278 A True Adventure. [MAncH; 



his horse into the black abyss beneath, by his treacherous guide. I 

 leaned over the frail wooden parapet. No struggle to paralyse tlie hands, 

 no cry of agony to smite the ear of guilt ; one liorror-striken glance 

 perhaps reflected back on his murderer's visage, would surely settle there 

 in all the gloom, and with all the freshness, and all the dreadful perpe- 

 tuity of the doomed and wandering Cain. The baths of A a — , 



wliere we arrived at sunset, stand romantically alone in one of the sylvan 

 dells which branch out of the main valley of L . I could get no ac- 

 commodation here, so hurried forward to the Valteline frontier hamlet of 

 F — r. At the extremity of this vale, which as you proceed shrinks within 

 itself, and abundant as it is with fine timber, the twilight dimness of 

 the hour gave it the appearance of a forest we were traversing. The 

 distance we had yet to perform was a league and a half, and wearied as 

 I was with the day's march, I was willing enough to indulge those 

 sinister fancies which fatigue, disappointment and the gloominess of the 

 night concur so naturally to engender. The moon had risen, but the 

 mountain gusts of the autumnal eve congregated the clouds in heavy 

 masses. Sometimes we were in utter darkness, and perplexed with in- 

 certitude at such intervals as to our progress. Sometimes the moon rode 

 triumphantly in the heavens, clear and beautiful, as though nothing had 

 power to disturb the calm serenity of her virgin brow ; and then a darker 

 shadow revelled under the ancient cork-trees which intercepted our 

 path, and the surrounding mountains were enveloped in a darker mantle, 

 their towering crests alone illumined by the radiant flood of light, which 

 reposed on the outline of the horizon, and along the gurgling rivulet it 

 rippled and danced, as well pleased with the ever-changing silvery smile 

 of her own features. In such hours as this, is there music in every sound, 

 and beauty in every object; the mind concentrates into itself all its rich 

 resources ; it soars superior to the cold abandonment which is all around ; 

 the solitude is enriched with a glowing portraiture, and all the nobler 

 aspirations of devotion, and all the kindlier emotions of the poor human 

 heart, the frank impulses of generous enthusiasm, the sacred chivalry 

 of love, the deep sigh of repentance, the wildest visions of hope, start 

 into a beautiful reality under such auspices and at such hours ; the white 

 and dazzling hours which chequer so rarely the dark calendar of man's 

 pilgrimage to the world of spirits. I was roused out of myself by 

 Sebastian pointing out a light that gleamed dimly at some short distance. 

 We both hailed it as a prelude to the termination of our labours. It was 

 a rude, vast, rambling sort of tenement, flanked by a small court-yard, at 

 the threshold of which was an outhouse filled with fuel and lumber. The 

 moon shone bright into this almost roofless habitation, and full on the 

 features of a low swarthy man, who had not remarked my entrance, and 

 was employed in sharpening a lai-ge couteau de chasse. At the sound of 

 my voice he raised a piercing pair of gray ferret eyes, which scowled at 

 me from under his beetle brow. His face was deadly pale ; his long and 

 matted hair framed suitably a set of gaunt features. 'There was a deter- 

 mination in the manner, however, with which his lean muscular arm 

 grasped still closer his couteau on my abrupt accostal. On understanding 

 at length the purport of it, the shade which had gathered over his pale 

 countenance passed oif, and pointing with his lean hand to the house, 

 he disappeared at once. You may imagine that such a being, under such 

 circumstances, gave us no very flattering idea of his associates. An old 

 woman, however, by her unwelcome information soon erased all memory 

 of this uncouth Cerberus. The hamlet of F — was yet far distant, and 



