degree of alarm overcame him, and and he turned to ascend the sides of the rift; but, just as his last foot was withdrawn over the upper edge, a slight breath of wind passed out, and muttered" Carmilhan." "Carmilhan!" repeated Trosk with violence; gracious Heaven, why is this unknown word thus spoken to me?" He then rushed down the hill, and stopped not till he had hastened a great way towards his cottage. On another occasion, night, Spiel, while pursuing his sub-marine inquisition, saw a figure on the ridge of the Nikkur Holl, and after gazing on the spirit, began to haul with care upon his line. He pulled with force, but the hooks still clung firmly to the bottom, and though the swell of the waves jerked hard upon the rope, it kept its grasp. Spiel pulled still stronger, and brought his skiff close over the spot by his tugging; but the grapnel kept its hold. He strained hard, just as the clouds were about to shut out the light of the moon: the impediment gave way, and he believed the line had broken, for he felt no weight; but, in an instant, something large and dark rose above the surface of the water, over which he bent, as if disposed to spring into the boat. He fixed his eyes upon it, with his hands extended to grasp it, whatever it might be; and as the water, which had now assumed a sparkling appearance, separated to give it passage, he saw inscribed upon a round black mass of something, though what he could not define, the hateful word "Carmilhan." It stopped scarce half an instant above the surface, and again sunk, as quickly as it had risen; but Trosk, rendered desperate by this repetition of his torment, plunged his arm swiftly after it, and caught it by its hair; this gave way, and the rest was gone. He drew back his hand, but the moon had disappeared, and he could not see what sort of slippery matter remained in it. A groan of despair, urged almost to madness, burst from the lips of the fisherman at this defeat, and he gnashed his teeth and tore his hair with vexation. His next adventure was that of meeting with a strange figure in a magic boat, a little withered old man, who sat quite stiff and upright on the rowers' bench, and neither moved his head nor body to the right nor to the left. His face was thin and sharp, and covered by a dry, wrinkled, tawny skin, stretched tightly over the stringy muscles which formed his cheeks and lips. His dress was of bright yellow canvas, or something like it, and a red night-cap covered his head, with its point sticking upright in the air, while in his hand he held a kind of instrument, that resembled a harpoon at one end and a blubber fork at the other. After a while, during which this visitor to the Skerries seemed to be a lifeless corpse, it slowly began to move. Its eyes opened, but at first they were lifeless, and void of sight, and turned in their sockets with a ghastly rolling, which, if it did not terrify the Shetlander, made him push off the strange boat from his own with a feeling of horror. Shortly after, the lips quivered, and were drawn apart into a fearful grin, which shewed gums large and toothless, and expanded into a frightful gape, from whence a deep sigh, or rather groan, issued, along with a blast of vapour, more like the smoke of gunpowder than the steam of breath. Upon seeing this, Spiel mechanically shipped his oar over the stern of his boat, and began to skull her a little way off: but, reflecting that he was acting like a coward, he put her head about again. In the meanwhile, life seemed to have taken possession of the stranger, and he turned his eyes towards Trosk, and said, in a voice of uncommon expression, "Where am I?" This was uttered in Dutch: and the fisherman, who was partially acquainted with that language, from having associated with whale catchers and traders from Holl exclaimed in the same "Who are you?" "I sitting in a boat," answered the stranger, somewhat sharply, "to whom it would have been better for you to have given an answer than a question." "Why?" said Spiel drily, for he was not a man to be lectured. "Because," said the other, "I could have satisfied questions you might have liked to ask." "You have not satisfied one which I asked just now," cried the fisherman; "but I have no mind to wrangle with you. You are at one of the Shetland isles-one of the outer Skerries whence do you come? and why do you come in this strange fashion?" "What is strange to you is not strange to me," replied the little man. I came over the sea to look for the Carmilhan." "For the Devil!" ejaculated Spiel. "I have no need to look for him," said the stranger. "In the name of God! what is the Carmilhan?" cried the fisherman fervently. "I answer no questions put in that manner," exclaimed the little man, wriggling about as if in pain, and groaning as if he growled. 