talk no more of the
+matter. Good-night," and so I was left to my reflections.
+
+After lying for about an hour awake, I at length fell into a kind of
+doze; but my imagination was very busy, for I was startled from this
+unrefreshing sleep by fancying that I heard a voice close to my face
+exclaim as before,--
+
+"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat."
+
+The words were instantly followed by a loud burst of laughter.
+
+Quaking with horror, I awakened, and heard my husband enter the room.
+Even this was a relief.
+
+Scared as I was, however, by the tricks which my imagination had played
+me, I preferred remaining silent, and pretending to sleep, to attempting
+to engage my husband in conversation, for I well knew that his mood was
+such, that his words would not, in all probability, convey anything that
+had not better be unsaid and unheard.
+
+Lord Glenfallen went into his dressing-room, which lay upon the
+right-hand side of the bed. The door lying open, I could see him by
+himself, at full length upon a sofa, and, in about half an hour, I
+became aware, by his deep and regularly drawn respiration, that he was
+fast asleep.
+
+When slumber refuses to visit one, there is something peculiarly
+irritating, not to the temper, but to the nerves, in the consciousness
+that some one is in your immediate presence, actually enjoying the boon
+which you are seeking in vain; at least, I have always found it so, and
+never more than upon the present occasion.
+
+A thousand annoying imaginations harassed and excited me; every object
+which I looked upon, though ever so familiar, seemed to have acquired
+a strange phantom-like character, the varying shadows thrown by the
+flickering of the lamplight seemed shaping themselves into grotesque and
+unearthly forms, and whenever my eyes wandered to the sleeping figure
+of my husband, his features appeared to undergo the strangest and most
+demoniacal contortions.
+
+Hour after hour was told by the old clock, and each succeeding one found
+me, if possible, less inclined to sleep than its predecessor.
+
+It was now considerably past three; my eyes, in their involuntary
+wanderings, happened to alight upon the large mirror which was, as I
+have said, fixed in the wall opposite the foot of the bed. A view of it
+was commanded from where I lay, through the curtains. As I gazed fixedly
+upon it, I thought I perceived the broad sheet of glass shifting its
+position in relation to the bed; I riveted my eyes upon it with intense
+scrutiny; it was no deception, the mirror, as if acting of its own
+impulse, moved slowly aside, and disclosed a dark aperture in the wall,
+nearly as large as an ordinary door; a figure evidently stood in this,
+but the light was too dim to define it accurately.
+
+It stepped cautiously into the chamber, and with so little noise, that
+had I not actually seen it, I do not think I should have been aware of
+its presence. It was arrayed in a kind of woollen night-dress, and a
+white handkerchief or cloth was bound tightly about the head; I had no
+difficulty, spite of the strangeness of the attire, in recognizing the
+blind woman whom I so much dreaded.
+
+She stooped down, bringing her head nearly to the ground, and in that
+attitude she remained motionless for some moments, no doubt in order to
+ascertain if any suspicious sounds were stirring.
+
+She was apparently satisfied by her observations, for she immediately
+recommenced her silent progress towards a ponderous mahogany
+dressing-table of my husband's. When she had reached it, she paused
+again, and appeared to listen attentively for some minutes; she then
+noiselessly opened one of the drawers, from which, having groped for
+some time, she took something, which I soon perceived to be a case of
+razors. She opened it, and tried the edge of each of the two instruments
+upon the skin of her hand; she quickly selected one, which she fixed
+firmly in her grasp. She now stooped down as before, and having listened
+for a time, she, with the hand that was disengaged, groped her way into
+the dressing-room where Lord Glenfallen lay fast asleep.
+
+I was fixed as if in the tremendous spell of a nightmare. I could not
+stir even a finger; I could not lift my voice; I could not even breathe;
+and though I expected every moment to see the sleeping man murdered, I
+could not even close my eyes to shut out the horrible spectacle which I
+had not the power to avert.
+
+I saw the woman approach the sleeping figure, she laid the unoccupied
+hand lightly along his clothes, and having thus ascertained his
+identity, she, after a brief interval, turned back and again entered my
+chamber; here she bent down again to listen.
+
+I had now not a doubt but that the razor was intended for my throat; yet
+the terrific fascination which had locked all my powers so long, still
+continued to bind me fast.
