Page:The Necromancer, or, The Tale of the Black Forest Vol. 1.djvu/195

 he would assist me in unfolding that mysterious matter, he looked seriously at me without uttering a word. Having waited some time for his answer with anxious impatience, he rose, and walked up and down the room in profound meditation.

"Friend," said he at last, after a long and painful silence, "what reason have you to engage in that dangerous undertaking?"

"I have no other motive," replied I, "than to chastise the impostors, and to deliver my servant from their clutches."

He shook his head: "Are you certain," resumed he at length, after a short pause, "that your servant has not been associated with those nightly sportsmen."

I stared at him and replied, after having meditated awhile, "No, it is impossible, the fellow was too honest; and what motive—"