:2S 



CHAPTER III. 



AFTEE THE GOOD STAG. 



THE next morning we were up and ready by four o'clock. 

 The moon and stars were still shining brightly ; the air 

 was fresh, but not cold. I went to the door of the 

 house and looked out into the night. Nothing stirred : 

 there was no sign of a single living creature being 

 abroad : not even the murmur of a rivulet was to be 

 heard, descending from the mountains to the plain, 

 a sound which among the hills seldom fails to greet 

 the ear, either near or in the distance. But there 

 rose around me that low hum, that indescribable 

 rustle, which is never heard but in the silence of the 

 night, and which seems to make the stillness palpable. 

 From the depth of the forests before, behind me, and 

 on every side, came that low deep murmur tingling on 

 the ear, as when the myriad buzzings of the invisible 

 insect world in summer unite in one drowsy hollow 

 tone at noon. It was not loud, but it was distinct 

 and very audible, even to an ear not quickly sensitive ^ 