66 -66 I say what is the Carmilhan?" repeated Spiel, not heeding the anguish of the stranger. "The Carmilhan is nothing now," said the other; "but once she was as brave a ship as ever bore a mast." "A ship!" cried Trosk. "Yes, a ship," repeated the stranger;" and when she was lost among these islands, she carried more gold than had floated in any vessel before her." "Where was she lost, and when?" exclaimed the fisherman. It is nearly a hundred years since she was wrecked," replied the little man, 66 " and it was in the night: so that, though I was on board her at the time, I know not the precise spot, but I am come hither to discover it." "A hundred years ago!" cries the Shetlandman" you on board a ship a hundred years ago! Pray, how old are you?" "Old enough to have sailed in the Carmilhan," replied the stranger. "But why do you marvel?-Pray how old is Chriss Mulrill?" "A hundred and ten, I am told," said Spiel; "yet how come you to know, her?" "I knew her when a child," said the other. "What can you want with the treasure?" cried the fisherman-" what need has a man of your years of money?—Teach me how to find the gold; I will take the trouble of raising it, and we will share it between us.'" 66 Yes, and how shall I be sure of your keeping your engagement?" said the little man, sneeringly. " Be always with me," answered the other. "We will divide the money as we obtain it; and should I offer to wrong you, do you reveal the secret to my enemies. The fear lest another should learn the situation of the wreck, will be a bond sufficiently strong to insure my fide. lity." "Well, be it so," replied the stranger. "But art thou a man of courage? The first step requires a strong heart, Spiel Trosk." "You know my name, old carl!” cried the fisherman, in amazement. "How comes this?" "I knew your father, though you did not," answered the little man, in his evasive way; " and I know more than you could demand, though you sat here to question, and I to make replies, till another century were added to my age. I ask you, are you a man of courage?" "Try me, and learn," replied the Shetlander. "You must try yourself," said the man in the red " and if cap, difollow you my rections you will learn the spot where the riches of the Carmilhau lie hidden. You must go, just before midnight, to the most remote and desolate place in yon island, and you must take a cow with you, and having killed it, you must get some one to wrap you up in her fresh hide. You must then be laid down, and left alone on the wild heath, and ere the clock strikes the first hour of morning, your desires will be satisfied." "That is how old Engrol's son was lost, body and soul!" exclaimed Trosk, in a tone of abhorrence. "Thou art Satan!" continued he, again skulling his boat away" thou art Beelzebub, old tempter, the prince of darkness -aroint thee, demon! I defy thee!" "Thou art an utter fool," bawled the old man to Spiel, as he fled hastily from him. "A bubble-blinded bottle-nose! May the curse of May the avarice hang over thee! thirst of gold choke thee! May the -" but the fisherman, having taken to both his oars, was soon too far from the little man to hear his exclamations, and he gained the point of the Nikkurnoss before he checked his way, or turned to look after the detestable being he had quitted. When Trosk did look for the object of his terror, he perceived him sitting as motionless and as rigid in his skiff as when he first approached to the island, and with as little signs of animation. The fishermen by degrees were reduced to poverty, and at length on a dark night in September, Spiel in a fit of desperation resolved to resort to the forbidden and perilous charm. Upon this determination, he sallied forth clad in the reeking hide of their last and favourite cow, to the appointed island, where, having lain some time, he was at last transported by the tempest from the demon-ruled spot to a place nearer the shore, where he could distinguish the roll of the waves, flowing as they were wont in calm weather, and he attempted to discover the time by the rising of the tide; for there was not the least sign of dawn, though the sky was brilliantly enlightened. He listened attentively and heard not only the brawling murmur of the sea pouring among the shingles, but a burst of solemn music mingled with it, yet so faint that he was not convinced of its reality. A pause ensued, again a strain of harmony floated on the untroubled air,-and again it was lost, as