ction, that seductive
and insinuating carriage, so essential to the fine gentleman of every
age. There was a sort of angular irregularity in his movements, neither
pleasant nor becoming; and his agitation so far overcame his better
breeding that he really did cram his beard between at least three of his
fingers. His rapier had, moreover, poked its way through his cloak, and
the bright shoe-roses were nigh ruined, from the sudden crossings and
disarrangements they had undergone. A considerable time had now elapsed;
in the meanwhile his impatience had risen to an alarming height,
insomuch that we would not have answered for the safety of his red cloth
hose and silken doublet, had not noon been happily announced.

Raising the latch of the seer's chamber with considerable eagerness, he
found the room completely dark. An unseen hand led him to a seat. Soon
he heard a low murmuring chant, as though from voices at a remote
distance. By degrees the words grew more articulate, shaping themselves
into the same quaint distich that Kelly had repeated,--

"The stranger that hither comes o'er the broad sea
Shall wed on the night of St Bartlemy."

This was answered in a voice of considerable pathos; a burst of soft
music filling up the interval. Gradually the eye began to feel sensible
of the presence of surrounding objects, though in the ordinary way
nothing could be distinguished; a faculty peculiarly sensitive with the
loss of sight, and not quite dormant in the general mass of mankind. A
faint gleam was soon perceptible, like the first blush of morning,
apparently on the opposite side of the chamber. Becoming brighter,
flashes of a dim, rainbow-coloured light crept slowly by, like the
aurora sweeping over an illuminated cloud. Suddenly he saw, or his eyes
deceived him, a female form shaping itself from these chaotic elements.
But it was observed only during the short intervals when the beams
seemed to kindle with unusual brightness. Every flash, however, rendered
the appearance more distinct. Dazzled and bewildered, the heated senses
were become the victims of their own credulity, the mind receiving back
its own reactions. Taking its impression probably from the occurrences
of the morning, the eye rapidly moulded the figure into the likeness of
Kate. Her eyes were turned upon him, beaming with that soft and melting
expression he had so recently beheld. It was but momentary, or he could
have persuaded himself that she loo