hin sight of what he supposed to be the haunted house. He paused
a few moments, and was not now so insensible to its lonely and dismal
aspect. It was a two-storied house, and nothing could surpass the
spectral appearance of the moon's light as it fell with its pale and
death-like lustre upon the windows. He stood contemplating it for
some time, when, all at once, he perceived, walking about ten yards in
advance of him, the shape of a man dressed in black from top to toe. It
was not within the scope of human fortitude to avoid being startled by
such a sudden and incomprehensible apparition. Woodward was startled;
but he soon recovered himself, and after the first shock felt rather
satisfied that he had some visible object with which he could make the
experiment he projected, viz., to ascertain the nature, whether mortal
or otherwise, of the being before him. With this purpose in view, he
walked very quickly after him, and as the other did not seem to quicken
his pace into a corresponding speed, he took it for granted that
he would soon overtake him. In this, however, he was, much to his
astonishment, mistaken. His own walk was quick and rapid, whilst that of
this incomprehensible figure was slow and solemn, and yet he could not
lessen the distance between them a single inch.

"Stop, sir," said Woodward, "whoever or whatever you are--stop, I wish
to speak with you; be you mortal or spiritual, I fear you not--only
stop."

The being before him, however, walked on at the same slow and solemn
pace, but still persisted in maintaining his distance. Woodward was
resolute, fearless--a sceptic, an infidel, a materialist--but here was a
walking proposition in his presence which he could not solve, and which,
up to that point, at least, had set all his theories at defiance. His
blood rose--he became annoyed at the strange silence of the being before
him, but more still at the mysterious and tardy pace with which it
seemed to precede and escape him.

[Illustration: PAGE 652-- I will follow it until morning]

"I will follow it until morning," he said to himself, "or else I shall
develop this startling enigma."

At this moment his mysterious fellow-traveller, after having advanced as
if there had not been such an individual as Woodward in existence, now
stood; he was directly opposite the haunted house, and turning round,
faced the tantalized and bewildered mortal. The latter looked on him;
his countenance was the countenance of t