op to inquire, but that melancholy,
it seems to me, is enhanced by the chilliness of the autumnal evening.
The imagination peoples the impenetrable depths of the wood with
spectres, which the gibbering and shrill reptiles that inhabit these
recesses seem to invest with a voice; the earth beneath the feet,
carpeted with "the raven down of darkness," has an indefinite surface
that causes the traveller to think of pitfalls and sudden banks, and
fearful quagmires; and the grey light of the glow-worm, or the cold
gleam of the rotten timber, shine up through the gloom, like some
witch-taper from a haunted ground. Then, high above the head, the sombre
forms of the trees nod in the night-wind, and the stars,--ineffectual to
guide us on our way--are seen only in short and rapid glimpses through
the foliage; all these things affect the mind with sadness, but the
chattering of the teeth and the cold creep of the blood, rendered
sluggish by a frosty atmosphere, make it still more sad.

Mildred and Mary Musgrove experienced a full share of these imaginings,
as they now rode in the dark, side by side; and, peradventure, an
occasional expression of impatience might have been heard, in whispers,
between them. By degrees this feeling extended to Henry, and, in due
course of time, seemed also to have reached the sergeant and the miller;
for these two, as if suddenly struck with the necessity of making some
provision for the night, now came to a halt, with a view to inquire into
the comfort of the weaker members of the troop, and to deliberate on
what was best to be done. To make a fire, erect a tent, and resort to
the contents of their havresacks for supper, were the only expedients
which their situation afforded; and as these arrangements were but the
customary incidents of travel, in the times to which we refer, they were
now resolved upon with but little sense of inconvenience or hardship. It
was proper, however, that the party should encamp in some position where
they might have water, and, with that object, they continued to move
forward until they should find themselves in the neighborhood of a
running stream--an event that, from the nature of the country, was soon
likely to occur.

"There can be no moon to-night," said the sergeant, as they rode along
in quest of their lodging-place, "yet yonder light would look as if she
was rising. No, it can't be, for it is westward, as I judge, Allen."

"It is westward," replied Musgrove, lo