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THE CONJURER.

A TALE.

(Continued from page 273.)

RETURNED to our inn at the next village, comforted by the season. able reasoning of my worthy friend, and I never shall forget the wise instructions he gave me on the way; I never shall forget his tender exhortations to take care not to follow the first impulse of the moment, but always to listen attentively to the voice of reason before I should engage in any undertaking, and to bridle the youthful ardour of heedlessness by prudence and cool reflection.

We entered our inn at two o'clock in the inorning, and we were met by the landlord who had been very uneasy at our staying away so long, because many murders had been committed lately within the environs of the village. We told him we had taken a walk, but having missed our way had strayed about till the dawn of day had assisted us in finding our way back. He happened to believe our words and we

went to rest.

We awoke at eight o'clock and departed at nine for F......, where our absence had not been much taken notice of, those secret journeys being very common among recruiting officers; yet some of my friends puzzled themselves very much, by various conjectures, about the reasons of my connection with the Austrian; but neither we nor our trusty serjeants communicated our adventures to any one of our acquaintance.

During our visit to the haunted castle, a strange accident had happened to one of our comrades, which had made every one one wish for the return of the Austrian, and no sooner were we arrived, before all the officers repaired to my room to inform us of it.

The officer who lodged at the haunted inn, coming home against midnight, three days ago, sat down to finish a letter to his colonel. As soon as it had struck twelve o'clock he heard a tremendous rap at the door, which he did not mind at first but continued writing. Å second rap more violent than the first, disturbed him soon after, but he still took little notice of it. A third, not unlike a clap of thunder, ensued, after a short pause, the door of his apartment flew open, and a white figure was going to enter the room.

up,

unsheath my

"Fearless," these are his own words, “ did I start sword, and run towards the phantom; it retreated, but I pursued, and pierced it with my sword, it gave an hollow scream, but what farther happened I cannot tell; I awoke as if from a deluding dream, and was lying stretched on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by a great number of people, with lighted candles; terrible pains had seized me, and my sword was still in my hand."

When the narrator had finished his wonderful tale, I perceived visible marks of its authenticity on his face and inquired whether he had been hurt by the fall. He told me he had received no material injury except a few bruises.

I would not," resumed he, " have troubled you with an account of this strange incident, if an accident was not connected with it, which happened last night.

"My recruiting business having called me abroad yesterday, I returned in the afternoon; in the dusk of evening I entered a thicket, in a gloomy pensive mood, all around was lonely, and buried in profound silence; no sound was heard except the dismal dirge of the screechowl, and the chirping of the amorous cricket. At length I heard a whispering within a small distance, and cocking one of my pistols, I rode on with the greatest circumspection. At once I saw a manly figure coming out of the thicket, but could not distinguish his dress; advancing a little farther, I beheld somebody in a peasant's garb walking on briskly and talking to himself. As I came up with him I observed a black wallet on his back, and a thick branch of a tree in his hand, serving him instead of a walking cane. He seemed to take no notice of me, pursuing his way with hasty steps, and still muttering. between his teeth. I saluted him, but he gave me no answer. "Whither art thou going, good friend," exclaimed I.

"To men!" replied he, to my utter astonishment.

"

"

Very likely to F......," resumed I.

Yes," said he, "there are men."

"Supposing him to be a lunatic, I passed him, pursuing my way in a brisk trot; when I came out of the thicket I saw that I was nearer the town than I thought, and made my horse quicken his pace; but how was I astonished when I beheld again the same figure walking before me."

"Old gentleman, exclaimed I, it seems thou knowest the road better than I do."

"I think so myself," answered he dryly," and I believe I know many things better than you do."

66

Strange being," resumed I," who art thou?"

"A friend of wisdom!" was his answer.

"Thy wisdom," replied I, " must be as odd as thyself! But pray what dost thou call wisdom ?"

"What you do not understand," was his reply.

Hearing the words" friend of wisdom," I was suddenly struck with a suspicion which my readers will easily be able to guess, and that suspicion was strengthened when the narrator informed me of his definition of wisdom. I strongly suspected that he was the same person I had met with in the Black Forest, under the garb of a pilgrim and I hardly could refrain from exclaiming, art thou here impostor?

