[From Shadowland in Ellan Vannin, 1880]

CHAPTER II.

Mr. Parker's horrible vision of his friend's murder.

AFTER awhile Mr. Parker had very much recovered himself, and in a calmer voice continued his recital :

'I told you that I saw all that I have related to you so far in the clear light of a very bright moon ; for the sky was unobscured, except where here and there clouds that looked more like snow-wreaths than anything else floated in the ambient air. But scarcely had the echo of that dreadful scream been stilled, when stealing along the waters from the far horizon spread a gray, cold mist, and with it came the dull, moaning sound of rising wind; whilst white-winged sea-mews flew with frightened cries towards land. The water beat with low, angry sound against the rocks beneath, and still this threatening rain-cloud widened and rolled on, darker and denser each moment, till all was enveloped in its chilly folds.

The landscape, the shore and cliffs beneath, the very ground on which I stood, was hidden from my sight.

I trembled as it crept round me-my eyeballs ached, -my pulses throbbed, my breath came short, and, in gasps in the ice-cold air, I cursed my folly for venturing on such dangerous heights; whilst all the many tales with which my grandmother used to regale my childish ears-of pixies, fairies, water-sprites, and ghosts-that I had since laughed at as old-world superstitions, forced themselves unpleasantly on my mind ; for I could not for a moment doubt that I was under a weird spell, cast round me by some supernatural agency. But what and by whom was I influenced-for good or for ill? Was the woman a phantom, sent to lure me to destruction ? Whilst pondering thus, unable to move, and even, if I had not been deprived of any power of volition, to stir from the spot on which I was might have been almost instant death, for I knew that beneath me yawned that fearful precipice-well, as I was about to say, whilst I was shivering with cold, and fear, and dread as to how all this might end, the oppression on my chest seemed gradually to lessen. I breathed more freely ; the tension on brain and muscles relaxed. My eyes, which I had kept closed for some time, I slowly and gradually opened, and great indeed was my astonishment at what now met my view. The dull, gray cloud was fast disappearing, and instead of the moonlight that had first lit up the scene, the whole landscape was being rapidly illuminated in the bright, red glow of an autumn sunset. I can compare the whole thing to nothing so well as the transition-scene in a theatre. In my normal state I should, of course, have known that all these sudden metamorphoses in nature could not by possibility be occurring. But I was under some wonderful mesmeric influence, controlled and acted upon by a will to which my own was for the time completely subservient; and as the dense pall that had veiled everything floated away in the distance, tinted by the ruddy glare that tipped the headlands and tinged everywhere it reached with the hue of blood, I seemed to succumb more and more, to be oblivious of time, friends, all sense of danger-in fact, of my very existence. The powers of my mind, my brain, were absorbed in watching the tragedy that was presented to the eyes of my " inner sense." Apropos of that inner sense I allude to, I hope I shall on some future occasion have an opportunity of going more fully into it, and explaining my views on the subject to you.'

I bowed whilst uttering a polite 'Thank you ; I hope so.' Mentally, I determined, as far as I could prevent it, that opportunity should never occur.

'You must remember,' he continued, 'that I believed all I am about to describe to you to be actually happening ; otherwise you could not understand the agony I endured.

' I shall now proceed, and I trust calmly (it is all so many years ago), with the rest of this strange vision, and what next presented itself to me. Just beneath, as if poised in mid-air-so perpendicular and steep was the cliff, so narrow the path on which he stood-was my friend Cecil Morton carefully threading his way step by step, and holding on now and again to some overhanging branch or bracken. There was nothing in this to make me tremble for his safety. He was from constant habit an expert climber, sure-footed, and had a steady head. He used frequently to scale just such giddy heights, hunting after sea - birds who make their home in almost inaccessible places ; but what turned me cold, and made my heart stand still with sickening dread, was that stealthily and closely following was a mana fiend in human shape. He carried in his hand some heavy weapon, raised ready to strike the unconscious Cecil down. Had Morton turned and seen his danger, he could not have averted the blow, or saved himself; he could not even have grappled with his foe-any backward movement in the effort to - defend himself would have precipitated him on the rocks below. Of the murderous intent of the man there could be no doubt. You can imagine the intensity of my suffering when seeing the peril of my friend, believing all to be real, and yet being quite incapable of rendering help. I could not even raise my voice in warning. The blow 'I dreaded fell; and, O God! I live over again the torture of that moment as I stood powerless and saw Cecil's form sway for half a second, and then fall-fall-from that dreadful cliff to the rocky shore beneath. There he lay, stiff and motionless, to all appearance dead. The wretch who had done the deed first looked round in all directions, scanning the heights on which I was standing, but evidently without being made aware of my presence ; for, seemingly satisfied there had been no witness to his awful crime, he cautiously commenced his descent to where his victim lay-no easy matter, I could see. He clung now and again to a piece of jutting rock or boulder, and often nearly slipped as some of the brittle ground gave way under his weight. Many a time as I watched, a wild hope that I might see him hurled to the bottom sprang up within my mind. He arrives at last at the top of a piece of slaty rock where no foothold can be found. How will he manage now? For a moment he seems puzzled, and looks round as if in the hope of finding some place more easy to scale; but everywhere within his reach nothing is to be seen but the same smooth, unbroken, nearly perpendicular surface. He hesitates no longer; but, straightening his limbs, and holding his arms closely to his sides, he lets himself slide down the declivity, arriving safely on the smooth gravel beneath. After arranging his garments, and removing from them all traces of his rapid descent, he walked (and I, for the first time, perceived he had a slight limp) to where his victim lay, and at once proceeded to discover whether life was extinct and his foul purpose accomplished. Having satisfied himself on this point, he began hastily to rifle the body. I could see him convey the watch, purse, and a lot of loose notes and gold from Morton's person to his own. He then walked away round a tiny clump of rocks, and was hidden from my view for a short space of time. "He intends," I thought, "hiding the body in some cave, or burying it under the sand and gravel "-a better chance of concealment than if thrown into the sea, where any passing boat might pick up the corpse, ere he would have sufficient time to effect his escape.

