Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 1).djvu/240

 a disordered imagination, he began to consider from whom, or from whence it could proceed. The sounds both nights were exactly similar, and he concluded must issue from some person distressed and confined. "There is some unaccountable mystery hangs about this forlorn place, and the Solitary who inhabits it dares not trust me with the secret: I will avail myself of his permission, and stay here a few days to see if I can penetrate through it."

Thus thought Ferdinand when he retired to bed; he slept undisturbed, and when he appeared below, the first question asked him was, "If he slept quiet?"

"Entirely so," answered he; 'this place is remote from all disturbance, and is calculated for the Court of Somnus by its stillness."

The Solitary seemed pleased, and observed, "That the depth of the snow must preclude him from an attempt at travelling in that obscure and unfrequented part of the country." The other raised no objections to remaining another day, and both were much