The
demon of fear seemed to possess my frame, and benumbed every faculty. I
saw, or thought I saw, shapes hideous and indistinct rising before me,
but so rapidly that I could not trace their form ere they vanished. I
felt convinced it was the mind that was perturbed, acting outwardly upon
the senses, rendered more than usually irritable by the alarm and
excitation they had undergone--yet I could not shake off the spell. I
heard a sharp rustling past my ear; I involuntarily raised my hand; but
nothing met my touch save the damp and chilly hair about my temples. I
tried to rally myself out of these apprehensions, but in vain: reason
has little chance of succeeding when fear has gained the ascendency. I
durst not quicken my pace lest I should meet with some obstruction;
judging it most prudent to allow my steed to grope out his path in the
way best suited to his own sagacity. Suddenly he made a dead halt. No
effort or persuasion could induce him to stir. I was the more surprised
from knowing his generally docile and manageable temper. He seemed
immovable, and, moreover, as I thought, in the attitude of listening.
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