had not her aunt entreated, that she would retire to rest. She
then obeyed, the more willingly, because her patient appeared somewhat
recruited by sleep; and, giving Annette the same injunction, as on the
preceding night, she withdrew to her own apartment. But her spirits
were wakeful and agitated, and, finding it impossible to sleep, she
determined to watch, once more, for the mysterious appearance, that had
so much interested and alarmed her.

It was now the second watch of the night, and about the time when
the figure had before appeared. Emily heard the passing steps of the
sentinels, on the rampart, as they changed guard; and, when all was
again silent, she took her station at the casement, leaving her lamp in
a remote part of the chamber, that she might escape notice from without.
The moon gave a faint and uncertain light, for heavy vapours surrounded
it, and, often rolling over the disk, left the scene below in total
darkness. It was in one of these moments of obscurity, that she observed
a small and lambent flame, moving at some distance on the terrace. While
she gazed, it disappeared, and, the moon again emerging from the lurid
and heavy thunder clouds, she turned her attention to the heavens, where
the vivid lightnings darted from cloud to cloud, and flashed silently on
the woods below. She loved to catch, in the momentary gleam, the gloomy
landscape. Sometimes, a cloud opened its light upon a distant mountain,
and, while the sudden splendour illumined all its recesses of rock and
wood, the rest of the scene remained in deep shadow; at others, partial
features of the castle were revealed by the glimpse--the antient arch
leading to the east rampart, the turret above, or the fortifications
beyond; and then, perhaps, the whole edifice with all its towers, its
dark massy walls and pointed casements would appear, and vanish in an
instant.

Emily, looking again upon the rampart, perceived the flame she had
seen before; it moved onward; and, soon after, she thought she heard a
footstep. The light appeared and disappeared frequently, while, as she
watched, it glided under her casements, and, at the same instant, she
was certain, that a footstep passed, but the darkness did not permit her
to distinguish any object except the flame. It moved away, and then, by
a gleam of lightning, she perceived some person on the terrace. All the
anxieties of the preceding night returned. This person advanced, and the
playing flame al