one approaching in the street, before a third individual of singular
mien caught his view and transfixed him with a thrill so sharp, poignant
and profound that a stroke of lightning would not have more dreadfully
affected him.

And yet, it was a woman--young by her step, light and quick as the
antelope's, graceful by her movements, charming by her outlines which a
poor, thin woolen wrapper imperfectly shrouded. She enchanted by the
mere contour; it was her weird burden which appalled the watcher. In one
hand, suspended horizontally, lengthwise parallel to her course, she
held what seemed by shape and somber hue to be an infant's coffin.

Her dark and brilliant eyes had descried him from the distance, but, in
an instant recognizing that he was neither one of the usual nocturnal
denizens nor another sort of whom she need entertain dread, she came on
apace.

Indeed, he was far from resembling the vagrants. He was clad without any
attention to the toilette, after the manner of the German student, who
likes to affront the Pharisee but without overmuch eccentricity. Under
the voluminous cloak, warranted by the chilly wind, a tight-fitting
tunic of dark green cloth, caught in by a broad buff leather belt with
the clasp of a University, admirably defined the shapeliness of a slight
but manly form. His hair, black as the raven's wing, was worn long and
came curling down on his shoulders; his complexion was dark but clear.
But the whole appearance was of a marvel in physical excellencies; a
physiologist would have pointed to him as a model and result of the
combination of all desirable traits in both his progenitors. His
attitude, checked in the advance, denoted this perfection. The young
woman, set at ease by her glances and that peace which true symmetry