the railing, the stranger managed, without the least difficulty, to reach the roof of the coach, and from thence the ground. He then made towards the archway, and beneath it disappeared from sight.

Pearly Tom listened for a moment until he heard the fastenings of the outer gate being softly undone, and then, hastening to the window of an unoccupied room, in the front of the building, he saw the stranger issue forth into the street, closing the gate of the inn behind him. Immediately the postboy hurried downstairs, and seizing his cap, flew to the gate just in time to see the stranger nearing the end of the street.

The worthy major-domo gave instant chase, and on reaching the corner round which the stranger had turned, he was gratified to perceive the latter still in view. He then followed him at a distance, keeping on the shady side of the street, and using all precautions necessary to prevent his surveillance from being detected. At first he was unable to guess whither the stranger's steps were directed; but he soon began to observe that they were nearing the cathedral; and when, on reaching a narrow street that led into the open space before that building, the stranger quickly turned down it, a suspicion arose in his mind that the ghostly precincts of the cloisters might be the object of this midnight peregrination. This suspicion was converted into a certainty on reaching the end of the street alluded to; for when he cautiously peeped round the corner, he beheld the stranger hastening, under the shadow of the houses, directly towards the cathedral. An iron gate afforded an entrance to the enclosure in which the cloisters were, and on reaching it the stranger paused a moment, in order to see whether anybody was watching his movements; but observing nothing of the kind, he lightly clambered to the top of the gate, and flinging himself over, was

lost in the shadow which a widespreading yew-tree cast upon the spot.

Here Pearly Tom came to a pause. His curiosity much prompted him to follow, and ascertain what such strange proceedings might mean; but then, on the other hand, his superstitious terrors counselled. an immediate retreat from so weird a vicinity. All kinds of terrible imaginings began to float through his mind: ghosts, ghouls, imps, witches, afreets, goblins, and the whole race of beings from the nether world, danced in hideous array before his fancy; and more than half persuaded that the stranger was Lucifer himself about to hold a Sabbath on consecrated ground, he shrank from the idea of witnessing so unhallowed a scene. At length, however, as a kind of compromise, he resolved he would go as far as the iron gate, and just peep through. to see if anything could be discerned. Accordingly, he crept along beside the houses, and in a few minutes reached his proposed destination. Then, shivering with fear, but burning with curiosity, he cowered against the wall, and bent his head forward to peer through the bars of the gate. For a moment he saw nothing; but his eyes soon became accustomed to the darkness, and then he beheld the grim pile of the cloisters standing in his front, with the entering archway, through which a glimpse of the moonlit quadrangle could be obtained: naught else appeared.

Somewhat emboldened by this, he ventured to stand fully against the gate; and as he did so, his hand came in contact with the padlock by which it was fastened. Mechanically grasping this, he found it to be unlocked, and instantly the idea suggested itself to him, that he might now venture within the enclosure, as, by leaving the gate open, he would possess ample means of retreat in case of any emergency. No sooner thought than done: he

pushed the gate open, and stole gently towards the entrance to the cloisters. Arrived there, he again paused, and well it was that he did so; for hardly had he ventured a glance within the quadrangle, when the sound of footsteps close at hand made his blood run cold as ice. Not a limb could he stir-not a sound could he utter; but, rooted to the spot, he stood unable to fly an inch, although he verily believed that some mortal danger menaced him. Fascinated, however, by the very extremity of his peril, he gazed earnestly into the cloisters, and in another moment he beheld a dark form emerge from underneath the arches into the moonlight. The first glance served to show that it was not the stranger; for the newcomer was a short and stout man, with a black-velvet skull-cap upon his head; and immediately that his face was illumined by the moon, Pearly Tom recognised, with a deep feeling of relief, the features of Mr. Nann, the verger. But although his fear was thus diminished, his curiosity grew stronger than ever; and the feeling was augmented by the behaviour of Mr. Nann. That gentleman proceeded to a small window in the opposite wall of the cloisters, and looked earnestly through for a few minutes; then he turned quickly to a passage which adjoined the cathedral, and walked away with the air of a man who has some object in view.

The sight of a face that he knew operated beneficially upon Pearly Tom's nerves, and he felt sufficiently emboldened to follow Mr. Nann. He, therefore, crept softly into the passage above alluded to, and comforted by the sound of Mr. Nann's footsteps in advance, he made shift to walk very firmly and courageously. Arrived at the end he found himself in a small open space, known as the Monk's Cemetery, and to his great surprise, he saw Mr. Nann clambering over the opposite wall

by the aid of a tombstone in immediate proximity. Waiting until the verger had disappeared, Pearly Tom hurried forward and mounted on the tombstone, in order to look over the wall.

