answered Betty, with great simplicity; "for as I was sitting in the kitchen all the bells rung at once; and when I went up the stair and found it was naebody ringing, I was gaun up to cry on Jenny, for I was feart, when they a' rung again; a flash of fire glanced in my een, and an unearthly cry, like a howlet's whusht, made me fa' down in a dwaum."-The other girl seemed to swallow the narration greedily, and the expression of her countenance, and the trembling of her hand which held the candle, shewed that she was prepared to be as terrified as possible, did any thing occur to alarm her fears.

"I have broken my shins on your account, Mrs Betty,' said I; 66 you tripped me up so completely, as I was running up stairs." “Lordsake, sir, was it you that fell aboon me! I'm glad o' that, for I thought it was the ghaist, or that the ceiling o' the house had fa'en down."-" Well, well," said Mrs Columbus, "I don't understand this story, but we will see about it all to-morrow. Meantime, go you, Betty, and get the candle from the parlour, and go to bed.”- "Me gang for the candle, mem!" answered Betty, "I wadna gang down the stair again the night, if ye war to gie me the haill house to mysell. I winna sleep anither night in't. I'm sure I wad gang out o' my judgment if I did."-" Jenny, go you; Mr Columbus will go with you, and take this light in your hand." "Eh, mem, you manna ask me to gang, for if I war to see ony thing uncanny, I am sure it would drive me dementit."- "Come, give me the light and I'll go myself," said I; "we cannot stop here all night." Just as I was about to take the light and descend, a long-sounding "hush" was heard, which was followed by a noise like the report of a pistol, but which, increased by the silence, resounded in our ears like a peal of thunder. Mrs Columbus exclaimed in terror, seizing my arm, "Gracious, what's that! Christopher, you must not go!" The two girls yelled in chorus, their eyes like to start from their sockets, and likewise clung round me for protection, ejaculating such portions of Scripture as fear had not totally banished from their memory.

We now, by common consent, adjourned to a bed-room, leaving the children to take care of themselves, as

no persuasion could induce the girls to move from my side. Here, in closeconclave, it was resolved, in the first place, that the house was certainly haunted by some "perturbed spirit" or other; and, in the second place, upon the suggestion of Mrs Columbus, it was unanimously agreed on, that, in case the alarming sounds had proceeded from thieves, (though that was scarcely possible, considering the care had in locking the doors,) it would be necessary to arm, and examine the dining-room, from which apartment the noise seemed to have proceeded. The order of march was the next consideration. I had the honour to be selected as the forlorn hope, and was armed with a poker, the only weapon which was at hand. The two girls followed, one of them carrying a light, linked arm in arm, like a Macedonian phalanx; and Mrs Columbus brought up the rear, protected by one of the children's school Bibles, which she was forced to take up, on the asseverations of the lassies, that its possession would keep us unhurt should the Enemy of Mankind dare to shew his face. We descended the stair cautiously, and in silence, except the muttering of occasional wishes for our preservation, by the frightened maidens. The hissing noise had ceased; no groans were heard; but at the bottom of the stair lay the candlestick which I had dropped. The dining-room door was partially open; I grasped the poker more firmly in my hand, and set my teeth in firm defiance. Before entering, however, I listened for a moment, my left hand in the act of pushing up the door. My female companions, with eyes like saucers, stood two or three steps behind me, ready to scream at the sight of the terrible apparition. I pushed the door hastily open; the hissing sound again was heard; a loud noise succeeded, mingled with the crashing as of glass; the candle dropt from the hand that held it, and was extinguished; and the screams of the females added to the horrors of a scene already almost overpowering. Had the devil, or a robber, now appeared, he would have been in perfect safety for me, for my arms and coat were seized, and that so firmly, by the womankind, that I could not move. By common consent, or rather instinct, we again retreated up stairs, in hollow square, as well as three indi

viduals could form a square; and, after some further deliberations, in which I reassured myself it could not be thieves, I procured a light, and went down boldly, the candle in one hand, and the poker in the other. The females, as usual, persuaded me not to venture; but, as I saw there was to be no end to the business without a little risk, I determined to persevere. At the fatal door, I hesitated a moment, whether or not I should enter, but at last I rushed in, and found-how shall I tell it?—that the cause of our terror was - the bursting of two beer-bottles, under the side-board.

The extremes of passion are nearly allied, and laughing and crying often accompany one another on any strong excitement. I was almost ready to drop the candle once more with downright laughter; and all my alarm was changed to mirth, by the appearance of the beerless and shattered bottles. The noise I made reached the apartment above, and I understood afterwards, before I had communicated the true reason, it was conjectured that my laughter was hysterical, or the sportive effusions of mirth-loving fiends, enjoying the trepidation of me, Christopher Columbus. But I soon put an end to all apprehensions for my safety, by calling out,-" Betty! Betty!-come down, and wipe up the heart's blood of the murdered beerbottles!"-" Eh! what!" said Betty, "is a safe?-Is there naething to be fear'd for?"-"Nothing but your own foolish imaginations," replied I. The party now descended. "Gude sake, is that a'?" said Jenny. "Quite enough at once," said Mrs Columbus; "but you must never leave your beer there again all night, Betty.-It is monstrously teasing to have the house turned upside down for such a silly thing."

