His unaccountable appearance, the nature of his
communications, together with his manner and abrupt mode of speech,
would have shaken many a firmer heart unprepared for these disclosures.
"What is thy business with me?" he inquired, with some hesitation.
"To warn thee;--to warn thy daughter. She hath seen me. Ay, to-night.
And how runs the prophecy? Let her beware. I have looked on her
beforetime. Looked on her! ay, until these glowing orbs have become dim,
dazzled with excess of brightness. I have looked on her till this stern
bosom hath become softer than the bubbling wax to her impression; but I
was concealed, and the maiden passed unharmed by the curse. To-night I
have saved her life. A resistless impulse! And she hath looked on me."
He smote his brow, groaning aloud in the agony he endured.
It may be supposed this revelation did not allay the apprehensions of
the listener. Bewildered and agitated, he turned towards the window. The
pale moon was glimmering through the quiet leaves, and he saw a dark and
muffled figure in the avenue. It was stationary for a while; it then
slowly moved towards the adjoining thicket and was lost to his view.
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