ce till he had ascertained more definite facts of his
sister's position--whether she were the deluded victim of the stranger or
the wife she obviously believed herself to be. Having eaten some supper,
he left the inn, it being now about eleven o'clock. He first looked into
the shed, and, finding the horse still standing there, waited
irresolutely near the door of his sister's lodging. Half an hour
elapsed, and, while thinking he would climb into a loft hard by for a
night's rest, there seemed to be a movement within the shutters of the
sitting-room that his sister occupied. Roger hid himself behind a faggot-
stack near the back door, rightly divining that his sister's visitor
would emerge by the way he had entered. The door opened, and the candle
she held in her hand lighted for a moment the stranger's form, showing it
to be that of a tall and handsome personage, about forty years of age,
and apparently of a superior position in life. Edith was assisting him
to cloak himself, which being done he took leave of her with a kiss and
left the house. From the door she watched him bridle and saddle his
horse, and having mounted and waved an adieu to her as she stood candle
in hand, he turned out of the yard and rode away.

The horse which bore him was, or seemed to be, a little lame, and Roger
fancied from this that the rider's journey was not likely to be a long
one. Being light of foot he followed apace, having no great difficulty
on such a still night in keeping within earshot some few miles, the
horseman pausing more than once. In this pursuit Roger discovered the
rider to choose bridle-tracks and open commons in preference to any high
road. The distance soon began to prove a more trying one than he had
bargained for; and when out of breath and in some despair of being able
to ascertain the man's identity, he perceived an ass standing in the
starlight under a hayrick, from which the animal was helping itself to
periodic mouthfuls.

The story goes that Roger caught the ass, mounted, and again resumed the
trail of the unconscious horseman, which feat may have been possible to a
nautical young fellow, though one can hardly understand how a sailor
would ride such an animal without bridle or saddle, and strange to his
hands, unless the creature were extraordinarily docile. This question,
however, is immaterial. Suffice it to say that at dawn the following
morning Roger beheld his sister's lover or husband entering t