Our fears were now at an end. The hissing noise, which sounded in the moment of alarm like the fall of a distant cataract, was now easily traced to the action of the fermenting liquid, and the noise that had alarmed us so much proceeded from the action of the same agent, in expelling the unwilling corks. The groans I heard, on first leaving my apartment, were traced to the fear of Mrs Betty, which made her fall in the stair; and the gust of wind, which extinguished my candle, was found to be owing to the hurried

opening of the door. One thing alone remained to be accounted for, and that was, the supernatural ringing of the bell. This was also, after some experiments on the bell-rope, satisfactorily ascertained to have proceeded from some slight injury to the spring.

The family were now about to retire, when the noise of a distant drum was heard. "What can that be?" said Mrs Columbus; and new seriousness, if not terror, again began to overspread our countenances. " It sounds very like the fire-drum," said I.-"You're right, sir, you're quite right; I'm sure it's just the firedrum," said Betty. "Eh! it sounds awfu' at this time o' night." The conjecture was but too true. It was the fire-drum; and a gleam of light to the northward, and a confused noise of voices, shewed that the fire was at no great distance. Fire is a dreadful calamity; and even excess of caution is laudable to prevent or lessen its devastations. In a few minutes the partial appearance of the flames waving beyond the chimney-tops pointed out the precise spot, and we were rivetted to the window looking at its incontrollable progress. I was on the eve of putting on my hat, and going to see if proper assistance had been procured; but was stopped by the persuasions of Mrs Columbus, who said that on these occasions in Edinburgh there were always too many people assembled. "Besides," said she, “ you will catch cold, not being accustomed to be out at night, and I should be afraid to be left alone after what has happened." I allowed myself to be persuaded; though we could not think of going to bed, but stood fascinated at the window, gazing in hopeless concern for the preservation of the little furniture of the inmates.

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The flames now ascended to a great height, and illuminated the surrounding streets to a distance. The chimneys rose in striking outline amidst the general darkness. It was a sublime sight; and could one have divested one's self of the apprehension of danger or ruin to those who occupied the houses in flames, it might have furnished a desirable study for a painter. It struck one o'clock in St Giles's. The noise increased, and the rattling of the fire-engines to the spot conveyed the idea of a city taken by storm. The exertions to moderate the violence

of the fire, seemed to little purpose. "God preserve us from accidents by fire!" said Mrs Columbus." It's a terrible flame that!-we hear the very joists crackling," answered Mrs Betty." If the folks' lives be safe, let their gudes gang," remarked Jenny; "the warld's aye to the fore for the winning."

In a little time the roof fell with a tremendous crash, and the flames ascended with redoubled violence, far above the surrounding buildings, car rying with them the embers of the wood, which were thrown like rockets to a considerable distance. A kind of shout accompanied the falling in of the roof, and the noise of the voices was heard in louder command and reply. The appearance of the fire was now strikingly grand; the whole surrounding houses and projecting chimney stalks were lighted up with the glare; and the venerable spire of St Giles rose in magnificence, one side gilded by the light, while the other was in deep shadow. Every scene in nature acquires a deeper interest as human beings are connected with it either as actors or sufferers; and had we known the melancholy fate of some of the inhabitants of the pile now in flames before us, we should have felt an interest incalculably deeper in the spectacle of the destructive element, whose rapid progress had rendered means of escape to them impossible. As it was, we were fascinated to the spot, expressing vain regrets for the loss which must be occasioned to the poor inhabitants, who very seldom avail themselves of the protection of insurance against fire. The structure of most of

the houses in Edinburgh, being built of stone, and their division-walls and stairs of the same material, fortunately renders loss of life an uncommon accident. It was not till next morning we learned that the fire we had witnessed had occasioned the death of three unfortunate creatures, and what was more melancholy still, all of one family. They had been roused from their beds by the progress of the flames, which had already cut off their retreat; and in the agony of despair, the poor man, with a hatchet, had begun, it is said, to open a way through the partition-wall of the neighbouring house, when the hatchet unfortunately broke with the violence of the strokes. There was now no alternative but in leaping from a height (three stories) which would render death as certain, though not so terrible, as being destroyed by fire. The alarm at this time had scarcely been given the crowd had not collected-when the man, an old soldier who had served in the Peninsula, taking a child in his hand, (a boy of about six years of age,) took the fatal leap. The child was killed on the spot, and the man severely bruised. His wife, a Portuguese woman, whom he had married in his campaigns, followed the fatal example, with an infant in her arms not a year old. The unfortunate woman and the little innocent were found a few minutes after beyond hopes of recovery; and the husband, whom his overpowering calamity had, it is said, almost driven to distraction, deposited (with a solitary exception) his whole family in one grave, two days after.

VOL. X.

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