etirement, took out
his note-book and plunged into the affairs of state. Now and then he was
recalled to the circumstances of his situation by the swaggering tread
of unsteady feet about the house, or when the boisterous shouts below
raged above the outside storm; but even then he only glanced up from his
papers to congratulate himself upon his agreeable seclusion.

Thus he sat for above an hour, then he heaped fresh logs upon the
hearth, looked again to his revolvers, and retired to rest.

The house-clock was striking twelve as the Colonel awoke. He awoke
suddenly from a sound sleep, flashing, as it were, into full
consciousness, his mind and memory clear, all his faculties invigorated,
his ideas undisturbed, but with a perfect conviction that he was not
alone.

He lifted his head. A man was standing a few feet from the bed, and
between it and the fire, which was still burning, and burning brightly
enough to display every object in the room, and to define the outline of
the intruder clearly. His dress also and his features were plainly
distinguishable: the dress was a travelling-costume, in fashion somewhat
out of date; the features wore a mournful and distressed expression--the
eyes were fixed upon the Colonel. The right arm hung down, and the hand,
partially concealed, might, for aught the Colonel knew, be grasping one
of his own revolvers; the left arm was folded against the waist. The man
seemed about to advance still closer to the bed, and returned the
occupant's gaze with a fixed stare.

"Stand, or I'll fire!" cried the Colonel, taking in all this at a
glance, and starting up in his bed, revolver in hand.

The man remained still.

"What is your business here?" demanded the statesman, thinking he was
addressing one of the roughs from below.

The man was silent.

"Leave this room, if you value your life," shouted the indignant
soldier, pointing his revolver.

The man was motionless.

"RETIRE! or by heaven I'll send a bullet through you!"

But the man moved not an inch.

The Colonel fired. The bullet lodged in the breast of the stranger, but
he started not. The soldier leaped to the floor and fired again. The
shot entered the heart, pierced the body, and lodged in the wall beyond;
and the Colonel beheld the hole where the bullet had entered, and the
firelight glimmering through it. And yet the intruder stirred not.
Astounded, the Colonel dropped his revolver, and stood face to face
before the unmoved