f the most deadly nature, again raised his weapon,
and probably nothing but death could have separated the foes; but again
the bay of the dog was heard, and Cesarini, answering the sound by a
wild yell, threw down the brand, and fled away through the forest with
inconceivable swiftness. He hurried on through bush and dell,--and the
boughs tore his garments and mangled his flesh,--but stopped not his
progress till he fell at last on the ground, breathless and exhausted,
and heard from some far-off clock the second hour of morning. He had
left the forest; a farmhouse stood before him, and the whitened roofs of
scattered cottages sloped to the tranquil sky. The witness of man--the
social tranquil sky and the reasoning man--operated like a charm upon
the senses which recent excitement had more than usually disturbed. The
unhappy wretch gazed at the peaceful abodes, and sighed heavily; then,
rising from the earth, he crept into one of the sheds that adjoined the
farmhouse, and throwing himself on some straw, slept sound and quietly
till daylight, and the voices of peasants in the shed awakened him.

He rose refreshed, calm, and, for ordinary purposes, sufficiently
sane to prevent suspicion of his disease. He approached the startled
peasants, and representing himself as a traveller who had lost his way
in the night and amidst the forest, begged for food and water. Though
his garments were torn, they were new and of good fashion; his voice was
mild; his whole appearance and address those of one of some station--and
the French peasant is a hospitable fellow. Cesarini refreshed and rested
himself an hour or two at the farm, and then resumed his wanderings;
he offered no money, for the rules of the asylum forbade money to its
inmates,--he had none with him; but none was expected from him, and they
bade him farewell as kindly as if he had bought their blessings. He
then began to consider where he was to take refuge, and how provide for
himself; the feeling of liberty braced, and for a time restored, his
intellect.

Fortunately, he had on his person, besides some rings of trifling cost,
a watch of no inconsiderable value, the sale of which might support him,
in such obscure and humble quarter as he could alone venture to inhabit,
for several weeks, perhaps months. This thought made him cheerful and
elated; he walked lustily on, shunning the high road. The day was clear,
the sun bright, the air full of racy health. Oh, what soft rap