ended further and further into the dread abyss.

He rose at cock-crow, unrefreshed both in body and mind, and,
descending into the lower regions, he paced abstractedly through each
tenantless room in turn.

He found it, however, a forlorn and cheerless way of killing the time.
Everything seemed dead; not a sign of life was visible. The rooms were
desolate, and looked the worst, while the fire grate, empty save for a
few dead ashes, seemed but a picture of his own misery, and instead of
yielding him even a grain of comfort, its bars, appeared to grin upon
him with solid defiance. Everything seemed comfortless in the extreme,
and as the melancholy train of thought into which he had fallen was
in no wise cheered by this manner of proceeding, he passed into the
library, which seemed least cheerless of all, and sat himself down.

Still he could not enliven himself nor shake off the gloomy feeling
which had settled upon him; all around was perfectly still, and the
very silence palled upon his fancy. It was, he imagined, the calm
before the storm; the tempest would be raging round him soon in all
its fury; and moving the empty horn cups aside--the relics of the
night's carousal--he reached down a volume from the thinly-populated
bookshelf, hoping to calm his excited feelings by arousing an interest
which might for a time distract his attention from the forthcoming
trial. It was a book of poems, and with a contemptuous "tush!" he
impatiently replaced it upon its shelf, and sank down into his seat
and fell into a fitful doze, only to be tormented afresh by hosts of
enemies, each of whom was eager to destroy him, while he could only
look on in dismay and witness his own fall.

Sir George was no light weight, and under the pressure of his body
the table was gradually pushed further and further away from the bench
upon the smoothly polished boards, until at length it failed to offer
him any support and he was suddenly awakened by falling heavily upon
the floor.

Half dazed by the fall, and still uncertain whether he were awake or
asleep, the good knight rubbed his eyes and looked around. He heaved
a sigh of relief to find that he was yet alive, for he had at first
imagined that the furies had succeeded in encompassing his ruin. He
ran his fingers through his iron-grey locks of dishevelled hair, and
comprehending that he was seated upon the floor, he made an effort to
rise.

As he placed his hand upon the floor it touched som