+
+I felt that my life depended upon the slightest ordinary exertion, and
+yet I could not stir one joint from the position in which I lay, nor
+even make noise enough to waken Lord Glenfallen.
+
+The murderous woman now, with long, silent steps, approached the bed;
+my very heart seemed turning to ice; her left hand, that which was
+disengaged, was upon the pillow; she gradually slid it forward towards
+my head, and in an instant, with the speed of lightning, it was clutched
+in my hair, while, with the other hand, she dashed the razor at my
+throat.
+
+A slight inaccuracy saved me from instant death; the blow fell short,
+the point of the razor grazing my throat. In a moment, I know not how, I
+found myself at the other side of the bed, uttering shriek after shriek;
+the wretch was however determined, if possible, to murder me.
+
+Scrambling along by the curtains, she rushed round the bed towards me;
+I seized the handle of the door to make my escape. It was, however,
+fastened. At all events, I could not open it. From the mere instinct of
+recoiling terror, I shrunk back into a corner. She was now within a yard
+of me. Her hand was upon my face.
+
+I closed my eyes fast, expecting never to open them again, when a blow,
+inflicted from behind by a strong arm, stretched the monster senseless
+at my feet. At the same moment the door opened, and several domestics,
+alarmed by my cries, entered the apartment.
+
+I do not recollect what followed, for I fainted. One swoon succeeded
+another, so long and death-like, that my life was considered very
+doubtful.
+
+At about ten o'clock, however, I sank into a deep and refreshing sleep,
+from which I was awakened at about two, that I might swear my deposition
+before a magistrate, who attended for that purpose.
+
+I accordingly did so, as did also Lord Glenfallen, and the woman was
+fully committed to stand her trial at the ensuing assizes.
+
+I shall never forget the scene which the examination of the blind woman
+and of the other parties afforded.
+
+She was brought into the room in the custody of two servants. She wore
+a kind of flannel wrapper, which had not been changed since the night
+before. It was torn and soiled, and here and there smeared with blood,
+which had flowed in large quantities from a wound in her head. The
+white handkerchief had fallen off in the scuffle, and her grizzled hair
+fell in masses about her wild and deadly pale countenance.
+
+She appeared perfectly composed, however, and the only regret she
+expressed throughout, was at not having succeeded in her attempt, the
+object of which she did not pretend to conceal.
+
+On being asked her name, she called herself the Countess Glenfallen, and
+refused to give any other title.
+
+"The woman's name is Flora Van-Kemp," said Lord Glenfallen.
+
+"It _was_, it _was_, you perjured traitor and cheat!" screamed the
+woman; and then there followed a volley of words in some foreign
+language. "Is there a magistrate here?" she resumed; "I am Lord
+Glenfallen's wife--I'll prove it--write down my words. I am willing to
+be hanged or burned, so _he_ meets his deserts. I did try to kill that
+doll of his; but it was he who put it into my head to do it--two wives
+were too many; I was to murder her, or she was to hang me: listen to all
+I have to say."
+
+Here Lord Glenfallen interrupted.
+
+"I think, sir," said he, addressing the magistrate "that we had better
+proceed to business; this unhappy woman's furious recriminations but
+waste our time. If she refuses to answer your questions, you had better,
+I presume, take my depositions."
+
+"And are you going to swear away my life, you black-perjured murderer?"
+shrieked the woman. "Sir, sir, sir, you must hear me," she continued,
+addressing the magistrate; "I can convict him--he bid me murder that
+girl, and then, when I failed, he came behind me, and struck me down,
+and now he wants to swear away my life. Take down all I say."
+
+"If it is your intention," said the magistrate, "to confess the crime
+with which you stand charged, you may, upon producing sufficient
+evidence, criminate whom you please."
+
+"Evidence!--I have no evidence but myself," said the woman. "I will
+swear it all--write down my testimony--write it down, I say--we shall
+hang side by side, my brave lord--all your own handy-work, my gentle
+husband!"
+
+This was followed by a low, insolent, and sneering laugh, which, from
+one in her situation, was sufficiently horrible.
+
+"I will not at present hear anything," replied he, "but distinct answers
+to the questions which I shall put to you upon this matter."
+
+"Then you shall hear nothing," replied she sullenly, and no inducement
+or intimidation could bring her to speak again.
