d my hand was on
the chair of the lady abbess, the only one that remained. The dim light
came from the high arched windows, and the bats' wings were small broken
panes rattling in the gale. But I was not alone. By the transient light
I saw several grim figures, some kneeling, others with outstretched
arms, bloody and seared, and one appeared to be in the confessional. At
the sight of these infernal spectres, for they came and went with the
successive flashes of the lightning, by a droll chain of ideas, I caught
myself shouting, rather than singing--"Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!--what
cheer, what cheer?" in a voice loud as the winds. At last, here was a
sensation! Half-a-dozen flashes rendered me familiar with the
diabolical-looking forms, and as I now knew where to look for them, even
their grim countenances were getting to be familiar. At this moment,
when I was about to address them in prose, the door by which I had
entered the gallery opened slowly, and the withered face of an old woman
appeared in a flash. The thunder came next, and the face vanished--"Ship
ahoy! ship ahoy!--what cheer, what cheer?" There was another pause--the
door once more opened, and the face re-appeared. I gave a deep and loud
groan; if you ask me why, I can only say, because it seemed to be
wanting to the general effect of the scene and place. The door slammed,
the face vanished, and I was alone again with the demons. By this time
the gust was over I groped my way out of the gallery, stole through the
corridor into my own room, and went to bed. I ought to have had exciting
dreams, especially after the _Liebfraumilch_, but, contrary to all
rule, I slept like a postilion in a cock-loft, or a midshipman in the
middle watch.

The next morning at breakfast, A---- had a melancholy tale to relate;
how the poor old crone, who has already been mentioned, had been
frightened by the gust--how she stole to the chapel to mutter a
prayer--how she opened the door of the gallery--how she heard strange
sounds, and particularly certain groans--how she had dropped the
candle--how the door had blown to, and she, miserable woman, had stolen
to the bed of her (A----'s) maid, whom she had implored to give her
shelter and protection for the night! We went in a body to look at the
chapel, after breakfast, and it was admitted all round, that it was well
suited to produce a sensation, in a thunder-storm, of a dark night, and
that it was no wonder Jetty's bed-fellow had been fr