ere was a tapping with the
knuckles at the cottage door. As this precaution implied a stranger,
Amine obeyed the summons.

"I would speak with Master Philip Vanderdecken," said the stranger, in a
half-whispering sort of voice.

The party who thus addressed Amine was a little meagre personage,
dressed in the garb of the Dutch seaman of the time, with a cap made of
badger-skin hanging over his brow. His features were sharp and
diminutive, his face of a deadly white, his lips pale, and his hair of a
mixture between red and white. He had very little show of beard--
indeed, it was most difficult to say what his age might be. He might
have been a sickly youth early sinking into decrepitude, or an old man,
hale in constitution, yet carrying no flesh. But the most important
feature, and that which immediately riveted the attention of Amine, was
the eye of this peculiar personage--for he had but one; the right
eye-lid was closed, and the ball within had evidently wasted away; but
his left eye was, for the size of his face and head, of unusual
dimensions, very protuberant, clear and watery, and most unpleasant to
look upon, being relieved by no fringe of eyelash either above or below
it. So remarkable was the feature, that when you looked at the man, you
saw his eye and looked at nothing else. It was not a man with one eye,
but one eye with a man attached to it; the body was but the tower of the
lighthouse, of no further value, and commanding no further attention,
than does the structure which holds up the beacon to the venturous
mariner; and yet, upon examination, you would have perceived that the
man, although small, was neatly made; that his hands were very different
in texture and colour from those of common seamen; that his features in
general, although sharp, were regular; and that there was an air of
superiority even in the obsequious manner of the little personage, and
an indescribable something about his whole appearance which almost
impressed you with awe. Amine's dark eyes were for a moment fixed upon
the visitor, and she felt a chill at her heart for which she could not
account, as she requested that he would walk in.

Philip was greatly surprised at the appearance of the stranger, who, as
soon as he entered the room, without saying a word sat down on the sofa
by Philip in the place which Amine had just left. To Philip there was
something ominous in this person taking Amine's seat; all that had
passed rush