+
+Lord Glenfallen's deposition and mine were then given, as also those of
+the servants who had entered the room at the moment of my rescue.
+
+The magistrate then intimated that she was committed, and must proceed
+directly to gaol, whither she was brought in a carriage of Lord
+Glenfallen's, for his lordship was naturally by no means indifferent to
+the effect which her vehement accusations against himself might produce,
+if uttered before every chance hearer whom she might meet with between
+Cahergillagh and the place of confinement whither she was despatched.
+
+During the time which intervened between the committal and the trial of
+the prisoner, Lord Glenfallen seemed to suffer agonies of mind which
+baffled all description; he hardly ever slept, and when he did, his
+slumbers seemed but the instruments of new tortures, and his waking
+hours were, if possible, exceeded in intensity of terror by the dreams
+which disturbed his sleep.
+
+Lord Glenfallen rested, if to lie in the mere attitude of repose were
+to do so, in his dressing-room, and thus I had an opportunity of
+witnessing, far oftener than I wished it, the fearful workings of his
+mind. His agony often broke out into such fearful paroxysms that
+delirium and total loss of reason appeared to be impending. He
+frequently spoke of flying from the country, and bringing with him all
+the witnesses of the appalling scene upon which the prosecution was
+founded; then, again, he would fiercely lament that the blow which he
+had inflicted had not ended all.
+
+The assizes arrived, however, and upon the day appointed Lord Glenfallen
+and I attended in order to give our evidence.
+
+The cause was called on, and the prisoner appeared at the bar.
+
+Great curiosity and interest were felt respecting the trial, so that the
+court was crowded to excess.
+
+The prisoner, however, without appearing to take the trouble of
+listening to the indictment, pleaded guilty, and no representations on
+the part of the court availed to induce her to retract her plea.
+
+After much time had been wasted in a fruitless attempt to prevail upon
+her to reconsider her words, the court proceeded, according to the usual
+form, to pass sentence.
+
+This having been done, the prisoner was about to be removed, when she
+said, in a low, distinct voice:
+
+"A word--a word, my lord!--Is Lord Glenfallen here in the court?"
+
+On being told that he was, she raised her voice to a tone of loud
+menace, and continued:
+
+"Hardress, Earl of Glenfallen, I accuse you here in this court of
+justice of two crimes,--first, that you married a second wife while the
+first was living; and again, that you prompted me to the murder, for
+attempting which I am to die. Secure him--chain him--bring him here!"
+
+There was a laugh through the court at these words, which were naturally
+treated by the judge as a violent extemporary recrimination, and the
+woman was desired to be silent.
+
+"You won't take him, then?" she said; "you won't try him? You'll let him
+go free?"
+
+It was intimated by the court that he would certainly be allowed "to go
+free," and she was ordered again to be removed.
+
+Before, however, the mandate was executed, she threw her arms wildly
+into the air, and uttered one piercing shriek so full of preternatural
+rage and despair, that it might fitly have ushered a soul into those
+realms where hope can come no more.
+
+The sound still rang in my ears, months after the voice that had uttered
+it was for ever silent.
+
+The wretched woman was executed in accordance with the sentence which
+had been pronounced.
+
+For some time after this event, Lord Glenfallen appeared, if possible,
+to suffer more than he had done before, and altogether his language,
+which often amounted to half confessions of the guilt imputed to him,
+and all the circumstances connected with the late occurrences, formed a
+mass of evidence so convincing that I wrote to my father, detailing the
+grounds of my fears, and imploring him to come to Cahergillagh without
+delay, in order to remove me from my husband's control, previously to
+taking legal steps for a final separation.
+
+Circumstanced as I was, my existence was little short of intolerable,
+for, besides the fearful suspicions which attached to my husband, I
+plainly perceived that if Lord Glenfallen were not relieved, and that
+speedily, insanity must supervene. I therefore expected my father's
+arrival, or at least a letter to announce it, with indescribable
+impatience.
+
+About a week after the execution had taken place, Lord Glenfallen one
+morning met me with an unusually sprightly air.
+
+"Fanny," said he, "I have it now for the first time in my power to
+explain to your satisfaction everything which has hitherto appeared
+suspicious or mysterious in my conduct. After breakfast come with me to
+my study, and I shall, I hope, make all things clear."
