they grinned, and were saying to me, 'Ha! ha, Goody Darkmans, the house that we leave is a falling house; for the Devil will have his own.'"
In some parts of the country, and especially in that where our scene is laid, no omen is more superstitiously believed evil, than the departure of these loathsome animals from their accustomed habitation; the instinct which is supposed to make them desert an unsafe tenement, is supposed also to make them predict, in desertion, ill fortune to the possessor. But while the ears of the listening gossip were still tingling with this narration, the dark figure of the Student passed the window, and the old woman starting up, appeared in all the bustle of preparation, as Aram now entered the apartment.
"A happy day, your honour—a happy good morning," said both the crones in a breath; but the blessing of the worse-natured was vented in so harsh a croak, that Aram turned round, as if struck by the sound, and still more disliking the well-remembered aspect of the person from whom
