rain, rather than trust ourselves to such very questionable
hospitality. One thing I made up my mind to, which was this--that I
would not close my eyes to sleep that night, but would keep on the watch
for whatever might happen."

"The old woman gave us a very comfortable supper, and soon afterwards
she asked me if I would like to go to bed. Not liking to show any
distrust of my hosts, I assented with apparent readiness, and followed
the old woman into a hall, and up a rude ladder, which I should have
found it very difficult to mount had it not been for my early exercise
in this kind of gymnastics, when searching for hen's eggs in the barn,
at my New England home."

"At the head of the ladder was a small passageway, from which we entered
the room which was to be my sleeping apartment. Whether there had ever
been any door to this room or not I do not know; certain it is there was
no door now; the only other room I could perceive in the upper part of
the house, was a sort of a granary filled with bins to hold different
kinds of grain."

"'Is the old gentleman with whom I came, to sleep in this part of the
house?' I asked in as careless a tone as I could assume."

"'No, he sleeps in the loft of the other part where the boys sleep;'
answered the old woman, and then looking at me with a grin which I
thought gave her the appearance of an ugly old hag, she said, 'Why ye
ain't afeard on us, be ye?'"

"'I told her I had had quite a fright that day, and felt a little
nervous.'"

"'Well,' said she, 'ye can just go to sleep without any frights here. We
shan't do ye no harm, I reckon,' and she left me and descended the
ladder."

"Before going to bed I took my light, and stepping out softly I went to
reconnoitre the other room, the door of which we had passed on the way
to the room in which I was to spend the night: I was obliged to descend
two steps to enter this room, where I found nothing frightful to be
sure, there being only some old clothes hanging up, and the bins of
grain of which I have spoken before. I returned to my room, and with
great difficulty moved a rude chest of drawers, across the place where a
door should be, on this I placed my little trunk, and the only chair in
the room, an old shovel, and a broken pitcher, determined that if any
one did enter the room, it should not be without noise enough to give me
warning. Before this barricade I set my candle, hoping it might
continue to burn all night."

"I lai