+
+This invitation afforded me more real pleasure than I had experienced
+for months. Something had certainly occurred to tranquillize my
+husband's mind in no ordinary degree, and I thought it by no means
+impossible that he would, in the proposed interview, prove himself the
+most injured and innocent of men.
+
+Full of this hope, I repaired to his study at the appointed hour. He was
+writing busily when I entered the room, and just raising his eyes, he
+requested me to be seated.
+
+I took a chair as he desired, and remained silently awaiting his
+leisure, while he finished, folded, directed, and sealed his letter.
+Laying it then upon the table with the address downward, he said,--
+
+"My dearest Fanny, I know I must have appeared very strange to you and
+very unkind--often even cruel. Before the end of this week I will show
+you the necessity of my conduct--how impossible it was that I should
+have seemed otherwise. I am conscious that many acts of mine must have
+inevitably given rise to painful suspicions--suspicions which, indeed,
+upon one occasion, you very properly communicated to me. I have
+got two letters from a quarter which commands respect, containing
+information as to the course by which I may be enabled to prove the
+negative of all the crimes which even the most credulous suspicion
+could lay to my charge. I expected a third by this morning's post,
+containing documents which will set the matter for ever at rest, but
+owing, no doubt, to some neglect, or perhaps to some difficulty in
+collecting the papers, some inevitable delay, it has not come to hand
+this morning, according to my expectation. I was finishing one to the
+very same quarter when you came in, and if a sound rousing be worth
+anything, I think I shall have a special messenger before two days
+have passed. I have been anxiously considering with myself, as to
+whether I had better imperfectly clear up your doubts by submitting to
+your inspection the two letters which I have already received, or wait
+till I can triumphantly vindicate myself by the production of the
+documents which I have already mentioned, and I have, I think, not
+unnaturally decided upon the latter course. However, there is a person
+in the next room whose testimony is not without its value--excuse me
+for one moment."
+
+So saying, he arose and went to the door of a closet which opened from
+the study; this he unlocked, and half opening the door, he said, "It is
+only I," and then slipped into the room, and carefully closed and locked
+the door behind him.
+
+I immediately heard his voice in animated conversation. My curiosity
+upon the subject of the letter was naturally great, so, smothering any
+little scruples which I might have felt, I resolved to look at the
+address of the letter which lay, as my husband had left it, with its
+face upon the table. I accordingly drew it over to me, and turned up the
+direction.
+
+For two or three moments I could scarce believe my eyes, but there could
+be no mistake--in large characters were traced the words, "To the
+Archangel Gabriel in Heaven."
+
+I had scarcely returned the letter to its original position, and in some
+degree recovered the shock which this unequivocal proof of insanity
+produced, when the closet door was unlocked, and Lord Glenfallen
+re-entered the study, carefully closing and locking the door again upon
+the outside.
+
+"Whom have you there?" inquired I, making a strong effort to appear
+calm.
+
+"Perhaps," said he, musingly, "you might have some objection to seeing
+her, at least for a time."
+
+"Who is it?" repeated I.
+
+"Why," said he, "I see no use in hiding it--the blind Dutchwoman. I have
+been with her the whole morning. She is very anxious to get out of that
+closet; but you know she is odd, she is scarcely to be trusted."
+
+A heavy gust of wind shook the door at this moment with a sound as if
+something more substantial were pushing against it.
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!--do you hear her?" said he, with an obstreperous burst of
+laughter.
+
+The wind died away in a long howl, and Lord Glenfallen, suddenly
+checking his merriment, shrugged his shoulders, and muttered:
+
+"Poor devil, she has been hardly used."
+
+"We had better not tease her at present with questions," said I, in as
+unconcerned a tone as I could assume, although I felt every moment as if
+I should faint.
+
+"Humph! may be so," said he. "Well, come back in an hour or two, or when
+you please, and you will find us here."
+
+He again unlocked the door, and entered with the same precautions which
+he had adopted before, locking the door upon the inside; and as I
+hurried from the room, I heard his voice again exerted as if in eager
+parley.
+
+I can hardly describe my emotions; my hopes had been raised to the
+highest, and now, in an instant, all was gone: the dreadful consummation
+was accomplished--the fearful retribution had fallen upon the guilty
+man--the mind was destroyed, the power to repent was gone.
