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"Shall I go or not? Prudence asked, What hast thou to apprehend? I could give no answer, and fears and doubts still continued keeping up a most distressing conflict. Curiosity on a sudden raised her bewitching voice, driving away every doubt, and bidding defiance to the wise counsels of prudence. Thy departure is fixed, to-morrow thou art going to leave this town;" thus the charming seducer whispered in my ear, and to-day thou canst get rid of every teazing doubt: Thou wilt repent it one time if thou refusest to go to-day. Take courage, man, take courage, don't be such a coward as to fear an old man; and" thus my pride added, "thou canst inform thyself how to pay

the notes."

"At once I was determined to go. I will repair to the place of rendezvous," said I, and was instantly disencumbered of a load of uneasiness. I returned to my apartment with composure, called for a light and began to write some letters. Having continued that occupa tion till eight o'clock, I went down stairs to amuse myself a little, and spent two happy hours at the table d'hote. When supper was over the landlord desired to speak to me in private. As soon as we had retired to another room, he said I bring you happy tidings. I listened attentively."

"You have lost several things during your residence in our town?” "I have," replied I with surprize.

"Your loss has given me great uneasiness, on account of the reputation of my house."

"Let us come to the point," exclaimed I with impatience.

"You have lost a purse, a snuff-box, a ring, and a pocket-book.” You know exactly what I have lost," answered I, with amaze

"An unknown person brought all your things an hour ago."

An unknown person? Was it perhaps that strange gentleman? But it cannot be him you know."

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What do you mean?"

"My neighbour."

"The landlord shook his head smiling, he was called away, and hastening to my room, I found every thing as the landlord had told me. The bill of exchange was in the pocket-book, and I was lost in dumb amazement, not doubting that this had been a new trick of my unknown benefactor. But why did he not wait till ten o'clock ?" said I to myself, "Why not return my things on our appointed meeting? Should he have doubted my coming, or perhaps, have been obliged to depart suddenly? The last was the most likely, but, at the same time, the most disagreeable to me, depriving me of the means of returning him his money, and paying my debt after I had recovered my property. But how could I be certain that he really was departed, since all his doings had been so strange and eccentric. How could a gentleman like him, a pattern of honesty, a friend to human nature, how could he be guilty of transgressing the first duty of an honest man? How could it be possible, that he should be able to break his word? He had appointed me to meet him at ten o'clock, and the landlord had not said any thing to the contrary.

went down to the supper room, requesting a few minutes hearing

of the landlord, and asked him if the unknown person who had brought my last property had left any message for me.

"He denied it, adding, his own words were, " There are the things Mr. Walfred has lost," and without giving me time to question him any farther, by whom he had been sent, he went away.

"Now I looked at my watch; it wanted fifteen minutes to ten; I fetched my hat and great coat, and walked slowly towards the town gate.

"The night was exceedingly fine, the moon shone bright, and was surrounded with millions of sparkling stars. It struck ten when I was already standing on the appointed spot; I mistook every passenger for the stranger, ran towards several of them, and began to speak, but I was always disappointed. It was now forty-five minutes past ten, and I began to be tired; my apprehension that the stranger had been obliged to depart suddenly appeared to prove true.

"I will wait till it strikes eleven, said I to myself, and then I will return home, if he should not be here." The bell of the adjacent steeple tolled eleven, and the stranger was not yet come.

"I will stay fifteen minutes longer, and then return to the inn. "These fifteen minutes expired likewise, without his making his appearance: The stillness of midnight surrounded me, and nobody appeared; I went back.

"I was not gone ten steps when my dear stranger came walking towards me with hasty paces; nobody could be more rejoiced than I was, and forgetting entirely that I had waited so long, I ran towards him. He shook me heartily by the hand, and said, "I am sorry that I have kept you waiting so long."

"I would have waited with pleasure still longer, replied I, without the least token of diffidence, if I had been sure of seeing you at last. I willingly would have undergone every difficulty in order to obey your commands, and to get rid of my doubts."

"That you shall, said he: follow me."

