midnight, I have seen crowds of human figures moving backwards and for wards upon the surface of the ocean, almost as far as the eye could reach. I neither knew who they were, nor what they did there. When watching the lantern alone, I often hear a number of voices talking together, as it were, under the waves; and I twice caught the very words they uttered, but I cannot repeat them-they dwell incessantly in my memory, but my tongue refuses to pronounce them, or to explain to others what they meant."

"Do not let your senses be imposed upon by a distempered imagination," said I; " there is no reality in the things you have told me."-" Perhaps my mind occasionally wanders a little, for it has a heavy burden upon it," returned Morvalden. "I have been guilty of a dreadful crime. Many that now lie in the deep below us, might start up, and accuse me of what I am just going to reveal to you. One stormy night, shortly after I began to take charge of this beacon, while watching on deek, I fell into a profound sleep; I know not how long it continued, but I was awakened by horrible shouts and cries-I started up, and instantly perceived that all the lamps in the lantern were extinguished. It was very dark, and the sea raged furiously; but notwithstanding all this, I observed a ship a-ground on the bank, a little way from me, her sails fluttering in the wind, and the waves breaking over her with violence. Half frantic with horror, I ran down to the cabin for a taper, and lighted the lamps as fast as possible. The lantern, when hoisted to the top of the mast, threw a vivid glare on the surrounding ocean, and shewed me the vessel disappearing among the billows. Hundreds of people lay gasping in the water near her. Men, women, and children, writhed together in agonizing struggles, and uttered soul-harrowing cries; and their countenances, as they gradually stiffened under the hand of death, were all turned towards me with glassy stare, while the lurid expression of their glistening eyes upbraided me with having been the cause of their untimely end. Never shall I forget these looks. They haunt me wherever I am -asleep and awake-night and day. I have kept this tale of horror secret till now, and do not know if I shall ever have courage to relate it again. The masts of the vessel projected above the VOL. X.

surface of the sea for several months after she was lost, as if to keep me in recollection of the night on which so many human creatures perished, in consequence of my neglect and carelessness. Would to God I had no memo ry! I sometimes think I am getting mad. The past and present are equally dreadful to me; and I dare not anticipate the future."

I felt a sort of superstitious dread steal over me, while Morvalden related his story, and we continued walking the deck in silence, till the period of his watch expired. I then went below, and took refuge in my birth, though I was but little inclined for sleep. The gloomy ideas, and dark forebodings, expressed by Morvalden, weighed heavily upon my mind, without my knowing ing why; and my situation, which had at first seemed only dreary and depressing, be gan to have something indefinitely ter rible in its aspect.

Next day, when Morvalden proceeded as usual to put the beacon in order, he called upon Angerstoff to come and assist him, which the latter peremptorily refused. Morvalden then went down to the cabin, where his companion was, and requested to know why his orders were not obeyed. "Because I hate trouble," replied Angerstoff."I am master here," said Morvalden, "and have been entrusted with the direction of every thing. Do not attempt to trifle with me."-"Trifle with you!" exclaimed Angerstoff, looking contemptuously. "No, no; I am no trifler; and I advise you to walk up stairs again, lest I prove this to your cost."" Why, husband," cried Marietta, " I believe there are no bounds to your laziness. You make this young man toil from morning to night, and take advantage of his good-nature in the most shameful manner."-"Peace, infamous woman!" said Morvalden; " I know very well why you stand up in his defence; but I'll put a stop to the intimacy that exists between you. Go to your room instantly! You are my wife, and shall obey me." -" Is this usage to be borne?" exclaimed Marietta. "Will no one step forward to protect metrom his violence?"-"Inso lent fellow!" cried Angerstoff, "don't presumetoinsult my mistress.""Mistress!" repeated Morvalden. "This to my face!" and struck him a severe blow. Angerstoff sprung forward, with the intention of returning it, but I got

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between them, and prevented him. Marietta then began to shed tears, and applauded the generosity her paramour had evinçed in sparing her husband, who immediately went upon deck, without speaking a word, and hurriedly resumed the work that had engaged his attention previous to the quarrel.

Neither of the two men seemed at all disposed for a reconciliation, and they had no intercourse during the whole day, except angry and revengeful looks. I frequently observed Marietta in deep consultation with Angerstoff, and easily perceived that the subject of debate had some relation to her injured husband, whose manner evinced much alarm and anxiety, although he endeavoured to look calm and cheerful. He did not make his appearance at meals, but spent all his time upon deck. Whenever Angerstoff accidentally passed him, he shrunk back with an expression of dread, and intuitively, as it were, caught hold of a rope, or any other object to which he could cling. The day proved a wretched and fearful one to me, for I momentarily expected that some terrible affray would occur on board, and that I would be implicated in it. I gazed upon the surrounding sea almost without intermission, ardently hoping that some boat might approach near enough to afford me an opportunity of quitting the horrid and dangerous abode to which I was imprisoned.

