the number of dwelling-houses and out-offices that have been unroofed,
and some of them altogether blown down."

"I have not ridden far," said Woodward; "I was obliged to take shelter
in the house of a country gentleman named Goodwin, who lives over in the
trees."

"You were fortunate in finding shelter anywhere," replied the stranger,
"during such a tempest. I remember nothing like it."

As they proceeded along, indulging in similar chat, they observed that
five or six countrymen, who had been walking at a smart pace, about a
couple of hundred yards before them, came suddenly to a stand-still,
and, after appearing to consult together, they darted off the road
and laid themselves down, as if with a view of concealment, behind the
grassy ditch which ran along it.

"What can these persons mean?" asked Woodward; "they seem to be
concealing themselves."

"Unquestionably they do," replied the stranger; "and yet there appears
to be no pursuit after them. I certainly can give no guess as to their
object."

While attempting, as they went along, to account for the conduct of the
peasants, they were met by a female with a head of hair that was nearly
blood-red, and whose features were hideously ugly, or rather, we should
say, absolutely revolting. Her brows, which were of the same color as
the hair, were knit into a scowl, such as is occasioned by an intense
expression of hatred and malignity, yet which was rendered almost