very
room, that the dread hand of death had struck him; here he had been
suddenly called to account for property misused, a life misspent.
Saddened by these reflections, she turned from the picture, and
taking her Bible from her bundle, she drew aside the tarnished
curtains, and seated herself at one of the windows. The moon had by
this time risen, and was shedding her soft light on the peaceful
landscape without. The beauty of the scene soothed her excited
feelings; and as she read, her mind resumed its accustomed serenity.
Closing her book, she prepared to retire to rest, first examining
the doors, of which there were two: the one by which she had entered,
opening into the front hall, she found to be without a lock, or
indeed any fastening at all; the other, leading in an opposite
direction, she was unable to open. As, however, she was quite free
from apprehension, she felt no uneasiness from this circumstance;
and, commending herself to the care of her heavenly Father, she
composed herself to rest, and soon fell soundly asleep.

How long she had slept she could not tell, when she was awoke by what
seemed to her the confused sounds of song and merriment. So deep had
been her sleep, that it was some time before she could rouse herself
to a recollection of her situation. When, however, she had done so,
she raised herself in bed, and listened; all was silent, save that
the night, having become rather gusty, the wind at intervals swept
moaningly round the deserted mansion. The fire was almost out, but
the candle in the lantern which stood by her bedside shed a feeble
light upon the oaken floor; and the moon, though occasionally
overcast, was still high in the heavens. Readily concluding the
disturbance to have been wholly imaginary, the result of the
impression made by her waking thoughts upon her sleeping fancies,
Anna composed herself again to sleep; but scarcely had she lain down,
when the same sounds, low at first, but gradually becoming louder and
more distinct, broke in upon the silence. The noise appeared to her
to proceed from a distant part of the house, and came with a kind of
muffled sound, as though doors of some thickness intervened. Peals of
laughter, bursts of applause, snatches of song, crashing of glass,
mingled in wild confusion. Higher and higher grew the mirth, louder
and louder swelled the tumult, until, when the uproar appeared to
have reached its height, there was a pause--a silence as profound as