"Now he began to walk so fast that I could hardly keep up with him; he uttered not a word; we arrived at the gate, and it was opened at his command; our way led straight through the suburbs, at the bottom of which a solitary house was standing: My conductor knocked at the door; we were let in: The house appeared to be empty and deserted, and we saw no living soul except an old decrepid man, who had opened the door. The stranger ordered a light; a lamp was brought; and now we walked without stopping, through a dark passage, till we came to a door leading into a garden, in the back of which was a small pleasure-house; my conductor opened the door, and we entered a small damp room.

"Now we are on the spot," said he, after having carefully secured the door," now tell me what you want to know."

"First of all, I wanted to give him a brief account of the recovery of my effects, and then to ask him if he had been my benefactor. However, he prevented me from doing it, exclaiming, "I know it all, I beg you will concentrate all you want to know, into one question."

"I mused a while, but I was not able to bring all my wishes to one point, and it is very likely that the presence of that strange extraor

dinary man, had greatly contributed to my perplexity. I found it impossible to make the question he had ordered me to do.

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Seeing my distress, he said, "Well then, enquire after the name of the friend who has taken so much care of

you.

"That was the very question which I was the most eager to do; I had been inclined to propose it ere now, but I would not venture to do it for fear of offending the stranger; with great joy did I therefore reply, "Yes, that I will, that I wish to know."

"Well then, replied he, you shall get personally acquainted with that friend of yours."

“ Then I do not know him yet personally ? resumed I, I thought it was you, Sir."

The stranger shook his head.

"I am only his deputy, was his answer; and, added he, after a "only through the third hand."

short pause,

"I gazed at him with amazement, but he seemed to take no notice of it, and began to make preparations for introducing my friend in a most mysterious manner. He strewed sand on the floor, and drew

two circles with an ebony wand, placing me in one, and himself in the other.

"How will this end, said I to myself.

"The stranger was now standing opposite to me, in awful and solemn posture: He folded his hand upon his breast, his looks being lifted up to heaven. Silent and motionless like a statue, was he standing there. A sensation of horror penetrated me, I did not dare to

fetch breath.

"The stranger remained in that posture for a quarter of an hour, my fear was swallowed up in dumb amazement, and my heart began soon to fail me for fear, and for a looking after those things which were to come: At length my conductor broke his mysterious silence; I heard his voice, but I could not understand what he was uttering; the words he was pronouncing seemed to belong to a foreign language. The lamp afforded but a faint light, and I could not well distinguish the objects around me. All was silent as the grave. My conductor whispered only now and then some mysterious words, drawing figures in the sand with his ebony wand.

On a

"Now I heard the clock strike twelve; with the last stroke the stranger began to turn himself round about, within the circle, with an astonishing velocity, pronouncing the christian and surname of my deceased mother. I staggered back thrilled with horror. sudden I heard a noise under ground, like the distant rolling of thunder. The stranger pronounced the name of my mother a second time, with a more solemn and tremendous voice than at first. A flash of lightning hissed through the room, and the voice of thunder grew louder and louder beneath my feet. Now he pronounced the name of my mother a third time, still louder and more tremendous. At once the whole pleasure-house appeared surrounded with fire. The ground began to shake under me, and I sunk suddenly down. The ghost of my mother hovered before my eyes, with a grim ghastly look; a chilly sweat bedewed my face, and my senses forsook me.

"A violent shaking roused me at length from my stupefaction. "The shaking did not cease, and I felt as if I was tossed to and fro; at the same time I heard a terrible creeking and whizzing not

far off. As soon as I had recovered my recollection, I perceived that I was sitting in a coach, driving onward with an incredible velocity, and found myself closely confined. Something was snoring by my side, but I could not distinguish what it was, being surrounded with impene. trable darkness.

"You cannot imagine what I suffered in that situation; I was seized with anxiety and apprehension, creating the most tormenting sensa tions, which cannot be described.

"The road my human or supernatural coachman had taken seemed to be very uneven, or, perhaps he did not know the road, for I felt every moment the most violent jolt, which increased my anxiety still the more, by the additional apprehension of being overturned. My bones, which already had been hurt very much by my falling down in the pleasure-house, seemed to be quite dislocated. I had been in that state of agony above half an hour, when a most violent jolt overturned the coach. A voice roared, "Jesu Maria!" Methought I felt the freezing hand of death upon my heart, and lost the power of recollection.

