not account. I remember that I was
scarcely alarmed, or even surprised, when he presented himself; and
that I felt as though I had been waiting for his arrival--more under
the bewildering influence of a dream than the sober conceptions of
waking truth. I made no doubt but that the mystery would now be
elucidated. I followed the retreating horseman, who, I saw, beckoned
me forward, and occasionally seemed to chide my tardiness and want of
speed. I could not hear his voice, but I thought he pronounced my
name. He descended the hill with considerable haste, and it was with
difficulty that I could now keep him in sight. Fully bent on the
discovery, I resolved, if possible, let the consequence be what it
might, that I would follow. The storm had suddenly abated, and the
clouds were rolling off in broken masses through the calm ether, from
which the moon crept out, by whose aid I hoped to keep in view the
object of my pursuit.

"The path he now took led up the ascent on the opposite hill. I
clambered up with some difficulty, but the flying horseman before me
seemed to accomplish the work without either hesitation or
inconvenience. He waited for me when he had surmounted the steepest
part of the acclivity, and I grew more and more convinced that it was
my uncle's form, as I had seen him in my boyhood. Memory was
sufficiently tenacious on this head; and knowing the great need, as it
concerned family affairs, that his fate should be clearly ascertained,
I braved all hazards, and still followed this mysterious conductor. I
do not recollect I felt any apprehension that I was following a
supernatural guide; or that it might possibly be a phantom who was
luring me on to misery and destruction. The mild, benevolent aspect
of my relative was before me, and I could not associate an idea of
danger with the guide and protector of my youth.

"As I gained the brow of the hill I saw the dark form of the horseman
dilated upon the wide, bare, uninterrupted horizon, in almost gigantic
proportions. It might be the distance that caused this illusion, but
the huge black horse appeared to wax in magnitude with every step, and
to become more fiend-like and terrible. Still I followed, and ere long
I beheld the two pillars unto which our course was evidently tending.
They seemed to rise up from the earth like huge giants waiting for
their prey. My guide, whom I had previously attempted to overtake,
stood still when he reached them, awaiting my app