servants had slight-of-hand and dishonesty enough to conjure it into his own pocket, from whence, of course, it would not be recovered. In short, they seemed resolved to overlook all difficulties and objections that might have been made to these explanations, and were only distressed that the priest, who should have come to pronounce a blessing on their contract, was now declared to be at the point of death; and, on account of the old friendship subsisting between him and my friend’s family, they could not properly think of the final ceremonies being performed within the very week after his decease. On the day of the clergyman’s funeral, however, a fearful check was given to Felippo’s levity and high spirits. A letter arrived from Clara’s mother, informing him that her unhappy daughter had, in her grief and disappointment, died for the sake of her faithless lover; moreover, that she had declared in her last moments, that she would not rest in her grave till she had compelled him to fulfil his promises.
“This alone made such an impression on Felippo, that the wretched mother’s added maledictions were quite superfluous. He found also, that the mysterious shriek, which had been heard
