s registered in
the judicial records of the criminal trials of the province of
Languedoc. We give it as we heard it from the lips of the dreamer, as
nearly as possible in his own words.

As the junior partner in a commercial house at Lyons, I had been
traveling some time on the business of the firm, when, one evening in
the month of June, I arrived at a town in Languedoc where I had never
before been. I put up at a quiet inn in the suburbs, and, being very
much fatigued, ordered dinner at once; and went to bed almost
immediately after, determined to begin very early in the morning my
visits to the different merchants.

I was no sooner in bed than I fell into a deep sleep, and had a
dream that made the strongest impression upon me.

I thought that I had arrived at the same town, but in the middle of the
day, instead of the evening, as was really the case; that I had stopped
at the very same inn, and gone out immediately, as an unoccupied
stranger would do, to see whatever was worthy of observation in the
place. I walked down the main street, into another street, crossing it
at right angles, and apparently leading into the country. I had not gone
very far, when I came to a church, the Gothic portico of which I stopped
to examine. When I had satisfied my curiosity, I advanced to a by-path
which branched off from the main street. Obeying an impulse which I
could neither account for nor control, I struck into the path, though it
was winding, rugged, and unfrequented, and presently reached a miserable
cottage, in front of which was a garden covered with weeds. I had no
difficulty in getting into the garden, for the hedge had several gaps in
it, wide enough to admit four carts abreast. I approached an old well,
which stood solitary and gloomy in a distant corner; and looking down
into it, I beheld distinctly, without any possibility of mistake, a
corpse which had been stabbed in several places. I counted the deep
wounds and the wide gashes whence the blood was flowing.

I would have cried out, but my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth. At
this moment I awoke, with my hair on end, trembling in every limb, and
cold drops of perspiration bedewing my forehead--awoke to find myself
comfortably in bed, my trunk standing beside me, birds warbling
cheerfully around my window; while a young, clear voice was singing a
provincial air in the next room, and the morning sun was shining
brightly through the curtains.

I sprung from m