ll
was so narrow that the trees met in some places from the opposite sides.
They were now loaded with snow instead of leaves, and thus formed a sort
of frozen canopy over the rivulet beneath, which was marked by its darker
colour, as it soaked its way obscurely through wreaths of snow. In one
place, where the glen was a little wider, leaving a small piece of flat
ground between the rivulet and the bank, were situated the ruins of the
hamlet in which Brown had been involved on the preceding evening. The
ruined gables, the insides of which were japanned with turf-smoke, looked
yet blacker contrasted with the patches of snow which had been driven
against them by the wind, and with the drifts which lay around them.

Upon this wintry and dismal scene Brown could only at present cast a very
hasty glance; for his guide, after pausing an instant as if to permit him
to indulge his curiosity, strode hastily before him down the path which
led into the glen. He observed, with some feelings of suspicion, that she
chose a track already marked by several feet, which he could only suppose
were those of the depredators who had spent the night in the vault. A
moment's recollection, however, put his suspicions to rest. It was not to
be thought that the woman, who might have delivered him up to her gang
when in a state totally defenceless, would have suspended her supposed
treachery until he was armed and in the open air, and had so many better
chances of defence or escape. He therefore followed his guide in
confidence and silence. They crossed the small brook at the same place
where it previously had been passed by those who had gone before. The
footmarks then proceeded through the ruined village, and from thence down
the glen, which again narrowed to a ravine, after the small opening in
which they were situated. But the gipsy no longer followed the same
track; she turned aside, and led the way by a very rugged and uneven path
up the bank which overhung the village. Although the snow in many places
hid the pathway, and rendered the footing uncertain and unsafe, Meg
proceeded with a firm and determined step, which indicated an intimate
knowledge of the ground she traversed. At length they gained the top of
the bank, though by a passage so steep and intricate that Brown, though
convinced it was the same by which he had descended on the night before,
was not a little surprised how he had accomplished the task without
breaking his neck. Above,