e in the hands of the system of
nature, whom death only, the death of myself or my inexorable superior,
could free?

I had been adventurous in the gratification of an infantine and
unreasonable curiosity; and I resolved not to be less adventurous, if
need were, in the defence of every thing that can make life a blessing.
I was prepared for an amicable adjustment of interests: I would
undertake that Mr. Falkland should never sustain injury through my
means; but I expected in return that I should suffer no encroachment,
but be left to the direction of my own understanding.

I went on, then, to seek Mr. Forester's society with eagerness; and it
is the nature of an intimacy that does not decline, progressively to
increase. Mr. Falkland observed these symptoms with visible
perturbation. Whenever I was conscious of their being perceived by him,
I betrayed tokens of confusion: this did not tend to allay his
uneasiness. One day he spoke to me alone; and, with a look of mysterious
but terrible import, expressed himself thus:--

"Young man, take warning! Perhaps this is the last time you shall have
an opportunity to take it! I will not always be the butt of your
simplicity and inexperience, nor suffer your weakness to triumph over my
strength! Why do you trifle with me? You little suspect the extent of my
power. At this moment you are enclosed with the snares of my vengeance
unseen by you, and, at the instant that you flatter yourself you are
already beyond their reach, they will close upon you. You might as well
think of escaping from the power of the omnipresent God, as from mine!
If you could touch so much as my finger, you should expiate it in hours
and months and years of a torment, of which as yet you have not the
remotest idea. Remember! I am not talking at random! I do not utter a
word, that, if you provoke me, shall not be executed to the severest
letter!"

It may be supposed that these menaces were not without their effect. I
withdrew in silence. My whole soul revolted against the treatment I
endured, and yet I could not utter a word. Why could not I speak the
expostulations of my heart, or propose the compromise I meditated? It
was inexperience, and not want of strength, that awed me. Every act of
Mr. Falkland contained something new, and I was unprepared to meet it.
Perhaps it will be found that the greatest hero owes the propriety of
his conduct to the habit of encountering difficulties, and calling out
with pro