238 Mine Host’s Second Story. (Serr. 
the soldiers in the search. Then in a moment passed away the brilliant 
looks of the visitors; the merriment had died; the jar of lachryme 
stopped in the round ; and those few who were kept back from joining in 
the expedition, shewed in their countenance no promise of being able to 
renew the broken feast. The fair girls, pale and anxious, looked out with 
tearful eyes at the raw, cheerless night. The bride clung closely to the 
bridegroom’s arm, half-fearing that he himself might join the party so ho- 
nourably employed.- But you could scarcely observe what passed beyond 
this ; for the short interval between determination and action was now 
elapsed, and the little troop went from the bridal-chamber. It was a 
cold and wretched night ; and a strong wind separating the larger flakes 
of snow, caused them to drift in a smooth, undulating bank on one side 
of the street. We advanced without many words to where some others 
of the same regiment were collecting to await the answer of their mes- 
senger from Salvo. ' 
«« « What tidings, Bill?’ was the general cry, as we approached. 
«« Neither good nor bad; but yet nearer bad than good,’ answered 
their messmate, who forthwith acquainted them with the issue of his 
embassy. It was no sooner communicated than the one resolution 
spread throughout the whole audience, that no time should be lost in 
surveying the mountain-paths leading to the summit of Antenna Mare. 
This impulse was strengthened by an order from a superior officer ; and. 
we proceeded with torches to the points in question. Our numbers were 
presently increased by many of the peasantry, who, attracted by the 
lights, and moved by the cause, hesitated not to expose themselves to the 
inclement air for the generous service in which we employed them. 
After reaching the base of the hill, we divided off several small detach- 
ments of natives, who were better acquainted with the ground, to pene- 
trate the by-ways and scale the precipitous crags, wherever there seemed 
a probability of the soldiers having strayed. The military themselves, 
from an ignorance of any but the direct route, confined themselves to 
the more beaten tracks, or made only small and occasional deviations from 
them. With two friends I toiled up an unusual ascent, not unaccompanied 
by danger ; for the footing was insecure, and the eddies of snow fre- 
quently deceived us by a shew of level ground, where, in reality, there 
was only a covered chasm. The sleet “struck against our faces with 
unequal violence, as the wind carried jt in gusts down the mountain’s 
side. We became farther and farther removed from our associates ; but 
their lights were visible far and wide, and we kept up a communication 
by hallooing and cheering them, the sounds of our voices being trans- 
mitted clearly and entirely through the sharp atmosphere. We were 
spread at distances almost completely round the bosom of the hill, at’ 
different elevations—sometimes one, sometimes another party, meeting 
with an easier ascent. Hours passed on—but no success. A cheerless 
negative answered us, if ever we approached so nearly to our companions. 
as to put an audible question. But no one was dispirited. On, on we 
laboured, and pushed our way. The air became sharper, and the surface 
of the hill, broken into a thousand irregularities, rendered our path at 
every step more perilous and slow. We had advanced nearly two thou- 
sé.ad feet, perhaps, from the startin g-point, and the dribbling sleet fell léss, 
collectively than before. The masses of grey cloud seemed to be dis-, 
placed and drawn higher into the vault of heaven, and to ‘our longing 
eyes it appeared that now and then a pale star might be discerned in a 