It was Angerstoff's watch on deck till midnight; and as I did not wish to have any communication with him, I remained below. At twelve o'clock, Morvalden got up and relieved him, and he came down to the cabin, and soon after retired to his birth. Believing, from this arrangement, that they had no hostile intentions, I lay down in bed with composure, and fell asleep. It was not long before a noise overhead awakened me. I started up, and listened intently. The sound appeared to be that of two persons scuffling together, for a succession of irregular footsteps beat the deck, and I could hear violent blows given at intervals. I got out of my birth, and entered the cabin, where I found Marietta standing alone, with a lamp in her hand. "Do you hear that?" cried I.-"Hear what?" returned she; "I have had a dreadful dream-I am all trembling." -"Is Angerstoff below?" demanded L-"No-Yes, I mean," said Marie:

ta. "Why do you ask that? He went upstairs."-"Your husband and he are fighting. We must part them instantly."-" How can that be?" answered Marietta; "Angerstoff is asleep.""Asleep! Didn't you say he went up stairs?"" I don't know," returned she; "I am hardly awake yet-Let us listen a moment.'

Every thing was still for a few seconds; then a voice shrieked out, "Ah! that knife! You are murdering me! Draw it out! No help! Are you done? Now-now-now!"-A heavy body fell suddenly along the deck, and some words were spoken in a faint tone, but the roaring of the sea prevented me from hearing what they were.

I rushed up the cabin stairs, and tried to push open the folding doors at the head of them, but they resisted my utmost efforts. I knocked violently and repeatedly, to no purpose. "Some one is killed," cried I. "The person who barred these doors on the outside is guilty."-" I know nothing of that," returned Marietta. "We can't be of any usenow. Come here again!-How dreadfully quiet it is.-My God!-A drop of blood has fallen through the sky-light.--What faces are yon looking down upon us?-But this la going out. - We must be going through the water at a terrible rate.-How it rushes past us! - I am getting dizzy.Do you hear these bells ringing? and strange voices"

lan lamp is

The cabin doors were suddenly burst open, and Angerstoff next moment appeared before us, crying out, "Morvalden has fallen overboard. Throw a rope to him!-He will be drowned." His hands and dress were marked with blood, and he had a frightful look of horror and confusion. "You are a murderer!" exclaimed I, almost involuntarily.-"How do you know that?" said he, staggering back; "I'm sure you never saw-' "Hush, hush," cried Marietta to him; "are you mad? - Speak again!-What frightens you ? - Why don't you run and help Morvalden?"-" Has any thing happened to him?" inquired Angerstoff, with a gaze of consternation." You told us he had fallen overboard," returned Marietta. "Must my husband perish ?""Give me some water to wash my hands," said Angerstoff, growing deadly pale, and catching hold of the table for support..

I now hastened upon deck, but Mor

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valden was not there. I then went to the side of the vessel, and put my hands on the gunwale, while I leaned over, and looked downwards. On taking them off, I found them marked with blood. I grew sick at heart, and began to identify myself with Angerstoff the -murderer. The sea, the beacon, and the sky, appeared of a sanguine hue; and I thought I heard the dying exclamations of Morvalden sounding a hundred fathom below me, and echoing through the caverns of the deep. I advanced to the cabin door, intending to descend the stairs, but found that some one had fastened it firmly on the inside. I felt convinced that I was intentionally shut out, and a cold shuddering pervaded my frame. I covered g my face with my hands, not daring to look around; for it seemed as if I was excluded from the company of the ligving, and doomed to be the associate of the spirits of drowned and murdered men. After a little time I began to walk hastily backwards and forwards; but the light of the lantern happened to flash on a stream of blood that ran along the deck, and I could not summon up resolution to pass the spot where it was a second time. The sky looked black and threatening-the sea had a fierceness in its sound and motions-and the wind swept over its bosom with melancholy sighs. Every thing was sombre and ominous; and I looked in vain for some object that would, by its soothing aspect, remove the dark impressions which crowded upon my mind.

T

;

- While standing near the bows of the vessel, I saw a hand and arm rise slow ly behind the stern, and wave from side to side. I started back as far as I could go in horrible affright, and looked again, expecting to behold the entire spectral figure of which I supposed they formed a part. But nothing more was visible. I struck my eyes till the light flashed from them, in hopes that my senses had been imposed upby distempered vision-however it was in vain, for the hand still motioned me to advance, and I rushed forwards with wild desperation, and caught hold of it. I was pulled along a little way notwithstanding the resistance I made, and soon discovered a man stretched along the stern-cable, and clinging to it in a convulsive manner. It was Morvalden. He raised his head feebly, and said something,

on

but I could only distinguish the words "murdered-overboard reached this rope-terrible death."-I stretched out my arms to support him, but at that moment the vessel plunged violently, and he was shaken off the cable, and dropped among the waves. for an instant, and then disappeared under the keel.

