towards the singular man whom he had seen so strangely overpowered; and
wondering how suddenly his mind had lost its former rancour to the
Student. Yet there mingled even with these kindly feelings, a little
displeasure at the superior tone which Aram had unconsciously adopted
towards him; and to which, from any one, the high spirit of the young man
was not readily willing to submit.

Meanwhile, the Student continued his path along the water side, and as,
with his gliding step and musing air, he roamed onward, it was impossible
to imagine a form more suited to the deep tranquillity of the scene. Even
the wild birds seemed to feel, by a sort of instinct, that in him there
was no cause for fear; and did not stir from the turf that neighboured,
or the spray that overhung, his path.

"So," said he, soliloquizing, but not without casting frequent and
jealous glances round him, and in a murmur so indistinct as would have
been inaudible even to a listener--"so, I was not overheard,--well, I
must cure myself of this habit; our thoughts, like nuns, ought not to go
abroad without a veil. Ay, this tone will not betray me, I will preserve
its tenor, for I can scarcely altogether renounce my sole confidant--
SELF; and thought seems more clear when uttered even thus. 'Tis a fine
youth! full of the impulse and daring of his years; I was never so young
at heart. I was--nay, what matters it? Who is answerable for his nature?
Who can say, "I controlled all the circumstances which made me what I
am?" Madeline,--Heavens! did I bring on myself this temptation? Have I
not fenced it from me throughout all my youth, when my brain did at
moments forsake me, and the veins did bound? And now, when the yellow
hastens on the green of life; now, for the first time, this emotion--this
weakness--and for whom? One I have lived with--known--beneath whose eyes
I have passed through all the fine gradations, from liking to love, from