He took a path which led through the fields back of his house, and wound amongst the steep rocks part way up the range of high hills, till it attached a small locust grove, where it ended. He began climbing a ridge near him, and reach- ing the top of it, beheld all around him a scene as desolate and broken as the ocean. For miles it seemed as if one immense gray rock had been heaved up and shattered by an earthquake, here and there might be seen shooting out of the clefts, old trees, like masts at sea. It was as the ocean in a storm, had become suddenly agitated, with all its ships upon it. The sun shone scouring and hot on it, but there was neither view, nor motion, nor sound ;— the spirit of Deso- lation had gone over it, and it had become the peace of death. His heart sunk within him, and something like a superstitious dread entered him. He tried to rouse himself and look about with a composed mind. It was all in vain - he felt as if some dreadful, unseen power stood near him. He would have spoken, but he dared not in such a place. To shake this off, he began clambering over one ridge after another, till passing cautiously round a beetling rock, a sharp cry from out it shot through him. Every small pit and precipice sent it back with a satanic taunt, and the crowd of hollows and points seemed for an instant alive with thousands of fiends. Paul's blood ran cold ; and he scarce- ly breathed as he waited for their cry again; but all was still. Though his mind was of a superstitious cast, he had courage and fortitude; and ashamed of his weakness, he reached forward, and stooping down looked into the cavity. He started as his eye fell on the object within it. " Who and what are you ?“ cried he. " Come out and let me see whether you are man or devil." And out crawled a miserable boy, that seemed shrunk up with fear and famine. " Speak, and tell me who you are. and what you do here," said Paul. The poor fellow's jaws moved and quivered, but he did not utter a sound. His spare frame shook, and his knees knocked against each other, as in an ague fit. Paul looked at him for a moment. His loose, shambly frame was nearly bare to the bones, his light sunburnt hair hung long and straight round his thin jaws, and white eyes, that shone with a delirious glare, as if his mind had been terror struck. There was a sickly, beseeching smile about his mouth. His skin between the freckles was as white as a leper's, and his teeth long and yellow. He looked as if he had witnessed the destruction about him, and as the only living thing spared, to make death the more horrible.— " Who put you here to starve ?" said Paul to him. „ Nobody, sir." „ Why did you come, then ?" „ O, I can't help it, I must come." „ Must !" said Paul, „ and why must you ?" The boy looked round timidly, and crouching near Paul, said, in a tremulous, low voice, his eyes glaring fearfully through a chasm. " 'Tis He, 'tis He, that makes me."—- Paul turned sud- denly round and saw before him, for the first time, the deserted tract of pine wood and sand, which has been mentioned.— „Who and where he," asked Paul, impatiently, expecting to see some one. „ There, there, in the wood yonder," answer- ed the boy, crouching still lower, and pointing with his finger, whilst his hand shook as if pal- sied. „ I see nothing," said Paul, " but these pines. What possesses you ? Why do you shudder so, and look so pale ? Do you take the shadows of the trees for devils ?" "Don't speak of them. They'll be on me if you talk of them here,' whispered the boy eagerly. Drops of sweat stood on his brow from the agony of terror he was in. As Paul looked at the lad, he felt something like fear creeping over him. He turned his eyes involuntarily to the wood again. " If we must not talk here,' said he at last, " come along with me, and tell me what all this means." The boy rose, and followed close to Paul. " Is it the devil you have seen," asked Paul, " that you shake so ?" " You have named him, I never must," said the boy. " Strange sights I have seen, and heard sounds whispered close to my ears, and so full of spite, and so dreadful, I dared not look round, lest I should see some awful face at mine. I´ve thought I felt it touch me sometimes." " And what wicked thing have you done that they should haunt you so ?" " O, Sir, I was a foolhardy boy. Two years ago I was not afraid of any thing. Nobody dared go into that wood, or even so much as over the rocks, to look at it, after what happened there." — " I´ve heard a foolish story," said Paul, — " So once, Sir, the thought took me that I would go there a birds-nesting, and bring home the eggs and show to the men. And it would never out of my mind after, though I began to wish I hadn't thought any such thing. Every night when I went to bed, I would lie and say to myself that to-morrow was the day for me to go ; and I did not like to be alone in the dark, and wanted some one with me to touch me when I had bad dreams. And when I waked in the morning, I felt as if something dreadful was coming upon me before night. Well, every day, I don't know how it was, I found myself near this ridge ; and every time, I went farther and farther up it, though I grew more and more frightened ; and when I had gone as far as I dared, I was afraid to wait, but would turn and make away so fast, that many a time I fell down some of these places, and got lamed and bruised. The boys began to think something ; and would whisper each other and look at me, and when they found I saw them, they would turn away. It grew hard for me to be one at their games, though once I used to be the first chosen in. I can't tell how it was, but all this only made me go on ; and as the boys kept out of the way, I began to feel as if I must do what I had thought of, and as if there was somebody, I couldn't think who, that was to have me and make me do what he pleased. So it went on, Sir, day after day," continued the lad in a weak, timid tone, but comforted at finding one to tell his story to, " till at last I reached as far as the hol- low where you just now frighted me so, when I heard you near me. I didn't run off, as I used to from the other places, but sat down under the rock. Then I looked out, and saw the trees. I tried to get up and run home, but I couldn't ; I dared not come out and go round the corner of the rock. I tried to look another way, but my eyes seemed fastened on the trees, I couldn't take 'em off. At last I thought something told me it was time for me to go on. I got up." Here poor Abel shook so that he seized hold of Paul's arm to help him. Paul recoiled as if some unclean creature touched him. The boy shrunk back. " Go on," said Paul, recovering himself. The boy took comfort from the sound of anoth- er's voice.—" I went a little way down the hol- low, Sir, as if drawn along. Then I came to a steep place; I put my legs over to let myself down ; my knees grew so weak I dared not trust myself; I tried to draw them up, but the strength was all gone out of them, and then my feet were as heavy as if made of lead. I gave a screech ; and there was a yell close to me, and for miles round, that nigh stunned me. I can't say how, but the last thing I knew was being mad and leaping along the rocks, while there was nothing but flames of fire shooting all round me. It was scarce mid-day when I left home ; and when I came to myself under these locusts, it was growing dark." " Rest here awhile," said Paul, looking at the boy as at some mysterious being, "and tell out your story."
