prevailed upon her to lie down upon the bed, where she
continued to urge them to stay by her. She frequently uttered incoherent
sentences, repeating again and again, 'The dead and the living cannot be
one--God has forbidden it!' and then again, 'Rest to the wakeful--sleep
to the sleep-walkers.'

These and such mysterious and broken sentences she continued to utter
until the clergyman arrived.

Gerard Douw began to fear, naturally enough, that the poor girl, owing
to terror or ill-treatment, had become deranged; and he half suspected,
by the suddenness of her appearance, and the unseasonableness of the
hour, and, above all, from the wildness and terror of her manner, that
she had made her escape from some place of confinement for lunatics, and
was in immediate fear of pursuit. He resolved to summon medical advice
as soon as the mind of his niece had been in some measure set at rest
by the offices of the clergyman whose attendance she had so earnestly
desired; and until this object had been attained, he did not venture to
put any questions to her, which might possibly, by reviving painful or
horrible recollections, increase her agitation.

The clergyman soon arrived--a man of ascetic countenance and venerable
age--one whom Gerard Douw respected much, forasmuch as he was a veteran
polemic, though one, perhaps, more dreaded as a combatant than beloved
as a Christian--of pure morality, subtle brain, and frozen heart. He
entered the chamber which communicated with that in which Rose reclined,
and immediately on his arrival she requested him to pray for her, as
for one who lay in the hands of Satan, and who could hope for
deliverance--only from heaven.

That our readers may distinctly understand all the circumstances of the
event which we are about imperfectly to describe, it is necessary to
state the relative position of the parties who were engaged in it. The
old clergyman and Schalken were in the anteroom of which we have already
spoken; Rose lay in the inner chamber, the door of which was open; and
by the side of the bed, at her urgent desire, stood her guardian; a
candle burned in the bedchamber, and three were lighted in the outer
apartment.

The old man now cleared his voice, as if about to commence; but before
he had time to begin, a sudden gust of air blew out the candle which
served to illuminate the room in which the poor girl lay, and she, with
hurried alarm, exclaimed:

'Godfrey, bring in another candle; t