WYLDER'S HAJVD.
What object could he gain, for instance, by the fib he
had just told me? On second thoughts this night he
coolly apprised me that he had some idea of sounding the
electors. So, my meal ended, we went into the tapestry
room where, the night being sharp, a pleasant bit of fire
burned in the grate, and Wealdon greeted me.
, My journey predisposed me to sleep. Such volumes
^' fine and various country air, and such an eight hours'
rvj -ocession of all sorts of natural pictures are not tra-
ipsed without effect. Sitting in my well-stuffed chair,
v j elbows on the cushioned arms, the conversation of
I jke and the Town Clerk now and then grew faint, and
th\$r faces faded way. and little "fyttes" and fragments
of those light and pleasant dreams, like fairy tales, which
visit such stolen naps, superseded with their picturesque
and musical illusions the realities and recollections of life.
Once or twice a nod a little too deep or sudden called
me up. But Lake was busy about the Dollington con-
stituency, and the Town Clerk's bluff face was serious and
thoughtful. It was the old question about Rogers, the
brewer, and whether Lord Adleston and Sir William could
not get him; or else it had gone on to the great railway
contractor, Dobbs, and the question how many votes his
influence was really worth; and, somehow, I never got
very far into the pros and cons of these discussions, which
soon subsided into the fairy tale I have mentioned, and
that sweet perpendicular sleep — all the sweeter, like
everything else, for being contraband and irregular.
For one bout — I fancy a good deal longer than the
others — my nap was much sounder than before, and I
opened my eyes at last with the shudder and half horror
that accompany an awakening from a general chill —a
dismal and frightened sensation.
I was facing a door about twenty feet distant, which