they did not overcome his
will, or lessen his courage. Preparing himself, as well as he might, for
all chances, he renewed his efforts to extricate himself from his thick
harborage; pressing his steed firmly, in a direction which seemed to
open fairly, the sky appearing more distinctly through the opening of
the trees above. Meanwhile, he kept his eyes busy, watching right and
left. Still, he could see nothing, hear nothing, but the slight footfall
of his own steed. And yet the animal continued uneasy, his ears pricked
up, his head turning, this way and that, with evident curiosity; his
feet set down hesitatingly, as if uncertain whether to proceed.

Curious and anxious, our traveller patted the neck of the beast
affectionately, and, in low tones, endeavored to soothe his
apprehensions:

"Quietly, Blucher, quietly? What do you see, old fellow, to make you
uneasy? Is it the snug stall, and the dry fodder, and the thirty ears,
for which you long. I'faith, old fellow, the chance is that both of us
will seek shelter and supper in vain to-night."

Blucher pricked up his ears at the tones, however subdued, of his
rider's voice, which he well knew; but his uneasiness continued; and,
just when our young traveller, began to feel some impatience at his
restiffness and coyness, a shrill whistle which rang through the forest,
from the copse in front, seemed at once to determine the correctness of
sense in the animal, and the sort of beast which had occasioned his
anxieties. He was not much longer left in doubt as to the cause of the
animal's excitement. A few bounds brought him unexpectedly into a
pathway, still girdled, however, by a close thicket--and having an
ascent over a hill, the top of which was of considerable elevation
compared with the plain he had been pursuing. As the horse entered this
pathway, and began the ascent, he shyed suddenly, and so abruptly, that
a less practised rider would have lost his seat.

"Quiet, beast! what do you see?"

The traveller himself looked forward at his own query, and soon
discovered the occasion of his steed's alarm. No occasion for alarm,
either, judging by appearances; no panther, no wolf, certainly--a man
only--looking innocent enough, were it not for the suspicious fact that
he seemed to have put himself in waiting, and stood directly in the
midst of the path that the horseman was pursuing.

Our traveller, as we have seen, was not wholly unprepared, as well to
expect as to enc