+
+The agony of the hours which followed what I would still call my awful
+interview with Lord Glenfallen, I cannot describe; my solitude was,
+however, broken in upon by Martha, who came to inform me of the arrival
+of a gentleman, who expected me in the parlour.
+
+I accordingly descended, and, to my great joy, found my father seated by
+the fire.
+
+This expedition upon his part was easily accounted for: my
+communications had touched the honour of the family. I speedily
+informed him of the dreadful malady which had fallen upon the wretched
+man.
+
+My father suggested the necessity of placing some person to watch him,
+to prevent his injuring himself or others.
+
+I rang the bell, and desired that one Edward Cooke, an attached servant
+of the family, should be sent to me.
+
+I told him distinctly and briefly the nature of the service required of
+him, and, attended by him, my father and I proceeded at once to the
+study. The door of the inner room was still closed, and everything in
+the outer chamber remained in the same order in which I had left it.
+
+We then advanced to the closet-door, at which we knocked, but without
+receiving any answer.
+
+We next tried to open the door, but in vain; it was locked upon the
+inside. We knocked more loudly, but in vain.
+
+Seriously alarmed, I desired the servant to force the door, which was,
+after several violent efforts, accomplished, and we entered the closet.
+
+Lord Glenfallen was lying on his face upon a sofa.
+
+"Hush!" said I; "he is asleep." We paused for a moment.
+
+"He is too still for that," said my father.
+
+We all of us felt a strong reluctance to approach the figure.
+
+"Edward," said I, "try whether your master sleeps."
+
+The servant approached the sofa where Lord Glenfallen lay. He leant his
+ear towards the head of the recumbent figure, to ascertain whether the
+sound of breathing was audible. He turned towards us, and said:
+
+"My lady, you had better not wait here; I am sure he is dead!"
+
+"Let me see the face," said I, terribly agitated; "you _may_ be
+mistaken."
+
+The man then, in obedience to my command, turned the body round, and,
+gracious God! what a sight met my view.
+
+The whole breast of the shirt, with its lace frill, was drenched with
+his blood, as was the couch underneath the spot where he lay.
+
+The head hung back, as it seemed, almost severed from the body by a
+frightful gash, which yawned across the throat. The razor which had
+inflicted the wound was found under his body.
+
+All, then, was over; I was never to learn the history in whose
+termination I had been so deeply and so tragically involved.
+
+The severe discipline which my mind had undergone was not bestowed in
+vain. I directed my thoughts and my hopes to that place where there is
+no more sin, nor danger, nor sorrow.
+
+Thus ends a brief tale whose prominent incidents many will recognize as
+having marked the history of a distinguished family; and though it
+refers to a somewhat distant date, we shall be found not to have taken,
+upon that account, any liberties with the facts.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+  LONDON:
+  PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LD.,
+  ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL, E.C.
+
+
+
+
+  BY THE AUTHOR OF "BALLYBEG JUNCTION."
+
+  THE
+  MERCHANT OF KILLOGUE
+  A Munster Tale
+
+  BY
+  F. M. ALLEN
+
+  AUTHOR OF "THROUGH GREEN GLASSES," "A HOUSE OF TEARS,"
+  "IN ONE TOWN," ETC., ETC.
+
+  In Three Volumes.
+
+
+THE WORLD.
+
+"An inside and intimate picture of Irish life and character, in phases
+and circumstances which have not, so far as we know, been approached by
+any other novelist or satirist. The work is not describable, it is not
+to be indicated by comparison; the very touch of occasional caricature
+in the election scenes, and in the 'brigand' of the story, O'Ruark,
+which throws out the sheer clear actuality of the people, the places,
+the 'ways'; the extraordinary humour of the talk; the jarring of small
+interests and petty ambitions in the town that is all the world to its
+inhabitants; the swift stroke of fate and sudden investment of the scene
+with tragic interest--are Mr. Downey's own. Mick Moloney's last 'few
+words with the master' is an incident worthy to be placed beside the
+famous death scene in the mountain-pass in 'Tom Burke.'"
+
+
+THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
+
+"Vivid and convincing sketches of Irish provincial life abound in 'The
+Merchant of Killogue.'... The story is admirably worked up to a
+surprising and startling _dénouement_."
