nished. Vengeance on the fiend who had urged me to a step which had converted me into a demon was the only thought that now occupied my mind. The idea, too, of being in the power of such a woman was insufferable. I therefore, with the cunning of insanity, watched my opportunity, and as she stooped to gloat over the last eddy from the sinking body, I flung the cord round her neck which she had herself prepared for her ill-fated mistress, and I had pulled it tight before the wretch was aware of my intentions.

"She struggled violently, but I was desperate; and seizing a stone from the bottom of the boat, I struck her a tremendous blow on the temple, which stunned her. But she was not yet dead; I therefore twisted the cord so tightly round her neck and arms that recovery or resistance was impossible. I then hastened to secure in her clothes a quantity of stones, sufficient to sink the body, which, like poor Rosalie's, I threw overboard. Having accomplished all this, I pushed towards the shore, secured the boat, hastened back into the gar

den, and fastened the door as usual behind me. Passing through the garden into the great hall, and up the lofty staircase, I entered my own room as the clock struck

two.

"Once in the solitude of my own chamber, I flung myself exhausted on the floor.

"A thousand demons seemed to hover around me, and flames to rise out of the earth.

"What a night was that of anguish, horror, and despair! There I still lay, when, in the morning, the cheerful voices of the household met my ear. I knew I must exert myself to the utmost, and rising, tried to obliterate all trace of my last night's deed. All outward trace might be removed, but what could remove the load of horror and guilt which almost choked me.

"I entered the breakfast-room, where the usual happy faces of the excellent count, the merry Henri, and the kind old gouvernante, met my bewildered gaze.

"Where

was Rosalie ? they all asked. She was sent for, and nowhere to be found. The distraction of the party, when the search was in vain, need not be described.

I joined as eagerly as the rest in the useless search. My agitation and confusion, which I could not control, was attributed, like that of the others, to distress and horror at her mysterious disappearance. Not the slightest suspicion fell on me. But I was neither the happier nor the calmer for that. From that hour to this remorse and despair have been my constant companions. You know how soon the chateau became a desert.

"The count died of grief, his son fell covered with wounds in defending the Thuilleries from the fury of the revolutionary mob; I was also desperately wounded, but recovered. I have roamed over half the world since, in search of peace. But no peace, no, not for one moment, has visited this blighted bosom, this aching heart. Whether in the back-settlements of America, the crowded cities of

Europe, or on the glowing sands of Africa, still the images of my murdered victims have risen before my burning eyes.

"I never slept, but the fair form of my gentle, trusting Rosalie, rose all ghastly and dabbled with sea-weed, to look at me reproachfully, and wake me from my troubled slumber. If again I sunk exhausted, the terrible form of the enraged and suffocating Marie, with the fatal cord drawn tightly round her neck, would rise to supply the place of her injured mistress, and darting her fiery eyes at me, flashing with rage, she would scream in my ears, 'I am revenged,' you will never know peace again, and I shall meet you in the burning gulph where I now abide.

"She would then touch my breast with a finger so hot, that it seemed to penetrate to my very vitals.

"After years of misery and despair, I sought refuge, as my last hope, in this holy land. Every consecrated place have I visited in vain, and a few weeks since I reached this mountain, where I hoped for starvation to put

an end to my life and misery. Providence directed you to hear from my own lips the history of the most cruel, most monstrous deed, that ever demon contrived and executed.

"Let all fathers who may hear this tale be cautious whom they admit into the bosom of their families, either as dependents or companions to their innocent children. Let all children beware of making friends unknown to or independent of their parents; above all, let young females beware of listening to vows unsanctioned by a father's and a mother's approval and blessing. If they do, they may be certain it will lead to misery, if not to guilt."

As soon as the miserable creature had finished this dreadful and extraordinary tale, he sunk on the ground, and for several hours was immoveable. One of the good fathers remained by his side, while the other ran off for assistance to some monks who resided at a poor habitation at the foot of the mountain.