"At length I was roused from that state of insensibility, by the most excruciating pains.--I opened my eyes; two men, each of them holding an horse by the bridle, were standing by me; a countryman, with a lanthorn, was in their company, and the broken coach was lying on the ground at a small distance. They wanted to raise me up, but being pierced by terrible pains, I entreated them for God's sake, not to touch me. My leg was fractured in two places: The horsemen promised to ride to a neighbouring town for assistance, and disappeared; the countryman remained with me and endeavoured to com

fort me.

"I waited half an hour and nobody appeared; the night was cold: I waited an hour and no assistance caine: one fainting fit followed the other; at length I heard the rolling of a coach; the countryman went with his lanthorn into the middle of the road, and saw a coach and four; the honest man begged the driver to stop, and related my fortune. An old reverend man got out of the vehicle, lifted me, with the assistance of the good peasant, into the coach, aud ordered the coachman to drive slowly onward.

mis

"With the dawn of the morning we came to a village. My kind deliverer was the Lord of it. Having been carried to the castle, a surgeon was sent for; meanwhile the old nobleman endeavoured by his kind conversation, to make me forget part of my pains.

"The surgeon arrived a little while after; my wounds were dressed, and I was carried to bed. At first my deliverer would not leave me, and visited me afterwards three times a day. May heaven reward him for his generous and humane behaviour.

"As soon as I had related to him all that had happened to me, he sent some of his people to look after the coach; but it could not be found any where.

"After nine weeks confinement I was recovered so far that I could return to F......; the benevolent nobleman accompanied me thither, and my landlord was rejoiced to see me. Inquiring after the mysterious stranger I was told, that he had been seen no more since I had left the inn. My deliverer staid three days with me, and then we parted in the most affectionate manner. The next day I set

out for my own country, where I happily arrived without any farther accident."

Here Walfred concluded his wonderful tale; which he, as he added, never had been able to unfold, though he had taken the greatest pains to come at it. He looked at his friend, eager to hear what he would say to those extraordinary adventures; but Kaffman was lost in profound meditation for many minutes; at length he began: Brother, thy tale is very wonderful, so wonderful, that I should not have believed it, if I had not met, on my travels, with adventures which seem to have some connexion with thine."

Walfred had apprehended that Kaffman would laugh at his story, as many of his friends had done; he was therefore much astonished at Kaffman's words, and besought him to give him a short account of the adventures he had hinted at. Kaffman promised to give a full account of whatever had happened to him, partly by way of narration, and partly in writing; however, he begged him to wait till to-morrow, that he might be able to arrange the necessary papers:... Walfred very readily consented to it,

The morning was uncommonly fine, yet Kaffman's guest had no inclination for a hunting party: As soon as breakfast was over he reminded his friend of his promise, asking whether he had found the papers he had mentioned the preceding evening. Kaffman affirmed it, telling his friend at the same time, that he intended only to relate that part of those adventures in which he had been personally concerned, the remainder he would give him in writing, but not before his departure, lest ghosts and necromancers might deprive him of the pleasure of making his dear visitor as comfortable and happy as possible. Walfred having consented to it, the two friends took their places by the fire-side, lighted their pipes, and Kaffman began as follows:

"Thou knowest, brother, that I, having finished my studies, was appointed governor to the young Baron de R......, to conduct him on his travels. On our return from Italy we took our way through Switzerland and Germany, and met, on this last tour, with the most remarkable adventure of our whole journey.

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Being arrived at the skirts of the Black Forest, our postillion missed his way, as it began to grow dark, and, at length did not know what direction he should take. Our fright was not little when he apprised us of his distress, being desirous to get out of that dreadful forest as soon as possible, on account of the many instances of robberies and murders committed within its precincts, which the postillion had enlarged upon on the road; we therefore exhorted the fellow to go on, whatever might be the consequence. He did so, and after half an hour we came to an open spot.

"Now we are safe!" exclaimed the postillion, joyfully, " and, if I am not mistaken, not far from a village.'

"He was right...We soon heard the welcome barking of dogs not far off, and a little while after we saw lights.

"We entered a large village, but the inn was very indifferent, and the landlord was amazed at the uncommon sight of gentlemen. His whole stock of eatables consisted in some smoked puddings, and a coarse sort of bread; he told us that neither wine nor beer could be got within the distance of many leagues, and even our postillion could not drink his brandy. We asked him where the Lord of the village