the funeral procession, which as it will be readily believed, was not
very numerously attended. Schalken with difficulty arrived in Rotterdam
late in the day upon which the funeral was appointed to take place. It
had not then arrived. Evening closed in, and still it did not appear.

Schalken strolled down to the church; he found it open; notice of the
arrival of the funeral had been given, and the vault in which the body
was to be laid had been opened. The sexton, on seeing a well-dressed
gentleman, whose object was to attend the expected obsequies, pacing the
aisle of the church, hospitably invited him to share with him the
comforts of a blazing fire, which, as was his custom in winter time upon
such occasions, he had kindled in the hearth of a chamber in which he
was accustomed to await the arrival of such grisly guests and which
communicated, by a flight of steps, with the vault below. In this
chamber, Schalken and his entertainer seated themselves; and the sexton,
after some fruitless attempts to engage his guest in conversation, was
obliged to apply himself to his tobacco-pipe and can, to solace his
solitude. In spite of his grief and cares, the fatigues of a rapid
journey of nearly forty hours gradually overcame the mind and body of
Godfrey Schalken, and he sank into a deep sleep, from which he awakened
by someone's shaking him gently by the shoulder. He first thought that
the old sexton had called him, but _he_ was no longer in the room. He
roused himself, and as soon as he could clearly see what was around him,
he perceived a female form, clothed in a kind of light robe of white,
part of which was so disposed as to form a veil, and in her hand she
carried a lamp. She was moving rather away from him, in the direction of
the flight of steps which conducted towards the vaults. Schalken felt a
vague alarm at the sight of this figure and at the same time an
irresistible impulse to follow its guidance. He followed it towards the
vaults, but when it reached the head of the stairs, he paused; the