Spread out before him lay the garden of the will-registry, its lonesome alleys and gloomy clumps of trees looking doubly spectral in the pale moonbeams. At the end of the garden stood the massive and strangely-shaped building of the registry, displaying a wealth of tracery and of exquisitely moulded ogives, which told a tale of the power and cultivation of those who had dwelt there in olden times. Its windows, however, were all quite dark; nor, for the life of him, could Pearly Tom conceive what Mr. Nann wanted in so desolate a locality.

Presently, just where a patch of lawn emerged luminously from the surrounding shade, he descried the mysterious stranger of the "Cherubim and Seraphim," walking in the direction of the registry, and a few moments afterwards the figure of Mr. Nann crossed the same spot. Then, looking towards the building, he saw the stranger approach one of the windows on the basement story, where he stood for a short time making many curious movements, whose purpose was altogether unconjecturable.

These terminated by the window flying open, a fact which no sooner occurred than the stranger stepped upon the ledge, and rapidly disappeared within the building.

Soon a mysterious light was discerned flashing from several of the windows in succession, and remaining stationary but for a moment in each place. At this, Pearly Tom grew melancholy the rustling of the trees which surrounded him, the nature of his present locality, the weird radiance of the moon, the ominous darkness of the bosky glades before him, the evil reputation of the gloomy pile on which he

looked, and the baleful manner in which, as the light flashed from it, each window seemed to acquire the gift of the Evil Eye,-all conspired to plunge him once more into an extremity of horror. His only comfort and source of hope now lay in the proximity of Mr. Nann; but speedily this, too, vanished, as he saw that gentleman emerge from the shelter of some trees, and creep stealthily towards the open window. With beating heart and ebbing confidence, he watched the verger near the haunted mansion; and when at length, he saw him cautiously enter the window, he felt himself to be, as it were, a helpless prey to whatever of the supernatural might be hovering near.

Much as he wished to quit the place, he durst not stir. He reflected that his only chance of safety lay in remaining perfectly still, and accordingly he seated himself on the tombstone in such a position, that he could just peer over the wall, and thus awaited what might occur. It was by no means a pleasant situation: the night was bitterly cold, and his toes and fingers soon ached intensely. His body, too, shivered like an aspen leaf; but this was not wholly attributable to the cold; for as his lively imagination converted all the vague noises of the night into approaching sources of miserable calamity, he trembled not a little on that account.

Minute after minute draged slowly

by, and nothing of reality occurred. to disturb our watcher, save when the huge bell of the cathedral clock suddenly struck "One !" and caused him to drop from his perch in an agony of terror. Fortunately he was not hurt, and resuming his seat with nerves a little more tremulous than before, he again bent his eyes upon the registry. For a quarter of an hour longer he looked without any result, and he then began to deliberate in his mind whether he should return, while yet unharmed, to the shelter of the "Cherubim and Seraphim." Truth to tell, his curiosity had almost vanished, and the terrors. which encompassed him began to produce in his mind an irresistibledesire for flight at all hazards. Just,. however, as he had resolved upon this course, and as he was looking for the last time at the registry, a terrible shriek issued thence and rang through the air. Naught was visible; solely those fearful accents,. as of a lost soul clutched by the Evil One, fell with a horrible thrill upon his ear, and froze for awhile the current of his life. Then, with

the aid of the light thus afforded took a survey of the apartment. No furniture could be discerned, but many doors and passages seemed to give access to various parts of the building, while in the centre of the hall was a narrow well- staircase, which apparently led to the vaults under-ground.

After reflecting for a moment, the stranger proceeded to the side of the hall nearest the cathedral, and with the assistance of his lanthorn examined the first door that appeared. Satisfied with the examination, he tried the door, and, finding it unlocked, entered the room to which it led. It was an apartment of considerable dimensions, with cases placed against the walls, in which were ranged many huge volumes, thick with dust and hoary with age. The patriarchs of the collection possessed, however, no interest for the midnight visitor. Turning from these he sought the most recent that could be found, and taking them from the cases, examined their contents with much apparent anxiety. Suddenly an entry in one of them arrested his attention, and directing the light of his lanthorn upon it, he perused it carefully. Then, being, as it seemed, somewhat at a loss, he rapidly surveyed the walls of the apartment, until he caught sight of a large map hanging up, and proceeding towards it, he discovered it was a plan of the vaults below the registry. This he minutely examined for some minutes, and, as he did so, a pleased expression became visible upon his

countenance.