He floated

I seized the first rope I could find, and threw one end of it over the stern, and likewise flung some planks into the sea, thinking that the unfortunate Morvalden might still retain strength enough to catch hold of them if they came within his reach. I continued on the watch for a considerable time, but at last abandoned all hopes of saving him, and made another attempt to get down to the cabin-the doors were now unfastened, and I opened them without any difficulty. The first thing I saw on going below, was Angerstoff stretched along the floor, and fast asleep. His torpid look, flushed countenance, and uneasy respiration, convinced me that he had taken a large quantity of ardent spirits. Marietta was in her own apartment. Even the presence of a murderer appeared less terrible than the frightful solitariness of the deck, and I lay down upon a bench, determining to spend the remainder of the night there. The lamp that hung from the roof soon went out, and left me in total darkness. Imagination began to conjure up a thousand appalling forms, and the voice of Angerstoff, speaking in his sleep, filled my ears at intervals-" Hoist up the beacon!-the lamps won't burn-horrible!-they contain blood instead of oil. Is that a boat coming? Yes, yes, I hear the oars.-Damnation!--why is that corpse so long of sinking? -If it doesn't go down soon they'll find me out-How terribly the wind blows! We are driving ashore-See! see! Morvalden is swimming after us -How he writhes in the water!"Marietta now rushed from her room, with a light in her hand, and seizing Angerstoff by the arm, tried to awake him. He soon rose up with chattering teeth and shivering limbs, and was on the point of speaking, but she prevented him, and he staggered away to his birth, and lay down in it.

Next morning, when I went upon deck, after a short and perturbed sleep, I found Marietta dashing water over it, that she might efface all vestige of

a

the transactions of the preceding night. Angerstoff did not make his appearance till noon, and his looks were ghastly and agonized. He seemed stupified with horror, and sometimes entirely lost all perception of the things around him for a considerable time. He suddenly came close up to me, and demanded, with a bold air, but quivering voice, what I had meant by calling him a murderer?-"Why, that you are one," replied I, after pause."Beware what you say," returned he fiercely," you cannot escape my power now-I tell you, sir, Morvalden fell overboard."-" Whence, then, came that blood that covered the deck?" inquired I.-He grew pale, and then cried, "You lie-you lie infernallythere was none!"-" I saw it," said I"I saw Morvalden himself-long after midnight. He was clinging to the stern-cable, and said"-"Ha, ha, hadevils!-curses!"-exclaimed Angerstoff-"Did you hear me dreaming? -I was mad last night-Come, come, come!-We shall tend the beacon together-Let us make friends, and don't be afraid, for you'll find me a good fellow in the end." He now forcibly shook hands with me, and then hurried down to the cabin.

In the afternoon, while sitting on deck, I discerned a boat far off, but I determined to conceal this from Angerstoff and Marietta, lest they should use some means to prevent its approach. I walked carelessly about, casting a glance upon the sea occasionally, and meditating how I could best take advantage of the means of deliverance which I had in prospect. After the lapse of an hour, the boat was not more than half a mile distant from us, but she suddenly changed her course, and bore away towards the shore. I immediately shouted, and waved a handkerchief over my head, as signals for her to return. Angerstoff rushed from the cabin, and seized my arm, threatening at the same time to push me overboard if I attempted to hail her again. I disengaged myself from his grasp, and dashed him violently from me. The noise brought Marietta upon deck, who immediately perceived the cause of the affray, and cried, "Does the wretch mean to make his escape? For Godsake, prevent the possibility of that!"-" Yes, yes," returned Angerstoff'; "he never shall leave the vessel-He had as well take care,

lest I do to him what I did to" "To Morvalden, I suppose you mean," said I.--" Well, well, speak it out," replied he ferociously; "there is no one here to listen to your damnable falsehoods, and I'll not be fool enough to give you an opportunity of uttering them elsewhere. I'll strangle you the next time you tell these lies about-" "Come," interrupted Marietta, "don't be uneasy-the boat will soon be far enough away-If he wants to give you the slip, he must leap overboard."

