ing, she plunged again into the dell, and
descended it with great agility, the icicles and snow-wreaths showering
down after her as she disappeared.

Notwithstanding her prohibition, Brown endeavoured to gain some point of
the bank from which he might, unseen, gaze down into the glen; and with
some difficulty (for it must be conceived that the utmost caution was
necessary) he succeeded. The spot which he attained for this purpose was
the point of a projecting rock, which rose precipitously from among the
trees. By kneeling down among the snow and stretching his head cautiously
forward, he could observe what was going on in the bottom of the dell. He
saw, as he expected, his companions of the last night, now joined by two
or three others. They had cleared away the snow from the foot of the rock
and dug a deep pit, which was designed to serve the purpose of a grave.
Around this they now stood, and lowered into it something wrapped in a
naval cloak, which Brown instantly concluded to be the dead body of the
man he had seen expire. They then stood silent for half a minute, as if
under some touch of feeling for the loss of their companion. But if they
experienced such, they did not long remain under its influence, for all
hands went presently to work to fill up the grave; and Brown, perceiving
that the task would be soon ended, thought it best to take the gipsy
woman's hint and walk as fast as possible until he should gain the
shelter of the plantation.

Having arrived under cover of the trees, his first thought was of the
gipsy's purse. He had accepted it without hesitation, though with
something like a feeling of degradation, arising from the character of
the person by whom he was thus accommodated. But it relieved him from a
serious though temporary embarrassment. His money, excepting a very few
shillings, was in his portmanteau, and that was in possession of Meg's
friends. Some time was necessary to write to his agent, or even to apply
to his good host at Charlie's Hope, who would gladly have supplied him.
In the meantime he resolved to avail himself of Meg's subsidy, confident
he should have a speedy opportunity of replacing it with a handsome
gratuity. 'It can be but a trifling sum,' he said to himself, 'and I
daresay the good lady may have a share of my banknotes to make amends.'

With these reflections he opened the leathern purse, expecting to find at
most three or four guineas. But how much was he surprised to dis