'The sound of the dip of oars drew my attention to the point where the murderer had been lost to my sight ; the next moment he pulled up into the bay or inlet, and, securing the boat to a wooden pile-one of several-he got on to the beach, and, going over to the side of the murdered man, lifted up the lifeless body, and, throwing it into the bottom of the boat, hastily covered it over with some old sails, and pulled rapidly away from land.

As I followed the movements of the boat, I saw for the first time, pretty far out to sea, a small fishinglugger. For this the man seemed to be making. " He has an accomplice or accomplices," I decided. I kept my eyes fixed on the fast-receding boat, but I was not destined to see more, for again one of those extraordinary changes set in. The unnatural brightness of the horizon was clouded over, the sunlight faded swiftly away into the gray haze of a clouded winter day, and gradually, sweeping so close to the water, as almost to seem a part of its depths, came the same heavy mist. Everything was hidden from me for a brief space; but as quickly as it had come-as quickly did it disappear. I opened my eyes-which I had for a few moments involuntarily closed-to find myself on the same spot where I had stopped to admire the beautiful Bay of Corna, and where I had first seen the black-draped woman. How I had made my way back I cannot tell--'

Dreamt it all,' interrupted Mr. George Parker laconically.

Dreamt it!' repeated the old man, in indignant tones; 'then, how do you account for all that afterwards occurred to confirm the truth of the vision ?'

' I fancy that, although you were not conscious of it, you often experienced a good deal of anxiety about your friend in his dangerous feats of climbing, and perhaps had an undefined dread he ran risks of being robbed and murdered, carrying, as you were aware, so much money about his person. People's minds are more occupied with, and affected by, outward events, oftentimes, than they realize themselves. The accidents and circumstances, many of them, of daily life that we may consider trivial, and the ideas produced by them as only evanescent, are yet sufficiently fixed on the brain as to be reproduced in dreams. Besides all this, you had a very fatiguing time with your grandmother, often losing your proper modicum of sleep, to brace you up for your walk from her place to the inn; you had probably partaken of some glasses of hot toddy, which would possibly induce drowsiness, and, resting to admire the view, you had fallen asleep, and dreamed a most thrilling and remarkable dream. As to all that happened afterwards, as if in confirmation of your vision-look how many strange coincidences occur quite naturally in real life, without any supernatural agency being at work. You, therefore--'

'Pray cease; do not repeat this nonsense, George !' cried his father so angrily that I interposed, to stop what I feared might terminate in an angry discussion, by asking, 'And about the woman, sir; what of her ?'

'The woman! oh! yes-but I had not nearly told you all' ('Good Heavens!' thought I, 'midnight will not see us in bed'), 'when my son thought proper to interrupt me, with his absurd attempts at explaining what can nezer be explained.'

'Suppose, then, father,' Mr. George said, smiling good-humouredly, 'we adjourn this meeting for tonight, and get a promise from Mr. Morton that he will breakfast with us to-morrow morning, and join us in the evening at dinner, or supper, as Mrs. Looney insists on calling our six o'clock meal.'

This kind invitation was gladly accepted by me. I felt very sleepy, and hailed with delight the near prospect of getting to bed, and was heartily glad to say good-night to my hosts and the elder one's ghastly reminiscences.