en, 'and on that account pardon this young man his crime; so stir
up the fire, till I boil this second one.'

'Indeed,' says the Black Thief, 'I would fain think he would not die
this time either.'

'How so?' says the knight; 'it is impossible for him to escape.'

'I escaped death more wonderfully myself,' says the Thief of Sloan,
'than if you had him ready to throw into the furnace, and I hope it will
be the case with him likewise.'

'Why, have you been in another great danger?' says the knight. 'I would
be glad to hear the story too, and if it be as wonderful as the last, I
will pardon this young man as I did the other.'

'My way of living, sir,' says the Black Thief, 'was not good, as I told
you before; and being at a certain time fairly run out of cash, and
meeting with no enterprise worthy of notice, I was reduced to great
straits. At length a rich bishop died in the neighbourhood I was then
in, and I heard he was interred with a great deal of jewels and rich
robes upon him, all which I intended in a short time to be master of.
Accordingly that very night I set about it, and coming to the place, I
understood he was placed at the further end of a long dark vault, which
I slowly entered. I had not gone in far until I heard a foot coming
towards me with a quick pace, and although naturally bold and daring,
yet, thinking of the deceased bishop and the crime I was engaged in, I
lost courage, and ran towards the entrance of the vault. I had retreated
but a few paces when I observed, between me and the light, the figure of
a tall black man standing in the entrance. Being in great fear and not
knowing how to pass, I fired a pistol at him, and he immediately fell
across the entrance. Perceiving he still retained the figure of a
mortal man, I began to imagine that it could not be the bishop's ghost;
recovering myself therefore from the fear I was in, I ventured to the
upper end of the vault, where I found a large bundle, and upon further
examination I found that the corpse was already rifled, and that which
I had taken to be a ghost was no more than one of his own clergy. I was
then very sorry that I had the misfortune to kill him, but it then could
not be helped. I took up the bundle that contained everything belonging
to the corpse that was valuable, intending to take my departure from
this melancholy abode; but just as I came to the mouth of the entrance I
saw the guards of the place coming towards me, and distinctly