Every one may guess the conclusion of the Lieutenant's wonderful tale. I scarcely had patience to await it: the narrator being highly charmed with the hoary juggler, could not find words to express the sensations his reverend aspect had raised within his breast. He bad fancied to be in company with a robust countryman, but when he entered his house in the suburbs, to which he kindly had invited him, he beheld the countenance of an old man with silver hair, and a mien exciting awful respect. He offered him a glass of excellent wine, and began by degrees to become more cheerful and com, municative.

The old man's conversation on the road having betrayed a high degree of occult knowledge, had very early tempted the Lieutenant to communicate to him his adventure at the haunted inn; that temptation returning now with redoubled force, he could no longer resist, and told him every thing that had happened. The result of the ensuing conversation was, that he entreated the old man to come and conjure up the apparition, to which he, after many seeming struggles at last consented, under the condition that no more than six persons should be present, and the landlord's leave could be obtained. The Lieutenant left him in high spirits, after having promised to fulfil strictly these two conditions.

1 could not bridle any longer my ardent desire to hasten to the Aus trian and to get rid of my visitor, who now became exceedingly troublesome to me, being tired of his overstrained encomiums on the old deceiver, I therefore anticipating the renewal of his request to speak to my friend, promised that I not only would engage to persuade him to assist at the conjuration, which was to be performed the ensuing night, but I also assured him that I myself would be present.

The Lieutenant's raptures exceeded all bounds; he almost stifled me by his embraces, and called me his dear, obliging friend. I was how ever indifferent to his raptures and endearments, pondering how I might best confound the vile dissembler, and put a final stop to his enormous cheats. I begged the poor hood-winked Lieutenant to give me leave to go directly to my friend, and to win him over to our party, which he instantly did, after having fixed an hour in the afternoon, when he would wait on me to hear how far I should have succeeded with the Austrian.

!

"Meanwhile" added he, "I will go to the owner of the haunted inn, in order to talk the business over with him, and to engage three able assistants more from among our friends.”

Not finding the old veteran at home, I was vexed very much; but when dinner time came, I had the pleasure of meeting him. The recapitulation of Lieutenant N's account of his late adventure at the inn, and his conversation with the hoary juggler, produced the desired effect.... Though a man like him, who was of a cool temper, and never suffered his passion to get the better of his reason, could not be seized with a fit of amazement, yet I never saw him so violently agitated,

Having with apparent emotion awaited the conclusion of my tale, he exclaimed at last, after a short pause, during which his desire for vengeance and punishment seemed to struggle with his reflection and prudence, "Friend what do you intend to do?”

To seize the Necromancer.'

Before or after the conjuration ?" asked the Austrian.

"After it," replied I.

Now the dinner bell rang, and he left me, with the promise to repair at night to the place of action.

Having accustomed myself by degrees to examine minutely what likeliest might be the result of my noble friend's almost unfathomable considerations, before I determined on any thing he was concerned in, I succeeded sometimes in my anxious endeavours to act in unison with his principles, and to coincide with his ideas; but in the present case I was quite at a loss how to proceed conformable to his wish, not having the least clue by which I could expect to extricate myself out of the labyrinth into which he had led me, leaving every thing to myself.

However, after much reflection, I was at last so fortunate as to hit upon a plan which he fully approved, proposing to conceal myself till the whole transaction should be finished, and then to rush like lightning upon the hoary deceiver, to upbraid him with his glaring cheats, to force him to a confession of the dark fraudulent means he had em-' ployed to play that infernal trick upon us, when he left us in the lurch iu the cellar of the Haunted Castle, and then to make him a prisoner without farther ceremony.

We both agreed to deliver him up to the civil power, after having convicted him of his roguery, and to order four stout corporals to rush into the room at the first signal, in order to arrest the shameless cunning, deceiver. Flattering ourselves with hopes of success, we parted, after a mutual promise to repair to the place of action, at eleven o'clock.

