VALERIUS.

CHAPTER I.

THESE words were spoken as we were moving onward towards this same grove of pines; and before he had made an end of speaking, we could clearly hear the wind sighing among their branches, and along the dry underground about the roots of their bare trunks. And on coming to them I found that he had said truly there was a tomb in the midst of them; for a very noble high circular tower was indeed there, which, to judge from the grayness of its walls, and the luxuriance of the ivy that grew thereon, had the appearance of being at least as ancient as any of the surrounding trees. The only method of access to the inside of this tower seemed to be by means of a winding stair, which rose on the exterior from the ground to the summit-a method, bythe-way, not unusual in Roman sepulchres-and it was on one of the steps of the stair that I seated myself, where, between the shaded wall on the one side and the pine branches on the other, I was effectually concealed. As for Dromo, I know not whether it was that he coveted not exactly such close proximity to the stones of such an edifice, or that he preferred, altogether for his own sake, a situation of more conspicuousness; but instead of ascending along with me, when I mounted

the steps, he took up a position beside one of the largest of the pines that rose out of the ground over-against me. The soil, however, where he stood was somewhat elevated, so that, leaning on his willow staff, he could still, not less than myself, overlook the path with a very commanding superiority.

I ought rather, indeed, to say, that he could have easily overlooked it, had there been light enough there at that time, for the purpose of looking at or overlooking any thing;—but this was very far from being the case; for though the moon had got rid of her clouds, and the sky, where any of it could be seen, was abundantly brilliant, the natural darkness of that funereal grove was such, that very little difference could be produced in the midst of it by any variation on the face of any nightly luminary. The gray tower itself alone received some of the moonbeams on one part of its curved surface; but its contemporary trees participated not in any such illumination,-one solemn shade covering all things beneath the influence of their massy growth; insomuch that even the white flowing beard of my pretended soothsayer could scarcely be distinguished by me, sitting right over-against the place where he had chosen to take his stand.

"I can scarcely see you, Dromo," said I; "but I think that speck must be your beard, and if so, I beg you would tell me what it is you really have in view by all this preparation? Do you expect me to stay here on a tombstone all night, merely because you wish to have an opportunity of terrifying poor Rubellia by some ghost-like howl or other when she passes you ?—which, by-the-way, it seems by no means certain she will do at all. Or what is your purpose?"

"Hush, hush, hush!" was his answer; "ask me no questions, but listen, and hem thrice when you think you hear any footsteps coming-for young ears are the keenest. Hush, I say, for all will be of no use if there be any chatting between us."

"Well, hush be the word," said I, somewhat tartly, for I was not quite pleased with all this affectation of mystery. And accordingly silence was kept so strictly,

that, in spite of the chilness of the stone on which I sat, I presently fell into a sort of a dozing slumber.

By degrees, however, nor, considering the hour and the fatigue I had undergone, is it wonderful that it should have been so, my sleep must have become sufficiently profound, for I did not at first, on waking from it, very well remember either where I was or for what purpose I had come thither. And, indeed, I have little doubt my slumbers might have continued till daybreak, but for the interruption I am now to mention.'

And yet it seemed as if even in my sleep I had been prepared for this by some strange anticipation; for although it was a near sound of singing voices that dispelled my slumbers, and made me start from the stone on which I had placed myself, I could not help feeling as if that sound were not altogether new to me;whether it were that the half-sensible ear had been already ministering indistinctly to the dreaming spirit, or that some purely fantastic prelude had been vouchsafed to the real music I was destined to hear. I started up suddenly-that much is certain, and listened-with astonishment, yet not altogether with such surprise as might have been expected to attend a transition so hasty from sleep to waking, and from silence to the near neighbourhood of sounds at once so strange and so sweet. With breathless curiosity, nevertheless, with awe,and not entirely I think without terror,-did I listen to the extraordinary melody-which, after the pause of a moment, I became satisfied could proceed from no place other than the interior of that old circular sepulchre,on one of the steps of the staircase leading to the summit of which, I had permitted myself to be overtaken with that deep slumber. Strange, as I have said, and yet passing sweet, were the notes that seemed to ascend out of the habitation of the noble dead into the nightly air, -wild, yet solemn, as if breathed from the bosom of a stately repose and a pensive felicity; insomuch that almost I persuaded myself I was hearing the forbidden sounds of another world, and the thought came over me, yet almost I think at that moment without further disturbing me,-what fearful interpretations the old

poets have affixed to such untimely communion, and how the superstition of all antiquity has shrunk from its

omen.

My first impulse, after a moment had elapsed, was to call on Dromo, and I did so, at first in a low whisper, and then two or three times more loudly, but all equally in vain, for no answer was returned to me; and though I strained my eyes in gazing on the place where I had last seen him, yet there I could perceive no trace whatever of any human figure; for the moonlight indeed showed with more distinctness than before the tall stem of the old pine-tree against which he had been leaning; but no motion, nor the least appearance of whiteness, could either my eyes or my imagination discover there. I might easily, you will say, have stepped across the road, and entirely satisfied myself; but I know not well what it was that nailed me to the place where I stood, and prevented me even from once thinking of doing so. The calm sepulchral music, my friends, still continued to stream from the recess of the mausoleum, and painless awe held me there, as if by a charm incontrollable. I gazed upward, and beheld the moon riding above the black pine-tops, in a now serene and cloudless heaven. The wind also had passed away, as it appeared, with the clouds it had agitated. The bird of night was asleep on her unseen bough; and all was silent as death, except only the dwelling of the departed; and a certain indescribable delight was beginning, as I gazed and listened, to be mixed with the perturbation wherewith at first I had been inspired.

And I know not how long I might have stood so, but while I was yet listening to this mysterious music, there was mingled with its expiring cadence the sound of a heavy footstep on the staircase above me, and looking up, I perceived in the moonlight the figure of a man, clad in a white gown, but having a naked sword stretched forth in his hand, immediately over the place whereon I was standing. I obeyed the first natural impulse, and leaped downward swiftly on seeing him; but this availed me nothing, for he also leaped, and almost before my feet had touched the ground, I felt the grasp of his