this unfrequented road and unseasonable hour would hinder me from being
observed. My chamber was above the kitchen, with which it communicated
by a small staircase, and the building to which it belonged was
connected with the dwelling by a gallery. I extinguished the light, and
left it in the kitchen, intending to relight it, by the embers that
still glowed on the hearth, on my return.

I began to remove the sod and cast out the earth, with little confidence
in the success of my project. The issue of my examination of the box
humbled and disheartened me. For some time I found nothing that tended
to invigorate my hopes. I determined, however, to descend, as long as
the unsettled condition of the earth showed me that some one had
preceded me. Small masses of stone were occasionally met with, which
served only to perplex me with groundless expectations. At length my
spade struck upon something which emitted a very different sound. I
quickly drew it forth, and found it to be wood. Its regular form, and
the crevices which were faintly discernible, persuaded me that it was
human workmanship, and that there was a cavity within. The place in
which it was found easily suggested some connection between this and the
destiny of Clithero. Covering up the hole with speed, I hastened with my
prize to the house. The door by which the kitchen was entered was not to
be seen from the road. It opened on a field, the farther limit of which
was a ledge of rocks, which formed, on this side, the boundary of
Inglefield's estate and the westernmost barrier of Norwalk.

As I turned the angle of the house, and came in view of this door,
methought I saw a figure issue from it. I was startled at this incident,
and, stopping, crouched close to the wall, that I might not be
discovered. As soon as the figure passed beyond the verge of the shade,
it was easily distinguished to be that of Clithero! He crossed the field