I was irritated and disappointed beyond measure at the failure of the plan of escape I had formed, but thought it most prudent to conceal my feelings. I now perceived the rashness and bad consequences of my bold assertions respecting the murder of Morvalden; for Angerstoff evidently thought that his personal safety, and even his life, would be endangered, if I ever found an opportunity of accusing and giving evidence against him. All my motions were now watched with double vigilance. Marietta and her paramour kept upon deck by turns during the whole day, and the latter looked over the surrounding ocean, through a glass, at intervals, to discover if any boat or vessel was approaching us. He often muttered threats as he walked past me, and, more than once, seemed waiting for an opportunity to push me overboard. Marietta and he frequently whispered together, and I always imagined I heard my name mentioned in the course of these conversations. • I now felt completely miserable, being satisfied that Angerstoff was bent upon my destruction. I wandered, in a state of fearful circumspection, from one part of the vessel to the other, not knowing how to secure myself from his designs. Every time he approached me, my heart palpitated dreadfully; and when night came on, I was agonized with terror, and could not remain in one spot, but hurried backwards and forwards between the cabin and the deck, looking wildly from side to side, and momentarily expecting to cold knife entering my vitals. My forehead began to burn, and my eyes dazzled; I became acutely sensitive, and the slightest murmur, or the faintest breath of wind, set my whole frame in a state of uncontrollable vibration. At first, I sometimes thought of throwing myself into the sea; but

feel

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I soon acquired such an intense feel ing of existence, that the mere idea of death was horrible to me.

Shortly after midnight I lay down in my birth, almost exhausted by the harrowing emotions that had careered through my mind during the past day. I felt a strong desire to sleep, yet dared not indulge myself; soul and body seemed at war. Every noise excited my imagination, and scarcely a minute passed, in the course of which I did not start up, and look around. Angerstoff paced the deck overhead, and when the sound of his footsteps accidentally ceased at any time, I grew deadly sick at heart, expecting that he was silently coming to murder me. At length I thought I heard some one near my bed-I sprung from it, and, having seized a bar of iron that lay on the floor, rushed into the cabin.-I found Angerstoff there, who started back when he saw me, and said, "What is the matter? Did you think thatI want you to watch the beacon, that I may have some rest.-Follow me upon deck, and I will give you directions about it." I hesitated a moment, and then went up the gangway stairs behind him. We walked forward to the mast together, and he shewed how I was to lower the lantern when any of the lamps happened to go out, and bidding me beware of sleep, returned to the cabin. Most of my fears forsook me the moment he disappeared. I felt nearly as happy as if I had been set at liberty, and, for a time, forgot that my situation had any thing painful or alarming connected with it. Angerstoff resumed his station in about three hours, and I again took refuge in my birth, where I enjoyed a short but undisturbed slumber.

Next day while I was walking the deck, and anxiously surveying the expanse of ocean around, Angerstoff requested me to come down to the cabin. I obeyed his summons, and found him there. He gave me a book, saying it was very entertaining and would serve to amuse me during my idle hours; and then went above, shutting the doors carefully behind him. I was struck with his behaviour, but felt no alarm, for Marietta sat at work near me, apparently unconscious of what had passed. I began to peruse the volume I held in my hand, and found it so interesting that I paid little attention to any thing else, till the dashing

of oars struck my ear. I sprung from my chair, with the intention of hastening upon deck, but Marietta stopped me, saying, "It is of no use. The gangway doors are fastened." Notwithstanding this information, I made an attempt to open them, but could not succeed. I was now convinced, by the percussion against the vessel, that a boat lay alongside, and I heard a strange voice addressing Angerstoff. Fired with the idea of deliverance, I leaped upon a table which stood in the middle of the cabin, and tried to push off the sky-light, but was suddenly stunned by a violent blow on the back of my head. I staggered back and looked round. Marietta stood close behind me, brandishing an axe, as if in the act of repeating the stroke. Her face was flushed with rage, and, having seized my arm, she cried, "Come down instantly, accursed villain! I know you want to betray us, but may we all go to the bottom if you find a chance of doing so." I struggled to free myself from her grasp, but, being in a state of dizziness and confusion, I was unable to effect this, and she soon pulled me to the ground. At that moment, Angerstoff hurriedly entered the cabin, exclaiming, "What noise is this? Oh, just as I expected! Has that devil-that spy-been trying to get above boards? Why haven't I the heart to despatch him at once? But there's no time now. The people are waiting-Marietta, come and lend a hand." They now forced me down upon the floor, and bound me to an iron ring that was fixed in it. This being done, Angerstoff directed his female accomplice to prevent me from speaking, and went upon deck again..

While in this state of bondage, I heard distinctly all that passed without. Some one asked Angerstoff how Morvalden did.-" Well, quite well," replied the former; " but he's below, and so sick that he can't see any per son."-" Strange enough," said the first speaker, laughing. " Is he ill and in good health at the same time? he had as well be overboard as in that condition."-" Overboard!" repeated Angerstoff, "what!-how do you mean?-all false!-but listen to me.Are there any news stirring ashore?" -" Why," said the stranger, "the chief talk there just now is about a curious thing that happened this morn