+
+
+WESTMINSTER GAZETTE.
+
+"The only fault we have to find with 'The Merchant of Killogue' is that
+it is too conscientious.... In depicting his characters he shows rare
+skill and knowledge as well as a very considerable gift of humour. They
+are all vivid, distinct, and lifelike.... The workmanship is of quite
+unusual merit."
+
+
+DAILY CHRONICLE.
+
+"Mr. Downey's Celts are human beings, motived by the ordinary motives,
+and talking like rational men and women. His central figure, John
+O'Reilly, is an artistic creation."
+
+
+LITERARY WORLD.
+
+"Natural, strong in local characterisation and colouring, with many
+touches of quaint humour peculiarly Irish and racy, and bright and
+readable from cover to cover."
+
+
+SATURDAY REVIEW.
+
+"There is no questioning the ability of Mr. Edmund Downey's Munster
+tale. It is long since a writer has introduced us to a set of characters
+so fresh, so unlike the usual creations of the novelist."
+
+
+VANITY FAIR.
+
+"Every character in the book is put down in words so subtle and strong
+that for yourself you know the people. There is nothing of the new woman
+in it, and not a line concerning the analyses of soul and body. It is
+just a picture of Irish life which might have been written in shorthand
+as it happened, and written out afterwards in longhand, so clear and
+sharp and vital is it. It is an exciting story, with a thrilling winding
+up."
+
+
+ST. JAMES'S GAZETTE.
+
+"When we say that Mr. Downey reminds us not a little of his great
+precursor, Lever, we are paying him no idle compliment."
+
+
+GUARDIAN.
+
+"One of the best descriptions of Irish life that we have read since
+Lever."
+
+
+SPECTATOR.
+
+"A very bright and vivacious book.... The merchant is a very carefully
+painted portrait, and he is really made to live."
+
+
+THE SUN.
+
+"Before you are half-way through the first chapter of this entertaining
+book you realize that you are here face to face with Ireland drawn from
+the life, that this is fiction not of stale convention but of first-hand
+observation, and that the story demands more than ordinary attention."
+
+
+ATHENÆUM.
+
+"It is pleasant for a reviewer to be able to congratulate him on the
+good account to which he has now turned his extensive acquaintance with
+Irish provincial life."
+
+
+ST. PAUL'S.
+
+"The humour is neither farcical nor conventional, it is the humour of
+situation and character.... The dialogue is animated, easy, and natural
+throughout."
+
+
+LLOYDS'.
+
+"The rich racy humour of Irish life bubbles up in many fantastic forms
+and shapes throughout Mr. Downey's novel."
+
+
+MORNING POST.
+
+"Excellent portraits abound in this tale of Munster."
+
+
+STANDARD.
+
+"The plot acts mainly as a peg on which the author hangs his sketches of
+Irish character, and these are excellently done. The merchant himself
+... is a remarkable study.... O'Ruark is, in his way, quite a creation,
+and his perennial flow of Irish wit is one of the pleasantest things in
+the three volumes."
+
+
+TRUTH.
+
+"The characters and the scenes are excellently drawn."
+
+
+LIVERPOOL MERCURY.
+
+"A story that holds the attention of the reader down to the last page."
+
+
+FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.
+
+"The book has all the interest of a story that we feel derives its life
+from experience."
+
+
+IRISH WEEKLY INDEPENDENT.
+
+"'The Merchant of Killogue' is a book in which high spirits predominate.
+It is no mean compliment to say that two or three chapters read like
+chapters of 'Charles O'Malley' or 'Harry Lorrequer.'"
+
+
+BOSTON (U.S.A.) LITERARY WORLD.
+
+"A remarkable novel of Irish life is 'The Merchant of Killogue.' I do
+not know any novel which paints the life so realistically.... As a
+portrait of the time and the people the book ought to live."
+
+
+  +W. HEINEMANN+, PUBLISHER,
+  BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, LONDON
+
+
+
+
+G. W. APPLETON'S NOVELS.
+
+
+A TERRIBLE LEGACY:
+
+A Tale of the South Downs.
