not take a single step beyond my own door; and in the evening I had
forty wax tapers lighted before I ventured to leave the shade. I
reflected with horror on the frightful encounter with the school-
boys; yet I resolved, if I could command sufficient courage, to put
the public opinion to a second trial. The nights were now
moonlight. Late in the evening I wrapped myself in a large cloak,
pulled my hat over my eyes, and, trembling like a criminal, stole
out of the house.

I did not venture to leave the friendly shadow of the houses until I
had reached a distant part of the town; and then I emerged into the
broad moonlight, fully prepared to hear my fate from the lips of the
passers-by.

Spare me, my beloved friend, the painful recital of all that I was
doomed to endure. The women often expressed the deepest sympathy
for me--a sympathy not less piercing to my soul than the scoffs of
the young people, and the proud contempt of the men, particularly of
the more corpulent, who threw an ample shadow before them. A fair
and beauteous maiden, apparently accompanied by her parents, who
gravely kept looking straight before them, chanced to cast a beaming
glance on me; but was evidently startled at perceiving that I was
without a shadow, and hiding her lovely face in her veil, and
holding down her head, passed silently on.

This was past all endurance. Tears streamed from my eyes; and with
a heart pierced through and through, I once more took refuge in the
shade. I leant on the houses for support, and reached home at a
late hour, worn out with fatigue.