Pagina 498 di 1118

He passed through villages, but did not dare ask shelter; the

dogs howled at his approach, and induced him to quicken his

steps. At single houses near the road-side his fatigue tempted

him to knock for shelter; but the apprehension of being saluted

with the cry of "Help, thieves! robbers!" banished the idea from

his mind. Leaving the cultivated country, he found himself in a

plain, covered with fern and broom; and thinking this a

favourable symptom of the near vicinity of the river, he followed

the path across it. When he had advanced a few steps, he

listened, but in vain. The desolation of the place increased the

depression of his spirits. Strange forms and apparitions, the

birth of former tales and legends, began to haunt his

imagination; and to drive them away he began to chant the prayers

for the dead.