y resumed his journey and soon arrived at the
residence of the wealthy brewer, whose hospitable doors flew open at
his knock, and the mother of Emerence stood in the low, broad
passage-way.

"Where is Emerence?" quickly inquired the mother of the girl, in
surprise, at seeing him alone.

"Emerence! Is she not at home?" exclaimed Henry, equally surprised.

"No," replied the mother. "She went out about an hour ago, to meet
you on the way."

Henry immediately became alarmed. He had not seen her, and it seemed
incredible that she could have gone to visit any friends on the
evening when she expected him, and certainly not without informing
her parents of the fact.

"I will go at once in search of her," he said, as he turned away from
the house, and hurriedly retraced his steps towards the village, with
a terrible fear for her safety pressing upon his heart.

He inquired at every house where her friends resided, but everywhere
was met with a wondering negative. No one appeared to have seen her,
or to know anything of her whereabouts, and at length, wearied with
his fruitless inquiries, and rendered almost desperate at his want of
success, he went to the village tavern, and requested the aid of his
comrades in searching for the missing girl, for whose safety and
happiness he would willingly have laid down his life.

In a moment all was bustle and excitement; torches were procured and
the party started upon their mission, resolved to discover some clue
of the missing lady before the dawning of another day. Henry was in
advance, and under his direction every part of the road which led
from the residence of the brewer to the village, and the adjacent
woods, were carefully examined, but all with no success. No trace
could be discovered, and the superstitious villagers began to regard
the disappearance as a supernatural mystery.

Utterly fatigued with their bootless investigation, and saddened by
the thought that some harm must have come to the innocent maiden,
they reluctantly left the house of the brewer and turned their
footsteps towards the village, determined to continue their search in
the morning. To Henry the suspense was agonizing. He seemed almost
crazed at the uncertainty which shrouded the fate of the girl he
loved so dearly, and he vainly attempted to discover some solution of
the awful mystery.

As the silent party were crossing the bridge, they stopped for a
temporary rest before proceeding further on thei