much they spur their expedition."
--_Shakspeare_.

"Now go thy way: faintness constraineth me
To measure out my length on this cold bed."
--_Shakspeare_.

"And me they bore.....
To one deep chamber shut from sound, and due
To languid limbs and sickness."
--_Tennyson's Princess_.

I DID not return to the cottage until the usual hour for going to bed,
as I did not dare subject myself to Fanny's penetrating glance in my
present state of excitement. The moment family prayers were concluded I
took my candle, and, pleading fatigue, retired to my room. Knowing
that sleep was out of the question in my then frame of mind, I merely
substituted the clothes I intended to wear in the morning for those I
had on, and, wrapping my dressing-gown round me, flung myself on the
bed. Here I lay, tossing about, and unable to compose myself for an hour
or two, the one idea constantly recurring to me, "What if Coleman should
fail!" At length, feverish and excited, I sprang up, and throwing open
the window which was near the ground, enjoyed the fresh breeze as it
played around my heated temples. It was a lovely night; the stars, those
calm eyes of heaven, gazed down in their brightness on this world
of ~213~~sin and sorrow, seeming to reproach the stormy passions and
restless strife of men by contrast with their own impassive grandeur.
After remaining motionless for several minutes, I was about to close the
window when the sound of a footstep on the turf beneath caught my ear,
and a form, which I recognised in the moonlight as that of Archer,
approached.

"Up and dressed already, Fairlegh?" he commenced in a low tone as he
perceived me; "may I come in?"

In silence I held out my hand to him, and assisted him to enter.

"Like me," he resumed, "I suppose, you could not sleep."

"Utterly impossible," replied I; "but what brings you here--has anything
occurred?"

"Nothing," returned Archer; "Oaklands retired early, as he said he
wished to be alone, and I followed his example, but could not contrive
to sleep. I don't know how it is, I was engaged in an affair of this
nature once before, and never cared a pin about the matter; but
somehow I have got what they call a presentiment that harm will come of
to-morrow's business. I saw that man, Wilford, for a minute yesterday,
and I know by the expression of his eye that he means mischief; there
was such a look of f