The girl started when she
beheld the grim features, horribly drawn together and convulsed, as if
in the last agony. I was obliged to muster the requisite fortitude to
attempt its removal; and raising it from the sand, with a little
assistance I placed it across the horse, though not without a most
determined opposition on the part of the animal. Throwing a cloak over
the body, we made the best of our way back; and on arriving at the house
I found that the only vacant apartment where I could deposit my charge
was a narrow loft over the out-house, the entrance to which was both
steep and dangerous. With the assistance of my two friends, though with
considerable difficulty, it was in the end deposited there, upon a
miserable pallet of straw, over which we threw a tattered blanket. On
returning, I found the guest-room deserted: the old woman to whom the
tavern belonged--the mother, as I afterwards found, of my female
companion--was hastily clearing away the drinking utensils, and
preparing for an immediate removal to the only apartment above-stairs
which bore the honours of the bedchamber. She kindly offered me the use
of it for the night; but this sacrifice of comfort I could not allow;
and throwing my cloak over a narrow bench, I drew it near the fire,
determining to snatch a brief interval of rest, without robbing the good
woman and her daughter of their night's repose.
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