boiling, his meat
toasting, and his damper warming up, while his blanket and clothes were
drying; and had it not been for the spectre he had seen, he would have
been well content with his lot,--not that he much feared what the poor
creature could do to him, but it was the feeling that at any moment he
might rush out on him which was so painful. By the look of the sky he
saw that the weather was still unsettled, and the state of the
atmosphere, judging by his sensations, told him that there might still
be more thunder and lightning. He consequently considered it imprudent
to seek for greater shelter under the trees. His clothes and blankets
were now tolerably dry, and having shifted the tether of his horse, that
the animal might have fresh food, he wrapped himself up, with his feet
to the fire and his head on his saddle-bags to seek that rest of which
he stood so much in need.

He, of course, intended to keep his eyes open, and turned in the
direction where the poor maniac had disappeared. As might, however,
have been expected, he closed them and fell fast asleep. Weariness made
him sleep, but anxiety prevented him from sleeping soundly. He was
dreaming, it seemed, all the time; and his dreams were painful and
confused in the extreme. The strange figure of the maniac was
constantly before him, while his unearthly cries resounded in his ears.
His chief idea was that he was engaged in a desperate struggle to get
out of some fearful difficulty--now swimming in a roaring torrent, now
climbing a precipice with savage animals raging below, now flying for
his life across a boundless plain; the maniac was mocking him on the
banks of the stream, or present among the wild beasts, or following him
with a troop of savages across the plain. A loud noise sounded in his
ear. It was a peal of thunder. The storm was again raging with
redoubled fury. He started up to secure his horse, lest the frightened
animal should break loose and escape into the depths of the forest. He
must have slept long, for a few glowing ashes only remained of his fire,
which the rain would soon quench, unless a supply of fresh wood were
added. He felt for some he had placed in readiness, and threw it on the
ashes. As he did so, a vivid flash of lightning lit up the forest
opening, and by its light he saw, with a gleaming axe uplifted in his
hand, the wretched maniac stealthily approaching him. He sprang to his
feet, seizing his rifle, when again