a second night, not only for all the lands belonging to this castle, but
for all the country which I see from this elevated point of view."

"This is most extraordinary," said the young lord, as if speaking to
himself; "then there must be something in the reports concerning that
apartment." Again turning to the General, he said, "For God's sake,
my dear friend, be candid with me, and let me know the disagreeable
particulars which have befallen you under a roof, where, with consent of
the owner, you should have met nothing save comfort."

The General seemed distressed by this appeal, and paused a moment before
he replied. "My dear lord," he at length said, "what happened to me last
night is of a nature so peculiar and so unpleasant, that I could hardly
bring myself to detail it even to your lordship, were it not that,
independent of my wish to gratify any request of yours, I think that
sincerity on my part may lead to some explanation about a circumstance
equally painful and mysterious. To others, the communication I am about
to make, might place me in the light of a weak-minded, superstitious
fool, who suffered his own imagination to delude and bewilder him; but
you have known me in childhood and youth, and will not suspect me of
having adopted in manhood the feelings and frailties from which my early
years were free." Here he paused, and his friend replied,--

"Do not doubt my perfect confidence in the truth of your communication,
however strange it may be," replied Lord Woodville. "I know your
firmness of disposition too well, to suspect you could be made the
object of imposition, and am aware that your honour and your friendship
will equally deter you from exaggerating whatever you may have
witnessed."

"Well, then," said the General, "I will proceed with my story as well
as I can, relying upon your candour, and yet distinctly feeling that
I would rather face a battery than recall to my mind the odious
recollections of last night."

He paused a second time, and then perceiving that Lord Woodville
remained silent and in an attitude of attention, he commenced, though
not without obvious reluctance, the history of his night's adventures in
the Tapestried Chamber.

"I undressed and went to bed so soon as your lordship left me yesterday
evening; but the wood in the chimney, which nearly fronted my bed,
blazed brightly and cheerfully, and, aided by a hundred exciting
recollections of my childhood and youth, which had