peculiarity of the adventure determined me.

"'Nay, if it is to be done,' said I, 'one time is as good as another.
Let me strike a light, and I will at once pack up my colors and come
with you.'

"'_Bene_!' said the stranger. 'But be as quick as you can, Signore, for
time presses.'

"I was quick, you may be sure, and yet not so quick but that I found
time to look at my strange visitor. He was a dark, elderly man, dressed
in a suit of plain black, and might have been a clerk, or a tradesman,
or a confidential servant. As soon as I was ready, he took the lead;
conducted me to a carriage which was waiting at the corner of a
neighboring street; took his place respectfully on the opposite seat;
pulled down both the blinds, and gave the word to drive on. I never knew
by what streets we went, or to what part of Rome he took me; but the way
seemed long and intricate. At length, we stopped and alighted. The night
was pitch-dark, and still stormy. I saw before me only the outline of a
large building, indistinct and gloomy, and a small open door dimly
lighted-from within. Hurried across the strip of narrow pavement, and
shut in immediately, I had no time to identify localities--no choice,
except to follow my conductor and blindly pursue the adventure to its
close. Having entered by a back door, we went up and down a labyrinth of
staircases and passages, for the mere purpose, as it seemed, of
bewildering me as much as possible--then paused before an oaken door at
the end of the corridor. Here my conductor signified by a gesture that I
was to precede him.

"It was a large, panelled chamber, richly furnished. A wood fire
smouldered on the hearth--a curtained alcove to the left partly
concealed a bed--a corresponding alcove to the right, fitted with altar
and crucifix, served as an oratory. In the centre of the room stood a
table covered with a cloth. It needed no second glance to tell me what
object lay beneath that cloth, uplifting it in ghastly outline! My
conductor pointed to the table, and asked if there was anything I
needed. To this I replied that I must have more light and more fire, and
so proceeded to disembarrass myself of my cloak, and prepare my palette.
In the meantime, he threw on a log and some pine-cones, and went to
fetch an additional lamp.

"Left alone with the body and impelled by an irresistible impulse, I
rolled back the cloth and saw before me the corpse of a young man in
fancy dress--a magnificent fellow