of his absence, all that the mystic had appointed to his toils was
completed by the pupil; and then his mind, thus relieved from the
drudgery and mechanism of employment, once more sought occupation in dim
conjecture and restless fancies. His inquisitive and rash nature grew
excited by the prohibition of Mejnour, and he found himself gazing
too often, with perturbed and daring curiosity, upon the key of the
forbidden chamber. He began to feel indignant at a trial of constancy
which he deemed frivolous and puerile. What nursery tales of Bluebeard
and his closet were revived to daunt and terrify him! How could the
mere walls of a chamber, in which he had so often securely pursued his
labours, start into living danger? If haunted, it could be but by those
delusions which Mejnour had taught him to despise,--a shadowy lion,--a
chemical phantasm! Tush! he lost half his awe of Mejnour, when he
thought that by such tricks the sage could practise upon the very
intellect he had awakened and instructed! Still he resisted the impulses
of his curiosity and his pride, and, to escape from their dictation, he
took long rambles on the hills, or amidst the valleys that surrounded
the castle,--seeking by bodily fatigue to subdue the unreposing mind.
One day suddenly emerging from a dark ravine, he came upon one of those
Italian scenes of rural festivity and mirth in which the classic age
appears to revive. It was a festival, partly agricultural, partly
religious, held yearly by the peasants of that district. Assembled
at the outskirts of a village, animated crowds, just returned from a
procession to a neighbouring chapel, were now forming themselves into
groups: the old to taste the vintage, the young to dance,--all to be
gay and happy. This sudden picture of easy joy and careless ignorance,
contrasting so forcibly with the intense studies and that parching
desire for wisdom which had so long made up his own life, and burned at
his own heart, sensibly affected Glyndon. As he stood aloof and gazing
on them, the young man felt once more that he was young. The memory of