hermit; and truly this holy man must have been a man of taste, for rarely have I seen a more charming spot. Many others must have been of the same opinion as myself, for a rustic bench had been placed not far from the small chapel, and on it the names of scores of visitors had been carefully carved.

Here I would bring my book and read by the hour, while I revelled to my heart's content in the perfect stillness around, or I would close the book, and permit my gaze to wander from the ever-changing clouds gliding over the blue expanse above, to the smiling landscape before me. As I said, the hermit had his chapel on the hill-side; beautiful clusters of various kinds of trees shaded the little building, while immediately in front a gurgling rivulet in its serpentine course was soon lost to view, and beyond, extending widely back, rose undulating field upon field of richly cultivated ground, so that though all was dark and gloomy above, the view beyond the valley was bright and cheering.

In some

The door of the chapel was locked; often had I tried to wrench it open, for I had a strange curiosity to explore every nook of the tiny chamber, which had formed the double office of dwelling-house and place of worship to the aged recluse, who, it was said, had lived and died there. parts the door had given way, and apertures had been made through which I could peep, and I saw that it contained a rude altar, and on one side a stone bench. This, doubtless, served as a couch, but all was bare and cheerless within, and a shuddering, creeping feeling stole over me as I scanned the cold stone walls, and mentally I rejoiced that I was not condemned to pass the solitary life that this poor hermit must have done.

What could have him to seclude himself thus? What good had he gained by it? I determined to try to learn his history; something told me it was not a common one- that it would be worth unravelling.

My mind thus occupied with the past I left the chapel door, and returned to the rude bench where my poor book had long lain neglected. I took it up, and, finding my place, began again to read. I soon became absorbed in the tale, and forgot alike the hour and the place. The sun had long since set, and the twilight, so much admired by poets, was far advanced, still the balminess of the air and the quiet of the scene made me unwilling to return to the closeness and noise of an hotel. I lingered and lingered till every distant object began to assume the undefined appearance that approaching night loves to cast around her; then sighing, I was about to move, when I felt as if something pressed me gently on my shoulder, and glancing round I beheld, to my horror, a wrinkled hand there, as if detaining me. Slowly the trunkless hand moved away, and presently the door of the chapel noiselessly opening, the shadowy form of a bent old man, clad in a long, dark garment, with a girdle from which was suspended a cross, appeared in the doorway. Deep sorrow was depicted on the wasted countenance, and the hollow eyes were turned imploringly upon me, while with his left hand he beckoned me on, as his right arm hung handless by his side.

I started to my feet, but there I seemed to have grown to the earth; in vain I strove to move forwards or backwards-in vain! till, receding into the chapel, the figure reached one side of the wall, where the stone bench stood; then, pointing solemnly downwards, it suddenly faded from my sight. Now the iron spell which had paralysed my limbs and deprived

me of the power to use them seemed instantly loosened, and I rushed forward to gain the interior of the mysterious chapel; but my shoulder was grasped a second time by the same shrivelled, hateful hand, and my steps were stayed as if by a will over which I had no control. Slowly, and with a creaking, unearthly sound, the heavy wooden door swung on its hinges and closed, then followed the grating noise of a key being turned, and all was silent-silent as the tomb.

Was the hand gone? Though not a coward, I scarcely dared to look, but making an effort, as I called myself a fool, I did turn my head, and took a hurried glance. The dreaded object was no longer there, but in its place remained five red streaks, as though bloody fingers had come in contact with the coat! Some foul deed had been committed here, and was I, a stranger and a foreigner, destined to bring the secret of the dead to light? Nay, that could not be; my eyes must have deceived me— yet no-I was awake-there stood the chapel, not ten paces from me, and-and

Here my meditations were interrupted by the measured tread of horses, and presently a merry laugh reached me, and I recognised the voices of my friends, Hugo von Brempt and Theodor von Feldhorn. By all that's sacred!" exclaimed Hugo. "There's the ghost of the aged hermit, which cannot tear itself, even in death, from its old haunts.'

Nonsense, von Feldhorn, that's no spirit, but a creature of flesh and blood, up yonder. Hollo! who's there ?"

As it may be supposed, I was not long in joining my military friends, whom I found were returning from paying a visit at a château some miles off.

