University of Virginia Library

4. CHAPTER IV.

When Henry Davenport, the next morning,
again set out on his excursion, it was with a settled
determination, at all hazards, to pierce the
singular mystery which enveloped his intercourse
with the Lady of the Mist.

This resolution was not lightly adopted. He
had passed hours of the night in revolving within
himself its expediency, and had at length concluded,
that whether she vanished in thin air, or floated
away on the morning mist, or dropped from his
sight amid the depths of the mountain, he would
surely know from whence she came. For this purpose,
he had arisen half an hour earlier than the
usual time. At first a clear starlight was all that
illumined his path; and when at length he stood
at the foot of the rock, the morning only glimmered
in the east.

Full of his determination, after placing the
basket upon the stone he stretched himself
quietly beside it and directing his eyes above,
began, as well as the darkness would permit, to
watch the approach of the mountain lady. The
beams of the morning were rapidly gathering on
the cliff, when the boy at length discovered what
seemed a human form, winding around the remote
extremity of the rock, and he was not long
in identifying it with the object of his curiosity.

A projecting ledge formed the path by which she
approached; and Henry shuddered as he beheld
her gliding lightly over the dizzy height, apparently
without fear or impediment.

“Ah, she pauses not for cliff or break—the thin
air is firm enough for that light form—mortal beings
tread not with such a step”—he muttered, as
the object of his gaze drew nearer. He waited
only to be well convinced that the form he now
descried was indeed what he had imagined, and
then, turning hastily about, and following a path
parallel to the one she trod, proceeded as swiftly
as the nature of the footing would allow, in the
very direction from which she had just advanced.
It was only by clinging to the shrubs which grew
in the clefts of the stony surface, that he was enabled
to maintain his ground. Now and then,
he paused to recover breath, casting too, occasionally,
a longing glance at the little village
whose blue smokes were just beginning to curl in
the atmosphere. After persevering for some time
in this fatiguing exercise, he paused a moment to
watch for the reappearance of the mysterious
stranger. He waited not long in vain. The light
form he had so often descried in the distance, in
a few minutes more, again became visible, treading
with the same fearless rapidity along her airy
path. He gazed as for life—still she moved onward
and his aching eye followed her with persevering
earnestness.

At length near a formless pile of huge and rugged
rocks that seemed as if thrown together by
some primeval convulsion of nature, she paused
and as she turned full around, Henry perceived
that she bore in her hand the basket he had so
recently deposited on the other side of the rock.

At that moment, there appeared standing on the
cliff beside her, a dark and lofty figure, and the
next, the cliff and the nodding shrubs were all that
remained. It was in vain that Henry wiped the
mist from his eyes, and gazed and gazed again—
the objects they had before rested on were gone,
not a trace of them remained.

The spot from which they had thus mysteriously
vanished, was at some distance above the
point where he stood; and, with a determination
to examine it more closely, he began to climb
the sides of the rock by means of the strong
bushes which every where presented themselves.
As he continued to ascend, his eye still fixed
on the mysterious point where he had last beheld
the lady and her companion, he suddenly
perceived, to his inexpressible relief, a small
opening among the rocks, which the shadowing
bushes had hitherto concealed. To be at
once relieved from the dreadful certainty that
the being with whom he had been thus intimately
connected, was only a supernatural illusion,
certainly afforded a strong satisfaction to
his excited mind. The cave was sufficiently
large to contain human beings, and he doubted
not that those on whom his eyes had a few moments
before rested, were now concealed within
its walls. Here the youth paused to consider his
situation, and seating himself on a fragment of
rock, wiped away the heavy sweat which the fear
and toil had gathered on his young forehead.

Far below lay stretched in the distance, the
clear waters of the sound, a calm sea of liquid
brightness, rolling and glittering in the light of
morning, and winding far onward in its curved
shores of green, till it seemed in the long perspective

a faint blue stream, and at last a fading speck
on the distant horizon; while all before and
around lay a broad magnificent prospect of hill
and dale, pastures and meadows and waving woodlands,
all swelling in the rich luxuriance of June,
and glorious in the rising sunshine. The boy felt
his young heart revive, as the fresh breeze came
up from below, kissing his brow and burning
cheeck; he could not believe that in the sight of
so much purity and loveliness, the unholy spirits
he feared would ever have chosen their residence;
and he felt his courage renewed and his heart
strengthened to continue the pursuit.

But the promise of secresy which Margaret had
extorted from him, was not to be violated; and
though he cast many a wishful glance upon the
entrance of the cavern, the recollection of the
time which must have elapsed since he left the
village, at once checked his purpose. To attempt
any further investigation on the present occasion,
might draw upon him many curious inquiries, and
perhaps discover the secret of his morning rambles.
At that moment the sound of the distant
bell came faintly through the distance, and though
broken and scattered by the woods and rocks
which intervened, he soon ascertained that it was
tolling the hour of seven. Without further hesitation,
therefore he descended from the rock, and
proceeded with all speed on the road to the village.