Part 7 (1/2)

Although he was not naturally superstitious, his radually prevailed over all the consolations of reason and philosophy; nor was his heart free from the terrors of assassination In order to dissipate these disagreeable reveries, he had recourse to the conversation of his guide, by whom he was entertained with the history of divers travellers who had been robbed and murdered by ruffians, whose retreat was in the recesses of that very wood

In the midst of this communication, which did not at all tend to the elevation of our hero's spirits, the conductor ed on in expectation of being joined again by him in a few minutes He was, however, disappointed in that hope; the sound of the other horse's feet by degrees grew ether died away Alarmed at this circumstance, Fathom halted in the middle of the road, and listened with thewas saluted with nought but the diss of the trees, that seely, the heavens contracted a lea its voice to a tremendous roar, descended in a torrent of rain

In this eency, the fortitude of our hero was al circuht have appalled the most undaunted breast; what impression then must they have made upon the mind of Ferdinand, as by no h lost the use of his reflection, and was actually invaded to the skin, before he could recollect hi the thickets that surrounded his into the forest, he took his station under a tuft of tall trees, that screened him from the storm, and in that situation called a council within himself, to deliberate upon his next excursion He persuaded hiuide had deserted hience of a traveller to so of robbers hom he was connected; and that he must of necessity fall a prey to those banditti, unless he should have the good fortune to elude their search, and disentangle himself from the mazes of the wood

Harroith these apprehensions, he resolved to commit himself to the mercy of the hurricane, as of two evils the least, and penetrate straightforwards through so, until he should be delivered from the forest For this purpose he turned his horse's head in a line quite contrary to the direction of the high road which he had left, on the supposition that the robbers would pursue that track in quest of hihway, to traverse an unknown forest, aht After he had continued in this progress through a succession of groves, and bogs, and thorns, and brakes, by which not only his clothes, but also his skin suffered in a grievous erness and dis his course, in full hope of arriving at soe, where his life would be safe, he descried a rush-light at a distance, which he looked upon as the star of his good fortune, and riding towards it at full speed, arrived at the door of a lone cottage, into which he was ad he was a bewildered traveller, received hireat hospitality

When he learned from his hostess, that there was not another house within three leagues; that she could acco and oats, he thanked Heaven for his good fortune, in stu upon this hoht under the protection of the old cottager, who gave hiot-one to the next town to dispose of his merchandise; and that, in all probability, he would not return till next ht

Ferdinand sounded the beldaations, and she answered with such appearance of truth and simplicity, that he concluded his person was quite secure; and, after having been regaled with a dish of eggs and bacon, desired she would conduct him into the chamber where she proposed he should take his repose He was accordingly ushered up by a sort of ladder into an apart-bed, and almost half filled with trusses of straw He see, which in reality exceeded his expectation; and his kind landlady, cautioning hi the candle approach the combustibles, took her leave, and locked the door on the outside

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

HE FALLS UPON SCYLLA, SEEKING TO AVOID CHARYBDIS

Fathoht hiainst the treachery of his fellow-creatures, could have dispensed with this instance of her care, in confining her guest to her chae fancies, when he observed that there was no bolt on the inside of the door, by which he ht secure hiestions, he proposed to take an accurate survey of every object in the apartment, and, in the course of his inquiry, had the mortification to find the dead body of a man, still warm, who had been lately stabbed, and concealed beneath several bundles of straw

Such a discovery could not fail to fill the breast of our hero with unspeakable horror; for he concluded that he hi, without the interposition of a miracle in his favour In the first transports of his dread, he ran to the ith a view to escape by that outlet, and found his flight effectually obstructed by divers strong bars of iron Then his heart began to palpitate, his hair to bristle up, and his knees to totter; his thoughts teees of death and destruction; his conscience rose up in judgainst him, and he underwent a severe paroxysitated into a state of fermentation that produced a species of resolution akin to that which is inspired by brandy or other strong liquors, and, by an impulse that seemed supernatural, he was immediately hurried into measures for his own preservation