This done, he replaced the book he had used, and, quitting the room, made his way to the staircase in the centre of the hall. Here, without more ado, he descended, and speedily found himself in a gloomy crypt, from which dark and lonesome passages radiated in all directions. A momentary shudder crept over his frame as he felt the cold, clammy atmosphere of the place, and

he could not repress an involuntary start as the beam of light, cast by the lanthorn, revealed, one by one, the uncouth and curiously-carved pillars which supported the dark roof above. With an impatient gesture, however, he cast the end of his long cloak over his shoulder, and proceeded firmly along one of the passages, which he seemed to recognise by certain marks.

A man less brave might well have been appalled at the scene in which the stranger now found himself. In front lay an abyss of unutterable darkness, which the light he carried. served but to penetrate for a few feet. Above and around were arches. and walls of massive stone, made dimly visible by their moist glistening, and with discoloured patches here and there, as though bearing a ghastly witness of some foul deed that had been perpetrated in those horrible retreats. All, too, was silent as the grave, save for the occasional drip of water, or the pattering of some rats' feet as it rapidly retired from the stranger's approach; and when to these circumstances he added the remembrance of the account which Pearly Tom had given of the manner in which the building was supposed to be tenanted, it will not be wondered at that his cheek grew pale, and his walk less firm. Once, inded, he imagined that he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, and, hurriedly pausing, he listened with painful eagerness for a confirmation of his suspicions. Naught came, however; and exclaiming, "Tush! 'twas but the echo of my own steps," he resumed his solitary walk.

Often he would pass a massive door, frowning grimly from the wall of the passage, and ever as he did so, he would stop and scan it narrowly. At length he came to one which was marked " 1900First decade," and observing this he immediately strove to open it. It was unfastened, save by its weight,

and yielded readily to the force which he applied. He then entered the vault to which it led, and discovered that there was here deposited a number of large wooden chests, all marked with letters and figures. Selecting one of these, he raised the lid, and after some little search, drew forth a document, which he opened and spread upon the chest with a trembling hand. He then proceeded to read it, and as he did so, the blood returned to his cheeks, the fire of resolution to his eye, and steadiness to his nerves. Clenching his teeth tightly, he produced from his pocket an ink-bottle and pen, and then kneeling before the chest, he proceeded, with infinite pains, to examine the document he had read, and dextrously to render more elegant and legible some portions of the writing it contained. This done, he cast a final glance at his labours, and appearing satisfied with the result, he folded up the document, and carefully replaced it in the chest from whence he had taken it.

'Whilst occupied in writing, his back had been turned to the door of the vault; but as he closed the chest, after replacing the document, his face, for a moment, became visible in that direction. He then stooped to take up his lanthorn, with the view of making his way back to the hall above.

Ha! what was that? Ere he could touch the lanthorn, a shaft of ice seemed to bury itself in his heart, and a cold thrill to spread through all his frame. Every function of his being stood paralysed, as from the fearful darkness behind there fell that sound of horror upon his ear. It was the noise of breathing, not calm, but in short, quick pant

ings, so strangely tremulous that he felt it must proceed from some shape of unutterable terror, a resident in those lonely vaults.

He was a man of iron nerve, of a bold spirit, and altogether untinctured by superstition; but at that terrible moment he experienced the helplessness of fear in all its intensity; he knew that he was not misled by fancy; for no imagination could have pictured any sound so frightful as that weird and devilish panting which now echoed through the vault behind him.

Still it went on. Second after second, its "Puff! puff! puff!" seemed to increase the transports of his fear, and to chill his frozen blood still further.

Then came a change. The whole force of his constitution seemed to gather itself for one supreme struggle with the horror that was fast o'ermastering his life. A sudden deluge of cold sweat started to the surface of his body, and with a loud, painful throbbing, his heart shook off the stillness that oppressed it. This revulsion, however, was accompanied by dangers of its own. Strange buzzing noises resounded in his ear, mingled with that fearful, never-ceasing breathing; and he felt conscious that these were the symptoms of an approaching swoon.

Standing aghast at the thought of thus falling a helpless prey to the horrible Unknown, he summoned to his aid such nerve and boldness as he could yet command; and then, with the courage of an almost frenzied desperation, he turned swiftly round to face the being from whom the hideous panting proceeded. Immediately a wild and unearthly shriek rang through the vault, echoing far and wide.