Lieutenant N... came to my lodging at three o'clock in the afternoon, to inform me that every thing was ready for the performance of our nocturnal adventure. The landlord had made no difficulty to give his consent to the conjuration, and was desirous to be admitted one of the spectators, being elated with the hope that his house would soon be cleared of that troublesome being which had, till now, banished all his customers, and very much impaired his circumstances. He knew the reverend Necromancer, as the Lieutenant was pleased to call him, and was in raptures that the honest old man was returned to F......, and had consented to restore the tranquility of his house, exclaiming, "Now I am easy, Father Francis is the very man! It is a thousand pities that he visits these parts so seldom, and that he, if present, buries himself in solitude."

"He could not tell me precisely," added the Lieutenant," how the old man employs his time, because nobody was on an intimate footing with him, nor could any one tell where he came from, or whither he was travelling so often; but that it was universally known that he possesses houses in most of the neighbouring towns, where he was in the same retired and harmless manner as here."

The Lieutenant, highly pleased when I told him, that the Austrian had consented to be present at our nocturnal meeting, went to the other associates, in order to settle every thing, and invited myself and friend to supper, which I readily consented to.

Having shifted my clothes that the old deceiver might not know me so easily, I went to the Austrian, whom I, without difficulty, persuaded to sup with me at Lieutenant N...'s. We repeated our orders to our trusty corporals and left the house.

When we came to Lieutenant N...'s apartment, we met two of his most intimate friends, who had been present at the late alarming apparition of the ghost, and were determined to engage the spectre once

more.

The cloth being laid we sat down to supper, but none of us did honor to the meal except the Austrian; the wine promised to dispel the clouds of gloominess from our circle; however our host plied us in vain with bumpers, the heart-elevating juice of the grape could not raise our crest-fallen spirits, and the Austrian was the only one who relished it, and experienced " its power divine." Though he sounded the praise of the wine's excellence, by words and deeds, yet he kept within the bounds of soberness, and when it struck eleven o'clock, bade us drink a final bumper to good success, and then took up his hat and sword.

I did the same, and our companions followed our example with fear and trembling. We went down stairs in solemn taciturnity, and groped. our way through midnight darkness to the haunted inn.

The master of the house welcomed us most cordially, thanking us before-hand for the expected tranquility of his house, and the return of his prosperity...he led us to the hall where the above-mentioned apparition had appeared, enlarging with indefatigable garrulity, on many horrible incidents which had taken place, within the space of a twelvemonth, in that disastrous apartment.

The Austrian uttered not a word, but searched closely every corner of the spacious lonely room, and then took up a candle and went out. Having been absent a good while, he returned at length, pulled his great coat off, and entered into a long conversation with the master of the inn, asking him many different questions, which betrayed his diffidence in the poor fellow's honesty. I was not much pleased with his unequivocal inarks of suspicion, knowing the inn-keeper as an upright honest man, void of disguise and art, and that he had suffered the most glaring damages by those nocturnal apparitions: his inn had been unfrequented by travellers for many months, on account of that sleepdisturbing phantom, which haunted the weary traveller in the dead of night; and he swore by every thing sacred, that he had never seen Father Francis, (so he called the hoary deceiver) though he had heard of many marvellous deeds perpetrated by that wonderful man. "It is now," added he, " a good while since I have heard of that sagacious old man, they say he is gone to a distant place, offended at the ingratitude of the people of our country: formerly he has told the people's fortunes, but without fee. My father, the late possessor of this house, has told me many instances of his astonishing skill in' detecting thefts, and recovering stolen goods; as how he had been possessed of a wonderful sagacity to read in people's looks, at first sight, whatever they had done all their life long; discovered and solved the spell of witchcraft, and horribly punished the old hags that dared to bewitch the countrymen's cattle. In short, said my father, God rest his honest soul, Father Francis has indeed been a father and a friend to every one in distress, and a baneful foe to the Black Spirit and his infernal hosts."

It struck twelve when the inn-keeper was still in close conversation with the circumspect Austrian. The door opened and Father Francis entered the room; the sight of the hoary deceiver made my blood boil