My lord, I intreat, I pray you not to enter there; it is well known that a forest fiend haunts that hut-." "Ah! I knew it not! what form beareth he ?" "I am lost!" A brighter blaze flashed through the casement of the hut, and a laugh was heard within, so fearful, so unearthly in its sound, that it chilled the hearts of the hearers, 66 Hoffman, he gave me a ring; fool that I was, I accepted it: the condition for which he bargained is yet unfulfilled: yet will I not die without a struggle ; when ye hear this bugle, break down yon fragile door, and enter the hut." The servitors bowed: Hoffman could not speak, and with steady unfaltering step the Count advanced, and laid his hand upon the latch. No men are braver than the Germans, and Roque possessed this characteristic of his countrymen in an eminent degree; it was not a fear of pain or death which caused his heart to flutter, and his hand to shake as he lifted the latch; it was an indefinable sensation, a species of superstitious terror, a feeling that he was about to witness, nay to act a principal part in some frightful scene of magic, which palsied his hand; but in another fleeting moment he was firm, and throwing open the door, he entered the hut. It appeared precisely as it did in the morning, save that a lamp burning on the chest shed a faint glow on the bare walls, and miserable interior of the hovel. There sat the mendicant exactly in the same position as the Count had left him hours before, and looking as though he had literally fulfilled his words, and not moved in the slightest degree since that time: Roque advanced, and the door fell to behind him. Hoffman and they who had accompanied him, watched eagerly the hut which their master had entered their torches grasped firmly in one hand, and their drawn swords in the other. A loud hum of voices reached their ears, and suddenly the Count vociferated loudly: Never, by heaven!" and then the silence triumphed again undisturbed. A few minutes past, and the wretched casement was powerfully illumined by a strong light from within, while at the same instant Count Schlemil's bugle awakened the forest echoes. With one accord they rushed forward, Hoffman first, the slight barrier was burst open, and the breathless body of their master met their gaze. No violent mark could they discover; it would have rather appeared that his own powerful feelings and passions deprived him of life, had not his hand grasped his unsheathed trusty sword, injured as though by fire. Nought else could they discover, and bearing his lifeless frame they mourn. fully retraced their way. The wild tale soon reached the ears of Rosalie : let those who love fancy what she suffered : let those who have loved fancy how she died. Ere the fair of Frankfort was over, that beauteous maiden tenanted the grave. Many a bright eye was dimmed with a tear of pity, and many a manly breast marvelled at the relation, when the story was told of Count Roque Schlemil and the Diamond Ring, T. W. When civil dudgeon first grew high, And made them fight like mad or drunk, Was beat with fist instead of a stick. Hudibras. TOWARDS the close of a fine evening in the spring of the year 1650, a young man, mounted on a powerful black gelding, advanced at a brisk trot along the road to Cirencester. His hat, jauntily set on one side, and having a white feather in it, shewed that he belonged to the Cavalier party, as the adherents to the Stuart cause were styled. Arriving at a small inn on the road side, known by the sign of the Blue Boar, the stranger alighted, and leaving his horse to the care of the ostler, entered the inn, and after tossing off a cup of canary, hurried out and struck across the country on foot. He turned down a shady lane, and after walking about half a mile, passed through a gate, and crossing a small orchard, looked earnestly towards an old-fashioned mansion, whose gabled front was but imperfectly seen through a row of venerable elms. Perceiving two females issue from the house, he retreated into a small coppice on one side of the orchard. As they approached the spot where the cavalier had concealed himself, he could distinctly overhear their conversation. "Prithee Rose, cease thy childish gabble," said she, who by her air and manner appeared to be the mistress." Alas, if the Royalists should be the victors, what will be the fate of my poor father;-my brothers too," here her tears choked her utterance. Her maid stood some moments silently sympathising with her mistress, at length she broke silence;-"Lacka-day, mistress Alithea,” said she, “'tis silly to grieve when there is so little cause ;-this is meeting sorrow by the way; the Parliament army is much stronger, and your father and brothers cannot be long absent, and you have the company of your brother Jasper here.But soft, I had forgotten Master Gervas Leybourne, |