Again he quitted his seat, and carelessly crossed the
room. As he returned he threw his glance upon the pane,
when, to his infinite horror and surprise, the same
frightful vision presented itself.

"God of Heaven!" he exclaimed aloud, and unable longer
to check the ebullition of his feelings,--"what means
this?--Is my brain turned? and am I the sport of my own
delusive fancy?--Do you not see it NOW?"

No answer was returned. His friend stood mute and
motionless, with his left hand grasping his gun, and his
right thrust into the waist of his coat. His eye grew
upon the window, and his chest heaved, and his cheek
paled and flushed alternately with the subdued emotion
of his heart. A human face was placed close to the
unblemished glass, and every feature was distinctly
revealed by the lamp that still lay upon the table. The
glaring eye was fixed on the taller of the officers; but
though the expression was unfathomably guileful, there
was nothing that denoted any thing like a recognition of
the party. The brightness of the wood fire had so far
subsided as to throw the interior of the room into partial
obscurity, and under the disguise of his hood it was
impossible for one without to distinguish the features
of the taller officer. The younger, who was scarcely an
object of attention, passed comparatively unnoticed.

Fatigued and dimmed with the long and eager tension of