houſe to which he was haſtening was uninhabited, or that it was denominated the Haunted Caſtle. His nearer approach diſcovered to him that it was untenanted; but his weary limbs required reſt, and he therefore determined to paſs the night in the venerable ſtructure. The laſt glimpſe of clay had fled the ſky when Glanville reached the moat, or rather ditch (for it was entirely dry); the banks of which having fallen in, formed an eaſy acceſs to the houſe. The building was compoſed of two wings, or turrets, with a ſpacious dome in the centre, the door of which time had mouldered into duſt; ſo that, without reſidance, the weary traveller was admitted. A ruſtic kind of noiſe ſucceeded the entrance of the young adventurer, and, for the firſt time in his life, he felt an emotion ſomewhat allied to fear; but his breaſt, the ſeat of innocence and virtue, ſoon repelled the trembling viſitor, and aſſumed its wonted calmneſs.
The cautious youth, before he left his parent’s houſe, aware that the country through which he had to paſs was thinly inhabited, and bare of accommodations, had taken with him thoſe implements by which that neceſſay element, fire, is raiſed into action; and which to a traveller, in a country void of inhabitants, is ſo very eſſential. Having, therefore, procured a light, he found himſelf in a ſpacious hall, overgrown with weeds and ruſhes; around the walls and ceiling, which were very lofty, the cindering ivy crept; and here the ſolemn bird of night enjoyed, unmoleſted and at eaſe, her ſolitary reign, where, flickered from the inclemency of the ſky, ſhe built her neſt and reared her young. The ſtrange appearance of the light alarmed the moping race, who taking wing, fled from their once peaceful dwelling, and this unwelcome gueſt. The noiſe which their ſudden flight occaſioned, echoed through the vaulted dome, and again called forth, in the mind of the aſtoniſhed Glanville, the tremors of fear, which ſubſided with the knowledge of the cauſe from whence the ſounds aroſe. All was again ſilent, and the youth advanced. A flight of ſteps, riſing from the hall, led to the weſtern tower;