a gust of wind swept up the dell. Again he heard it louder than before, and he fancied it ap proached him; and, as it continued, he believed he could distinguish the tune of a psalm he had heard sung by the crew of a Dutch herring-buss which had been off the Skerries in the preceding summer. Nay, he fancied he could perceive voices occasionally join the notes, and sing the very words he had formerly heard; for, as I have said before, Trosk understood the language. Although, when the winds rose, he always lost the sounds of this singular concert, yet, whenever there was a lull, he was satisfied that it gradually drew nearer, and he could now trace its advance, winding slowly up the glens from below, towards that in which he was extended. At length it was so distinct that he was persuaded it must have crossed the ledge that bounded the brink of the plain, and he endeavoured to raise his head, so that he might gain a view of the source of this extraordinary melody. There was a loose fragment of stone near him, and by dint of wriggling and pushing himself along like a seal, he contrived to elevate his head upon it, and, looking forth, he beheld a long and gleamy procession approaching towards him, over the quaking bog on which he had at first been laid. Sorrow and dejection were marked on the countenances of the beings composing the troop, and their habiliments appeared heavy with moisture, and dripping like fresh seaweeds. They drew close up to him, and were silent. First came the musicians, whose instruments he had heard so long and so anxiously, but he could not scrutinise them much, for as they advanced opposite to him, they wheeled off to the right and left, and took their stations either side. The front space was mediately occupied by a varied gro who appeared, by their deportme to precede some object of tinction, which, whom and filed off in th as the band, presen This was a tall well-built man, whose capacity of belly was properly balanced by the protuberance of that part which honor has assumed to herself. His head was not little, and his face appeared rather swollen. His shoulders were wide, and were clothed in a full coat of broadcloth, fashioned after the manner of the fourth generation past. Its skirts reached below his knees, round which they curved. It was collarless, but sleeves vastly deep hung from the arms, the cuffs of which were adorned with cut-steel buttons of great circumference and brightness. Broad bands of rich gold lace covered every seam and edge, more glorious in the eyes of the beholder than the setting sun, and the lappels of a quilted vest hung down from the immense orb of his bowels, heavy with the precious metal that braided them. His thighs were arrayed in breeches of scarlet velvet, silk hose disguised his legs, and large square-toed shoes covered his feet, and lent their thongs to support gold buckles of great breadth, which glittered with precious stones. On his head was placed a long flowing, flaxen, curling wig, surmounted by a small three-cornered cocked hat, buttoned up with gold bands, and a long, straight, basket-hilted sword hung, suspended in a broad, buff-embroidered belt, by his side. In his hand he held a gold-headed, clouded ground rattan, of great length and thickness; and close by his side walked a black boy, bearing a long twisted, grotesquelyfashioned pipe, which he occasionally offered to his lord, who stopped and gave a solemn puff or two, and ben proceeded. When he came mediately opposite to Spiel, he od still and erect, and a number chers ranged themselves on his band and on his left, whose esses were fine, but not so splenas their superiors, and they ece pes of common form only. sad pose drew u group of * Maity of ve adies, some bearing infants in their arms, others leading children by their hands, all dressed in strange and gorgeous apparel, though of fashions unknown to him who beheld them; and, lastly, came a body of men and lads, with big loose trowsers, thick heavy jackets, and red worsted night-caps, whom Trosk instantly knew to be Dutch sailors. Each of these had a quid of tobacco stuck in his cheek, and a short blackened pipe in his mouth, which he sucked in melancholy silence. The fisherman lay still, and saw this grim troop assemble around him with feelings of mingled alarm and wonder; his heart did not sink, for it was kept alive by fearful curiosity, but cold sweats gathered upon his brow. Presently, the principal figure looked round, and seeing his attendants all in their stations, he took his long twisted pipe from the hands of the negro, and began to smoke in long and deep-drawn whiffs: and this seemed as a signal to the rest to follow his example, for, immediately, every mouth was in action, and whichever way Spiel cast his looks, he beheld nothing but glowing tubes and gleaming eyes turned towards him, while wreaths of smoke rose up from the multitude, and formed a dense cloudlike canopy above them. Neverthe less, though he could plainly distinguish the features and the dresses of this ghastly crew, he could also see the stars clearly glimmering through them, and now gleams of fire and electric flashes began to shoot across the heavens, and the sky grew more vividly bright than it had been. Still, though Trosk could behold all these appearances through the bodies of the phantoms, he could also perceive that his ghostly visitants were closing slowly upon him, that their ranks grew more dense, and the space between him and them more narrow, while their puffs became more violent, and the smoke rose up with redoubled velocity. The Shetlander was naturally a bold and, indeed, a desperate man, and he had come to the glen with the desire of conversing with beings of another world; but when he beheld this fearful, strange, and unintelligible multitude crowded round him, and pressing nearer and nearer, as if about to overwhelm him, his courage yielded, his frame shook, and the sweat ran copiously down his face. The appearance of the black boy occasioned him more terror than all the rest; for, never having seen a negro in those far distant isles, he believed him to be a little devil, and his white teeth and whiter eye-balls looked terrific against his sable face; but his terror reboubled, when, on turning his eyes up to look at the sky above, he perceived close behind his head that little dry withered man who had accosted him in the skiff, sitting now as rigidly upright as before, but with a pipe in his mouth, which he seemed to hold there as if in grave mockery of all the assembly. Trosk started convulsively, and a choking sensation seized upon his throat; but, summoning all his energy, he mastered it; and directing himself to the principle person before him, he exclaimed, "In the name of him ye obey, who are ye? and what want ye all of me?" The great man gave three puffs, more solemnly than ever, upon this adjuration, and then, taking the pipe slowly from his lips, and giving it to his attendant, he replied, in a tone of chilling formality, "I am Aldret Janz Dundrellesy Vander Swelter, whilome commander of the good ship Carmilhan, of the city of Amsterdam, homeward bound from Batavia, in the east, which being in northern latitude, 60° 10' and 1705', longitude east, from the island of Ters, at 12 P. M. on the night of the 21st of October, 1699, was cast away on the inhospitable rocks of this island, and all on board perished. These are mine officers, these my passengers, and these the ma riners forming my gallant crew. Why hast thou called us up from our peaceful bowers, at the bottom of the ocean, where we rest softly on beds of ooze, and smoke our pipes in quiet, listening to the songs of mermaids?--I say, why hast thou called us up?" Spiel had expected to commune with spirits, good or bad, but he had not anticipated a visit from the captain of the vessel he wished to rifle; and, indeed, the question he had to propose was rather an awkard one to put to Mynheer Vander Swelter, for ghosts are in general tenacious of hidden treasure, and a Dutch ghost was likely to be more tenacious than any other, and, in particular, the spirit of a commander in whose charge a treasure had been placed, since he might still think he had a right to preserve it for the true owners, or, at least, for their heirs lawfully begotten and duly qualified. But this was no time for deliberation, and the prospect of gaining his wishes poured like a reviving cordial over the soul of the fisherman, and washed away his terror. "I would know," replied he, "where I can find the treasure with which your ship was laden." "At the bottom of the sea," answered the captain with a groan, which was echoed by all his crew. "At what place?" said Spiel. "In the Nikkur Noss," replied the spectre. "How came they there?" inquired the Skerryman. "How came you here?" answered the captain. "I came here," said Spiel. "Tis false !" exclaimed the spirit, "you came no further than the Peghts' Aultar Stane." "I did not think of that," cried Trosk, whose eagerness for wealth did not allow him to think of any thing else; "but how shal I get them ?" "A goose would dive in the Nikkur Noss for a herring, thou idiot," answered Mynh der Swelter, "are not of the Carmilhan wo exertion? Would'st more?" "Yes, how get?" said Spiel. "M |