+
+"One of the most amusing novels we have ever read. The author revels in
+a good character, and so the book is filled with grotesque oddities, at
+which we laugh consumedly.... A novelist who possesses the rare gift of
+humour. We are grateful for an afternoon of hearty laughter. Could we
+say as much of nine books out of ten?"--_World._
+
+"One of the most amusing novels we have ever read. Mr. Appleton has done
+for the South Downs what Mr. Blackmore has done for Exmoor."--_St.
+Stephen's Review._
+
+"It is not in respect of this rare gift of humour that I alone value the
+author. This story is a tale of the South Downs, and Mr. Appleton has
+the power of depicting in words the changing aspects of nature with an
+absolute fidelity to truth. Counties differ, as human faces differ, only
+more so. Mr. Appleton has made the South Downs his own literary
+property."--_Vanity Fair._
+
+"The reader will not be long in discovering that the book is the work of
+a good and clever writer of no mean dramatic powers--whether in point
+of conception or of execution--with much drollery and quaintness at
+command, and a well-developed faculty of dealing with the mysterious,
+and other admirable gifts."--_Illustrated London News._
+
+"Laughter-moving from first to last. Mr. Appleton has written nothing
+better than this."--_Scotsman._
+
+"The readers of this strange romance will be bound to confess that the
+author has held them captive."--_Daily News._
+
+"From first to last absorbs the attention of the reader."--_Morning
+Post._
+
+"The novel is a novel in the true sense of the word, and whoever reads
+it must feel refreshed at finding he is perusing altogether a new style
+of book."--_Observer._
+
+"The novel is a piece of sound workmanship, and distinctly marked
+off from the ordinary run. It is worthy of its author's high
+reputation."--_Weekly Dispatch._
+
+"He has created types that deserve to survive and acquire as much
+popularity as has fallen to the share of some of those of our most
+famous humorists."--_Echo._
+
+"One of the most original works of fiction we have met with for a
+long time, as different from the usual feeble imitations of 'Ouida'
+and 'George Eliot' as a breezy common or a bright spring day is
+from the faint, perfume-laden atmosphere of an aristocratic
+drawing-room."--_London Journal._
+
+"Mr. Appleton's genius seems freer, brighter, and more effective in the
+lighter moods, and he is able to display a varied cultivation without
+the slightest obtrusion of learning."--_Sunday Times._
+
+"'A Terrible Legacy' is a book of great ability and power. It is a
+curious tribute to the vast vitality of Dickens' genius that a
+comparatively new and an able writer should openly take him for a model.
+Mr. Appleton is not a mere imitator: he does not follow in Dickens'
+footsteps by appropriating his materials, but by adopting his point of
+view. He has chosen his master wisely, for his own talent is similar in
+kind."--_New York Daily Graphic._
+
+
+FROZEN HEARTS:
+
+A Romance.
+
+"There is so much power and pathos in the narrative as to give it an
+impress of realism, and it is, on the whole, one that most people can
+read with hearty relish."--_Scotsman._
+
+"'Frozen Hearts' makes high pretensions, and justifies
+them."--_Westminster Review._
+
+"Good melodrama, such as this is, is a sure panacea against dulness, and
+implies the possession of that vigour and _élan_ which every novelist
+should have about him. In some portions, as in the exciting description
+of the barricade fighting, and in the interview between the unjustly
+slandered heroine and the mother who is breaking her own heart with her
+own cruelty, the author rises to real power."--_Globe._
+
+"It is full of all kinds of excitement, and in some places reveals
+evidence of strong dramatic power."--_Academy._
+
+"The story is new and striking.... Some of the less important characters
+are amusing, and the light comedy scenes are above the average.... Mr.
+Appleton possesses the knack, so useful to a novelist, of getting to his
+point without any superfluous matter, and is always original and
+generally correct."--_Sunday Times._
+
+_Victor Hugo_ writes: "Je trouve grand plaisir à la lecture de ce livre.
+Le chapitre sur les troubles à Paris m'a vivement interessé."
+
+
+CATCHING A TARTAR:
+
+A Novel.