They joked me much on my love of solitude, told how they had taken me for the hermit's ghost, and wondered how I could venture to remain so late in the neighbourhood of that wood, which was known to be haunted. I tried hard to elicit from them all they knew on the subject, but found that it was not much, except that the peasantry around said the wood was infested with spirits, and that not even the bravest would approach its confines after dark. The young men did not ask me whether I had encountered any unearthly object, so I kept my own counsel, and joining in their gay and light conversation, accompanied them back to the town, and to my quarters there.

in

Several days passed without my gaining any information about the former occupant of the chapel on the hill-side, though I made inquiries every direction where I thought I was likely to succeed. I had often again wandered through the wild paths of the forest, and remained till quite late near the chapel, without seeing anything supernatural, or hearing anything strange, and I began to look back upon my evening's adventure with the bloody hand and the old hermit as an extraordinary delusion of the mind, which it would be better for me not to repeat, for fear people might look upon me as deranged, until a curious dream took entire possession of my mind, and forcibly awoke my interest in the mysterious hermit, whose spirit could find no rest in the grave.

I dreamed that I was in a magnificent cathedral, decorated with lofty stained glass windows, superb marble pillars, and pictures on sacred subjects of countless value. The rich tones of the organ, and hundreds of human voices, poured forth volumes of sound in praise of the Lord of all.

Now

Every soul seemed touched and impressed with mingled feelings of awe and adoration. Every head was bowed, and every knee was bent. the high mass was over, and all was stir and bustle. The people-rich and poor, young and old-jostled against each other in their eagerness to gain one or other of the open doors. Streams upon streams of chattering, noisy beings flowed into the narrow streets leading from the sacred edifice, and one would have fancied that they were leaving a theatre rather than the house of God.

Soon the space around where I was standing was comparatively cleared; here and there alone a solitary figure still bent in pious prayer, and my eyes wandered carelessly from one to another, though I hardly saw them, for my spirit seemed to be wafting upwards with the full, delicious tones that yet lingered in my enchanted ear. I was recalled to earth by a female form, which I had not hitherto observed, rising from her knees close to my side. The beauty of her countenance and the gracefulness of her movements riveted my gaze, and involuntarily I followed the lady as she slowly turned towards a confessional, situated in rather a secluded part of the cathedral. As she drew near, she must have observed that it was already occupied, for she meekly waited, while she studied her book prayer, until the person confessing had finished and had withdrawn; she then went in. I, meanwhile, had placed myself behind a pillar, determined to stay until she came out, that I might once more have the pleasure of feasting my eyes upon her lovely features. What then was my astonishment when I distinctly heard, far off as I was, every word the beautiful girl uttered to her confessor. It is needless that I should repeat it here-suffice it to say that it was a tale of secret love, and anxiety lest her passion should be discovered by her parents.

of

She had promised to meet her lover that night, but she could not go without having first confessed. "Where was the meeting to take place ?" the priest demanded, in a tone which sounded to my ears more like the accents of a lover than that of a father confessor. But the trembling girl was so absorbed in her own fears that she heeded it not, and prayed the good father to pardon her if she declined to disclose that secret all else she would tell, but not that; she had promised faithfully that no power on earth should induce her to betray it. The priest urged powerfully, eloquently, that the church would not accept half her confidence; she must relieve her mind of all its weight; it was a great sin to conceal from the servant of the Lord in the holy confessional where she was to meet her lover. How could she expect to get absolution and obtain the intercession of the Holy Virgin if she would not disclose the whole truth? With torrents of tears, and trembling between her terror of displeasing the Blessed Virgin, and sorrow at having to break her word, she at length murmured the name of the trysting-place.

What further passed between the lady and her confessor I did not hear. Presently, however, she glided forth, but a thick veil concealed her features, and hid the traces of her deep emotion. I would have followed her, but a hand had clutched my shoulder, as a voice whispered in my ear, "Mark the priest!" I turned to see who was speaking-no living soul was nearr—but horror, even in my dream, had seized me; the wrinkled, bloody hand I too well knew was holding me fast! "The priest!" again was uttered, and I lost all power to disobey the voice.

A tall priest stepped hesitatingly from the confessional, glanced furtively round, and seeing the church, as he fancied, empty, he gave way to an outburst of passion, which seemed so violent that he could not control it. His pale lips quivered, and his wild eyes flashed; then he stamped his foot, and clenched his hands, as he almost panted forth some terrible words of revenge and hatred. Surely I had seen that man before, though the features were younger, and the form was more uprightyes, it was the same hermit whose spirit haunted the forest of C-feld! As this conviction forced itself upon me, the grasp on my shoulder was loosened, and I awoke, tossing, feverish, and excited.

Every portion of my strange dream was clear in my mind, and I felt convinced that an episode in the eventful history of the one-handed hermit had been disclosed to me in sleep, but why was I thus pursued by events which had occurred, perhaps, years and years before, and with which I could in no way be connected? I could not answer this question; every hour, however, my curiosity to solve the mystery grew more and more intense, and after pondering the matter over for some time, I remembered that the spirit hermit had pointed to beneath the stone seat in the ruined chapel. There, perhaps, if I took but the trouble to search, might be found the clue to the last scene of the drama.

