hich I had fancied myself struggling in the
agonies of death. Bendel had certainly lost all trace of me, and I was
glad of it. I did not wish to return among my fellow-creatures--I
shunned them as the hunted deer flies before its pursuers.

Thus I passed three melancholy days.

I found myself on the morning of the fourth on a sandy plain, basking
in the rays of the sun, and sitting on a fragment of rock; for it was
sweet to enjoy the genial warmth, of which I had so long been deprived.
Despair still preyed on my heart. Suddenly a slight sound startled me;
I looked round, prepared to fly, but saw no one. On the sunlit sand
before me flitted the shadow of a man not unlike my own; and wandering
about alone, it seemed to have lost its master. This sight powerfully
excited me.

"Shadow!" thought I, "art thou in search of thy master? in me thou
shalt find him." And I sprang forward to seize it, fancying that could
I succeed in treading so exactly in its traces as to step in its
footmarks, it would attach itself to me, and in time become accustomed
to me, and follow all my movements.

The shadow, as I moved, took to flight, and I commenced a hot chase
after the airy fugitive, solely excited by the hope of being delivered
from my present dreadful situation; the bare idea inspired me with
fresh strength and vigour.

The shadow now fled towards a distant wood, among whose shades I must
necessarily have lost it. Seeing this, my heart beat wild with fright,
my ardour increased, and lent wings to my speed. I was evidently
gaining on the shadow--I came nearer and nearer--I was within reach of
it, when it suddenly stopped and turned towards me. Like a lion darting
on its prey, I made a powerful spring and fell unexpectedly upon a hard
substance. Then followed, from an invisible hand, the most terrible
blows in the ribs that any one ever received. The effect of my terror
made me endeavour convulsively to strike and grasp at the unseen object
before me. The rapidity of my motions brought me to the ground, where I
lay stretched out, with a man under me, whom I held tight, and who now
became visible.

The whole affair was now explained. The man had undoubtedly possessed
the bird's nest which communicates its charm of invisibility to its
possessor, though not equally so to his shadow; and this nest he had
now thrown away. I looked all round, and soon discovered the shadow of
this invisible nest. I sprang towards it, and was fortunat