+
+"Mr. Appleton's new novel is in every way the equal, if it be not
+positively the superior of 'Frozen Hearts,' the work which established
+his just claims to popularity. It is a capital story, written in a
+most natural and graceful style. The plot is interesting, and all
+the characters are distinct and realistic creations; some, indeed,
+are likely to 'live,' and become by reason of their quaint sayings
+and doings, popular, as were in days of yore some of Dickens' and
+Thackeray's personages. Notably is this the case with John, a most
+original and amusing character, whose pithy sayings provoke many a
+hearty laugh. The intrigue of the story is lively and intricate, but
+so skilfully contrived that the 'situations' never appear forced or
+unnatural. 'Catching a Tartar' is worthy of much praise, and is
+decidedly one of the cleverest novels we have read or reviewed for a
+long time. Mr. Appleton possesses exceptional talent as a novelist, and,
+above all, the rare quality of getting to his point without encumbering
+his narrative with superfluous matter. He is always original, and never
+dull or commonplace. His next venture in the shape of a novel will be
+looked forward to with much interest."--_Morning Post._
+
+"Many able men have come short of being successful novel writers,
+simply because they lacked brightness or lightness or smoothness of
+composition. Mr. Appleton displays these qualities; his book is
+therefore easy to read.... A vein of humour throughout, the effect
+of which is heightened by many a touch of genuine pathos. So
+marked an advance in the course of a single year is deserving of
+note."--_Athenæum._
+
+"Mr. Appleton has here achieved a very decided success in the way of a
+novel of mystery. We must, if we are honest, admit that our attention
+has been irresistibly enchained throughout the three volumes. The book
+is one, altogether, to be read, and we may safely predict that no one
+who masters the first fifty pages will be the least likely to leave it
+unfinished."--_Graphic._
+
+"The story is contrived with great ingenuity, and told with great skill
+and spirit.... Characters firmly and sharply drawn, with a good deal of
+quiet fun and humour."--_Guardian._
+
+"The narrative moves on briskly, and never lets the attention
+flag."--_Spectator._
+
+
+JACK ALLYN'S FRIENDS:
+
+A Novel.
+
+"Mr. Appleton knows how to write novels of absorbing and unflagging
+interest and of remarkable cleverness, and his latest effort, 'Jack
+Allyn's Friends,' unmistakably possesses these qualities. Much of the
+peculiar interest of the story is derived from the subtlety with which
+the catastrophe is brought about. But there is also a brisk, almost
+boisterous vitality about the book--a sort of vigorous simplicity,
+resembling that of Messrs. Besant and Rice--with abundant humour and
+some cleverly-managed love-making under difficulties. With all these
+characteristics, 'Jack Allyn's Friends' is a novel which even those who
+may pronounce its condemnation from the serene heights of æstheticism
+will read and enjoy."--_Scotsman._
+
+"Mr. Appleton has succeeded in writing a novel which combines the
+merits of Miss Braddon with those of Bret Harte. The plot is carefully
+prepared, and the interest sustained until the very close of the third
+volume. The stout old American, Bill Hooker, reminds us of one of Bret
+Harte's Rocky Mountain heroes, whose hearts are of the same sterling
+metal as the ore from their mines."--_Graphic._
+
+"There is no doubt about the interest of this novel. The plot is
+certainly contrived with no little art. The secret is ingeniously kept.
+Suspicion is skilfully directed, first in one direction, then in
+another, and the _dénouement_ will probably be unsuspected. A decidedly
+readable novel."--_Spectator._
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note
+
+
+For this txt-version text in italics has been surrounded with
+_underscores_, and a spaced-out word with +signs. Text in small
+capitals was changed to all capitals.
+
+A few errors in punctuation were silently corrected. Also the
+following corrections were made:
+
+  In the table of contents "183" was changed to "185" (The Dream 185),
+  also on page
+  38 "behavour" changed to "behaviour" (frightened into good behaviour,
+  like a naughty child)
+  102 "stange" changed to "strange" (to think of the strange interview
+  which had just)
+  102 "communciated" changed to "communicated" (it was no doubt
+  communicated to me)
+  103/4 "he" changed to "she" (favourite views, and she had walked)
+  229 "decrepid" changed to "decrepit" (the grim, decrepit hag which my
+  fancy had)
+  238 "first" changed to "fist" (shaking her clenched fist to me)
+  257 "coninued" changed to "continued" (still continued to bind me)
+
+Otherwise the original text has been preserved, including inconsistent
+hyphenation, and unusual spelling of foreign words.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Watcher, by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40510 ***