now you'd better go—You'll neither see nor hear anything to frighten you, if you refrain from prying.'
"Having swept the hearth, and wiped the table, I departed more perplexed than ever.
"He did not quit the house again that afternoon, and no one intruded on his solitude, till, at eight o'clock, I deemed it proper, though unsummoned, to carry a candle, and his supper to him.
"He was leaning against the ledge of an open lattice, but not looking out; his face was turned to the interior gloom. The fire had smouldered to ashes; the room was filled with the damp, mild air of the cloudy evening, and so still, that not only the murmur of the beck down Gimmerton was distinguishable, but its ripples and its gurgling over the pebbles, or through the large stones which it could not cover.
"I uttered an ejaculation of discontent at seeing the dismal grate, and commenced shut-
