n, produced a mattock and
shovel; another took a pickaxe from behind the straw on which the dead
body was extended. With these implements two of them left the hut, and
the remaining three, two of whom were the seamen, very strong men, still
remained in garrison.

After the space of about half an hour, one of those who had departed
again returned, and whispered the others. They wrapped up the dead body
in the sea cloak which had served as a pall, and went out, bearing it
along with them. The aged sibyl then arose from her real or feigned
slumbers. She first went to the door, as if for the purpose of watching
the departure of her late inmates, then returned, and commanded Brown, in
a low and stifled voice, to follow her instantly. He obeyed; but, on
leaving the hut, he would willingly have repossessed himself of his
money, or papers at least, but this she prohibited in the most peremptory
manner. It immediately occurred to him that the suspicion of having
removed anything of which he might repossess himself would fall upon this
woman, by whom in all probability his life had been saved. He therefore
immediately desisted from his attempt, contenting himself with seizing a
cutlass, which one of the ruffians had flung aside among the straw. On
his feet, and possessed of this weapon, he already found himself half
delivered from the dangers which beset him. Still, however, he felt
stiffened and cramped, both with the cold and by the constrained and
unaltered position which he had occupied all night. But, as he followed
the gipsy from the door of the hut, the fresh air of the morning and the
action of walking restored circulation and activity to his benumbed
limbs.

The pale light of a winter's morning was rendered more clear by the snow,
which was lying all around, crisped by the influence of a severe frost.
Brown cast a hasty glance at the landscape around him, that he might be
able again to know the spot. The little tower, of which only a single
vault remained, forming the dismal apartment in which he had spent this
remarkable night, was perched on the very point of a projecting rock
overhanging the rivulet. It was accessible only on one side, and that
from the ravine or glen below. On the other three sides the bank was
precipitous, so that Brown had on the preceding evening escaped more
dangers than one; for, if he had attempted to go round the building,
which was once his purpose, he must have been dashed to pieces. The de