940 ANNUAL REGISTER, ISOJf. 



*' certain dark presage, that my 



*' perplexin;; adventure was not yet 



*' concluded. I raised my eyes 



*' and looked timidly round the 



*' lofty room : the sound of my 



" footsteps made mc start, and 1 



*' did not know which way to go. 



" I remembered the secretary had 



" told me, that he would conduct 



*' me to tlic concert reom, as soon 



*' as my audience with the duke was 



'• over, and that he was certain 



*' (iflwasa jiulire of music,) of 



*' my being delighted with the ex- 



*' qiiisite performance of the duke's 



*' band. But how was it possible 



*' for a stranger, like mc, to find 



" the way to the coticert-rooni, in 



" such a large and intricate building 



*' as the castle was. 



" 1 crci)t along upon my toes as 



*' softly as possible, as if 1 wascon- 



" scious of treading on forbidden 



'' ground, and, not knowing which 



" May to steer my course, went 



•' as chance directed. I passed 



*' through several rooms (hat I had 



" never seen before, through va- 



*' rJous halls that were unknown 



*'' to mcj ami along many passages, 



«' without knowing where they led 



*' to: sometimes I went forwards, 



" and after advancing aconsiderable 



*' time, fancied I must be wrong, 



" and turned bnrk : sometimes I 



" turned to the right, and at others 



" to the left, without discovering 



" a clue by which I could find my 



*' way out of the labyrinth I was 



" in. Soraetimes I ran as fast as 



" my feet could carry mc, and at 



*' others, stood as still as a post in 



** the middle of a room, and after 



" musing some time^ I turned 



" ronnd, examined the four sides of 



" it, ))eeped out at a window, strove 



'' to reconnoitre where I was, and 



<< thought asd re-thought, ^iitUout 



''. discovering any thing but what t 

 " knew before, that I had lost my 

 " wayj and that 1 must endeavour 

 " to find it. I then impatiently be- 

 " gan my peregrination again, trod 

 " tile paths that had before failed, 

 *' and tried what 1 had just found 

 " vain, till at last, without knowing 

 " how I came there, 1 perceived I 

 " was in a wing of the casfle, 

 " which, as my endeavours to find 

 " the stair-case were inelTcctu.il, 

 " increased rather than removed my 

 " difficulties. 



" I knocked at several door<^, 

 " without receiving an answer, and 

 " opefied many without finding a 

 " single person, when, to my no 

 " small satisfaction, I at last camie 

 " to one where I heard the sound 

 " of voices. I gently tap[)ed at it, 

 " perhaps so gently that it wasim- 

 " possible for the persons in the 

 " room to hear me ; but my im 

 " patience did not permit me tA 

 " ask admittance a second time, for 

 " I opened the door, and popped 

 " my head into a room, where the 

 " Hppcarance of a female head was 

 " as unwelcome as unexpected. 



" Two Abigails, (for 1 suppose 

 " they were so,) were busily em- 

 " ployed in adorning themselves 

 " One of them, who was half naked, 

 " screamed, atul ran into a corner 

 " of the room, and I, not less tcr. 

 '• rificdthan she was, started back 

 " The other, whose dress was 

 " finished, a very fine lady, with a 

 '• pair of arch black eyes and ver 

 " million cheeks, rushed forward, 

 " slamed the door in my face, and 

 " burst into a loud laugh, in which 

 " the other joincil. 



" This was the first time in my 

 "■ life that I had ever heard myself 

 " laughed at ; and to escape from 

 " the mortifying sound, 1 ran a 



** fasi 



