ily discovered! Signor!" he added, turning once more toward Wagner,
"are those your garments?"

An expression of indescribable horror convulsed the countenance of
Fernand; for the question of the officer naturally reminded him of his
dreadful fate--the fate of a Wehr-Wolf--although, we should observe, he
never remembered, when restored to the form of a man, what he might have
done during the long hours that he wore the shape of a ferocious
monster.

Still, as he knew that his garments had been soiled, torn and
blood-stained in the course of the preceding night, it was no wonder
that he shuddered and became convulsed with mental agony when his
terrible doom was so forcibly called to his mind.

His emotions were naturally considered to be corroborative evidence of
guilt: and the lieutenant laying his hand upon Wagner's shoulder, said
in a stern, solemn manner, "In the name of his highness our prince, I
arrest you for the crime of murder!"

"Murder!" repeated Fernand, dashing away the officer's arm; "you dare
not accuse me of such a deed!"

"I accuse you of murder, signor," exclaimed the lieutenant. "Within a
hundred paces of your dwelling a young lady----"

"A young lady!" cried Wagner, thinking of Agnes, whom he had left in the
garden.

"Yes, signor, a young lady has been most barbarously murdered!" added
the officer in an impressive tone.

"Agnes! Agnes!" almost screamed the unhappy man, as this dreadful
announcement fell upon his ears. "Oh! is it possible that thou art no
more, my poor Agnes!"

He covered his face with his hands and wept bitterly.

The lieutenant made a sign to his follower, who instantly quitted the
room.

"There must be some mistake in this, signor," said the old porter,
approaching the lieutenant and speaking in a voice tremulous with
emotion. "The master whom I serve, and whom you accuse, is incapable of
the deed imputed to him."

"Yes. God knows how truly you speak!" ejaculated Wagner, raising his
head. "That girl--oh! sooner than have harmed one single hair of her
head---- But how know you that it is Agnes who is murdered?" he cried
abruptly, turning toward the lieutenant.

"It was you who said it, signor," calmly replied the officer, as he
fixed his dark eyes keenly upon Fernand.

"Oh! it was a surmise--a conjecture--because I parted with Agnes a short
time ago in the garden," exclaimed Wagner, speaking in hurried and
broken sentences.

"Behold the victim!" said the lieutena