What upon a less interesting occasion his iination durst not propose, he now executed without scruple or re the straw, and, conveying it to the bed in his arms, deposited it in the attitude of a person who sleeps at his ease; then he extinguished the light, took possession of the place fro a pistol ready cocked in each hand, waited for the sequel with that determined purpose which is often the iht he heard the sound of feet ascending the ladder; the door was softly opened; he saw the shadow of twounshrouded, directed their aim to the supposed sleeper, and he that held it thrust a poniard to his heart; the force of the blow roan issued from the windpipe of the defunct; the stroke was repeated, without producing a repetition of the note, so that the assassins concluded the as effectually done, and retired for the present with a design to return and rifle the deceased at their leisure

Never had our hero spent athis operation; the whole surface of his body was covered with a cold sweat, and his nerves were relaxed with an universal palsy In short, he remained in a trance that, in all probability, contributed to his safety; for, had he retained the use of his senses, he ht have been discovered by the transports of his fear The first use he made of his retrieved recollection, was to perceive that the assassins had left the door open in their retreat; and he would have instantly availed hi out upon them, at the hazard of his life, had he not been restrained by a conversation he overheard in the roo to set out upon another expedition, in hopes of findinginjunctions upon the old wo their absence; and Ferdinand took his resolution without farther delay So soon as, by his conjecture, the robbers were at a sufficient distance fro-place,the pockets of the deceased, found a purse well stored with ducats, of which, together with a silver watch and a dia, he i with great care and circumspection into the lower apartment, stood before the old beldame, before she had the least intimation of his approach

Accusto did not behold this apparition without giving signs of infinite terror and astonish it was no other than the spirit of her second guest, who had been an to reco herself with as much devotion as if she had been entitled to the particular care and attention of Heaven

Nor did her anxiety abate, when she was undeceived in this her supposition, and understood it was no phantoer, ithout staying to upbraid her with the enormity of her crimes, commanded her, on pain of i conducted, he set her upon the saddle without delay, and, e, in a most peremptory tone, that the only chance she had for her life, was in directing hiive him the least cause to doubt her fidelity in the performance of that task, he would on the instant act the part of her executioner

This declaration had its effect upon the withered Hecate, ith uide hiues, where he e in security, and be provided with a fresh horse, or other convenience, for pursuing his intended route On these conditions he told her she ly took their departure together, she being placed astride upon the saddle, holding the bridle in one hand and a switch in the other; and our adventurer sitting on the crupper, superintending her conduct, and keeping the e they travelled across part of the sauide had forsaken him; and it is not to be supposed that he passed his tireeable reverie, while he found himself involved in the labyrinth of those shades, which he considered as the haunts of robbery and assassination

Common fear was a comfortable sensation to what he felt in this excursion The first steps he had taken for his preservation were the effects of uished or suppressed by despair; but now, as his reflection began to recur, he was haunted by the most intolerable apprehensions Every whisper of the wind through the thickets elled into the hoarse hs was construed into the brandishi+ng of poniards, and every shadow of a tree becaer for blood In short, at each of these occurrences he felt as infinitely er; and at every fresh fillip of his fear, he acted as a remembrancer to his conductress, in a new volley of i, that her life was absolutely connected with his opinion of his own safety

Huer subsist under such complicated terror At last he found himself clear of the forest, and was blessed with the distant view of an inhabited place He then began to exercise his thoughts upon a new subject He debated with himself, whether he should make a parade of his intrepidity and public spirit, by disclosing his achieveuide to the penalty of the law; or leave the old hag and her accomplices to the remorse of their own consciences, and proceed quietly on his journey to Paris in undisturbed possession of the prize he had already obtained This last step he deter, that, in the course of his inforer would infallibly attract the attention of justice, and, in that case, the effects he had borrowed from the defunct ht to the succession This was an argument which our adventurer could not resist; he foresaw that he should be stripped of his acquisition, which he looked upon as the fair fruits of his valour and sagacity; and, ainst the robbers, to the manifest detriment of his affairs Perhaps too he hadwitness against a set of people whose principles did not much differ from his own

Influenced by such considerations, he yielded to the first importunity of the beldae, after he had earnestly exhorted her to quit such an atrocious course of life, and atone for her past cri her associates to the demands of justice She did not fail to vow a perfect reformation, and to prostrate herself before him for the favour she had found; then she betook herself to her habitation, with full purpose of advising her fellow-e, and i her professions, stayed no longer in the place than to hire a guide for the next stage, which brought him to the city of Chalons-sur-Marne

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO