by the sailor of the enormous riches contained in the sunken vessel was ever present to his thoughts. There was wealth sufficient almost to purchase a kingdom lying unappropriated at his door; nothing between him and its possession save a ceremony of which he knew nothing but by hearsay, dangerous indeed, but probably - O surely exaggerated! Such thoughts tormented his soul.

Still he might have resisted the temptation, but the desperate state of his affairs pressed more upon him day by day. Of all the little comforts he had amassed not one now remained. He had not even sufficient seed wherewith to sow the patch of barley-land upon which their next year's subsistence depended; the sheep were dead or gone; nothing remained but their single cow. The gaunt apparition of poverty is the strongest of all incentives. Malcolm at last believed that it was his duty, even at the peril of his soul, to achieve the promised fortune, and announced to his brother his determination of undergoing the fatal ordeal. Donald was loud in his remonstrance. He would rather have lived and died the most wretched outcast upon the earth than have hazarded Malcolm's safety to secure the greatest aggrandizement to himself. He looked upon the heathen rite, commonly reported to have been handed down from times far antecedent to the Christian revelation in Scotland, as a sacrifice to the foul fiend, and a direct sub

mission to his power; but all that he could say or do did not move the stern resolution of Malcolm, who swore that though heaven and hell interposed he still would have his way.

An hour before midnight, the two brothers issued from their cottage. Malcolm silently and with trembling fingers tied a halter round the neck of the cow, placed the rope in Donald's hand, and, motioning him to follow, strode forward, bearing a heavy hatchet on his shoulder. During their way to the glen, neither spoke a word, but the breath of the elder came thick and heavy, and the younger could not refrain at times from uttering a groan. At last they reached the stone. It was truly a dreary place, this wild Highland glen, and such as even at midday no one could pass without a thrill of solitary dread. On three sides it was surrounded by mountains not clothed with verdure, but bare, gray, and precipitous. On the fourth was a small tarn of deep black water, fringed with huge bulrushes, from which a broken morass extended almost to the margin of the sea. No tree grew there; only a few withered stumps, without leaves or life, stood out on the face of a shingly scaur, the relics, perhaps, of an ancient forest. On this particular night the sky was covered with clouds, through which neither moon nor stars appeared; a cold wind whistled mournfully above among the rocky

hollows; distant thunder at times was heard to mutter, and ever and anon a flash of lightning threw a dismal glare over the haunted glen.

The brothers stood for a time beside the stone without speaking, and gazed wistfully on each other. Fear and doubt were written on the countenances of both, but Malcolm was by far the most haggard and excited of the two. At last he raised the hatchet.

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O brother, brother Malcolm !" cried Donald interposing, "have you the heart to kill the poor beast we have kept so long! Look how she stands, the dumb creature that has fed us many a year, when we had no friend to give us a handful of meal; and would you slay her now, to do the bidding of the Evil One?"

Away, away!" said the other. "It is too late to think of that."

Yet hear me, brother-hear me for a moment, if not for my sake, at least for your own. Do not attempt this terrible deed-do not tamper with the powers of darkness! I feel as if they were already hovering around us, eager to seize their prey. O Malcolm dear, let us go home and forget all that has passed. I will work till my hands drop from the joints, before I see you starve ; only, brother Malcolm, do not peril your precious soul!"

The tears ran fast and warm down the cheeks

of Donald as he uttered this affectionate appeal. Malcolm threw down the axe.

Enough said," he muttered, "let us home. I will not tempt Providence further in this matter. Lead back the beast, Donald: she may be of use to you hereafter. As for me, you will find me tomorrow below the waters of the Gloomy Cave."

These words were uttered in a tone of deep determination, which left no doubt of the unfortunate man's design. Donald stared at him for a moment aghast, and then, as actuated by a sudden impulse, caught up the hatchet, and with one fell blow laid the animal lifeless at their feet.

There!" said he, "it is done, and God forgive the hand that did it!—but better any thing than that."

There was no retreat now. Silently the brothers stooped down to their bloody task. They took the skin off the cow, the elder Maclean was wrapped in it, all reeking as it was, a strong cord was passed round the whole to prevent him from shifting his position, and Donald, taking him in his arms, laid him on the stone, and kissed him affectionately on the cheek.

"Is there any thing more I can do for you, brother Malcolm ?"

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Nothing more. Leave me, and-bless you, brother!"

"And you too, Malcolm. With to-morrow's light I will be here again."

Donald strode away. The lightning and thunder were by this time much brighter and louder, and large drops of rain had fallen before the preparations were concluded. But no sooner was the expectant seer placed upon the stone than the storm broke forth with fearful and unnatural violence. The roar of the thunder above was almost incessant, a fresh peal clashing out before the echoes of the preceding had died away. Flash followed flash with scarcely a perceptible interval, and the rain descended literally in torrents upon the head of the shivering Maclean.

The storm continued to rage for nearly an hour without intermission, but during all this while no unearthly spectacle appeared. At length it suddenly lulled. The wind and rain subsided; only the lightning continued to play as vividly as before. One flash of peculiar brilliancy, which seemed to pass so near as to scorch his face, caused Malcolm to close his eyes; when he opened them again it was upon a scene of sorcery and wonder. We have said that a small loch occupied one extremity of the glen. This had now disappeared, but instead of it was the apparition of a tempestuous sea, upon which a large foreign-built vessel, with a high poop, and tiers of formidable guns, was rolling dismasted and unmanageable. Her decks were crowded with people, some holding on by fragments of the rigging, others running to and