NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



A nocturnal alarm. 



heard scratching violently at the closet door; an 

 action which was accompanied by the gnashing 

 of the dog's teeth, intermixed with the most fu- 

 rious growlings. His lordship, who had laid 

 himself down in his clothes, and literally resting 

 on his arms his brace of pistols being under his 

 pillow now sprung from the bed. The rain 

 had ceased, and the wind abated, from which 

 circumstances he hoped to hear better what was 

 passing. But nothing, for an instant, appeased 

 the rage of the dog; who, finding his paws un- 

 able to force a passage into the closet, put his 

 teeth to a small aperture at the bottom, and at- 

 tempted to gnaw away the obstruction. There 

 could be no longer a doubt that the cause of the 

 mischief, or danger, whatsoever it might be, lay 

 in that closet. Yet there appeared some risk in 

 opening it ; more particularly when, on trying to 

 force the lock, it was found to be secured by 

 some fastening on the inside. A knocking was 

 now heard at the chamber door, through the key- 

 hole of which a voice exclaimed, ' For God's 

 sake, my lord, let me in/ His lordship, knowing 

 this to proceed from his servant, advanced armed, 

 and admitted him. < All sems quiet, my lord, 

 below stairs and above,' said the man, ' for I 

 have never closed my eyes. For heaven's sake ! 

 what can be the matter with the dog, to occasion 

 such a dismal barking? " That I am resolved to 

 know,' answered his lordship, furiously pushing 

 the closet-door. No sooner was it burst open, 