I knew I should have no interruptions after eleven o'clock at night, not only because the chapel and forest were a considerable distance from the town, but because the simple, hard-working inhabitants retired to rest at a ridiculously early hour, and all lights in every well-regulated house were expected to be then extinguished. I bought one or two indispensable implements for lifting the stone slabs and digging, and, thus armed, I sallied forth one fine night soon after the town clock had dolefully tolled forth eleven. Never had an evening appeared so long to me before; not even my usual solace, smoking, could diminish my impatience. I did not want my errand to the ruined chapel to be known, so I allowed the people of the hotel to fancy that I had gone to my room and to my bed, and managed to slip out unobserved by the few waiters who were still up. My heart beat faster, and I felt the hot blood tinge my cheeks and brow at every step that led me further into the forest, which, at all times gloomy, was now divested of almost every ray of light, so that it was difficult for me, thoroughly as I knew the road, to keep in the right direction; still I had no idea of turning back, and I steadily continued to grope my way until I reached the limits of the forest, and found the rude steps which led down to the hermitage. Once there, my first care was to walk round the little building, and peer into every corner and bush to satisfy myself that no curious loiterers were by, and that I had the field to myself. Then, with some difficulty, I managed to pick the lock of the wooden door; that, however, accomplished, it was a still greater undertaking to push open the stubborn old door, whose hinges, from long disuse, had become rusty and obstinate. However, I was not to be daunted by such an obstacle, and at last I gained the interior of the cell, I might almost call it, for it was filled with a chill, damp, unhealthy atmosphere, as though a fresh current of air had not passed through it for many a weary year. I could not repress a shudder on entering a place connected with which was so mysterious a history, but I hastened to strike a light. For a moment the flame cast a cheerful glow around, that inspired me Jan.-VOL. CXXX. NO. DXVII.

F

with renewed spirit, but soon it grew feeble, and flickered so much, that it magnified every object it rested upon. I placed the light in a safe spot, and set to work at once to remove the square slabs of stone with which the floor was paved immediately beneath the couch or bench.

To chase away the nervous sensation I found was creeping over me, I strove to recal to my mind some of the gay pranks of my youth, and the wild scenes in which I had taken a part; but it was useless, the past could not absorb my thoughts; the present, and the motive for my strange occupation, kept too rigid a hold over my ideas. I cannot say it was fear that I experienced, but certainly every nerve seemed braced up and quickened to a pitch of unusual sensibility. I bent to commence my task. Ah! what was that? I started to my feet again. Was it fancy, the plaintive wailing of the wind amidst the rustling foliage, or had I heard a moan -a long, deep moan? I took a hurried step towards the door, and methought I beheld a dim, shadowy form glide swiftly past, and disappear amidst the sombre recesses of the wood.

If I had allowed my excited imagination to have got the better of me thus, I might have spent the whole night there without doing anything, and I might as well have been at home in my comfortable bed. The old hermit's ghost might sigh and wander about as much as it pleased, I was determined to heed it no longer, but to set to work without further delay.

Full an hour's hard labour did I have without meeting with anything but earth and stones. My ardour was beginning to abate; and when, on stopping for a moment to take breath, and wipe the perspiration from my brow, I looked at the heap of rubbish, and slab after slab that would have to be replaced ere I could venture to leave the chapel, I felt somewhat ashamed at my own credulity, and mentally cursed myself and the old

hermit to boot.

space,

Fretted and I seized the light to examine the angry almost as wide as a grave, which I had uncovered, ere I commenced to fling in the earth, when my eyes were attracted by something protruding in one corner. I touched it, and found that it was a hard, smooth substance, firmly embedded in the earth. My spirits rose instantly. Ah! here was the treasure I sought; this would, doubtless, unravel the mystery connected with my vision and dream! Eagerly but cautiously I dug and dug, till the soil around was loosened and cleared away from what soon appeared to be a box, about half a yard long, and four or five inches wide. Presently it was entirely free, and I had the satisfaction of lifting it out from its place of concealment, and depositing it upon the stone bench.

All covered with dust and discoloured with age as it was, I could see that it was an extremely strong box, without lock and key, but so firmly fastened down that I could not undertake to open it there, though my curiosity to behold its contents had mounted to a pitch of almost frantic excitement. If I could have done as I would have wished, I would have started home with my treasure that moment; but this could not be. I must first put back the earth, and fit in the blocks of stone as they had lain, in order that it might not be found out that they had been disturbed. However, I worked away cheerfully, and at length, my task being done to my entire satisfaction, I gathered up my implements, placed them with