asion--so I determined to read the Bible--it was in Welsh; at
any rate it might amuse me. So I took the Bible out of the sack, in
which it was lying in the cart, and began to read at the place where I
chanced to open it. I opened it at that part where the history of Saul
commences. At first I read with indifference, but after some time my
attention was riveted, and no wonder, I had come to the visitations of
Saul--those dark moments of his, when he did and said such unaccountable
things; it almost appeared to me that I was reading of myself; I, too,
had my visitations, dark as ever his were. Oh, how I sympathised with
Saul, the tall dark man! I had read his life before, but it had made no
impression on me; it had never occurred to me that I was like him; but I
now sympathised with Saul, for my own dark hour was but recently passed,
and, perhaps, would soon return again; the dark hour came frequently on
Saul.

Time wore away; I finished the book of Saul, and, closing the volume,
returned it to its place. I then returned to my seat on the stone, and
thought of what I had read, and what I had lately undergone. All at once
I thought I felt well-known sensations, a cramping of the breast, and a
tingling of the soles of the feet; they were what I had felt on the
preceding day--they were the forerunners of the fear. I sat motionless
on my stone, the sensations passed away, and the fear came not. Darkness
was now coming again over the earth; the dingle was again in deep shade;
I roused the fire with the breath of the bellows, and sat looking at the
cheerful glow; it was cheering and comforting. My little horse came now
and lay down on the ground beside the forge; I was not quite deserted. I
again ate some of the coarse food, and drank plentifully of the water
which I had fetched in the morning. I then put fresh fuel on the fire,
and sat for a long time looking on the blaze; I then went into my tent.

I awoke, on my own calculation, about midnight--it was pitch dark, and
there was much fear upon me.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

FREE AND INDEPENDENT--I DON'T SEE WHY--OATS--A NOISE--UNWELCOME
VISITORS--WHAT'S THE MATTER?--GOOD-DAY TO YE--THE TALL
GIRL--DOVREFELD--BLOW ON THE FACE--CIVIL ENOUGH--WHAT'S THIS?--VULGAR
WOMAN--HANDS OFF--GASPING FOR BREATH--LONG MELFORD--A PRETTY MANOEUVRE--A
LONG DRAUGHT--ANIMATION--IT WON'T DO--NO MALICE--BAD PEOPLE

Two mornings after the period to which I have brought the reader in