I remembered to have heard that the German who was hung in chains, and whose gibbet I had passed, had suffered the sentence of the law for having burnt a house, and murdered in the most cruel and shocking manner, a person whom he strangled with his cloak. Now, it was also currently reported, (but only believed by the idle and superstitious,) that this man did not then die :-for it was said, that the devil, to whom after his condemnation he had sold himself, had, while he was suspended, in some way or other supported him; and had afterwards fed him on the gibbet in the form of a raven, until the fastenings decayed, so that he could release himself, when he substituted the body of a person whom he murdered for the purpose!

There were many persons now alive who had sworn to having seen the raven there, morne ing, noon, and night, and to have heard its

croaking even at midnight. Many accounted for this, by saying it came here to feed on the body; but one of the villagers, who was known to be a stout fellow, having occasion to go by the gibbet one twilight, declared that he heard the man talking with the raven, but in a language he did not understand; hat at first he supposed he was deceived by his own fancy, or the creaking of the iron fastenings, but on approaching nearer, he distinctly saw the eyes of the man looking intently at him; and he verily believed, had he stopped, he would have spoken to him, but that he was so alarmed he took to his heels, and never once looked behind or stopped to take breath, until he reached the end of the plain, a distance of above five miles. And it was further said, the German, when released from the gibbet, was obliged, in fulfilment of his vow, to do the devil's will on earth-that he was most dread

fully pale, owing to the blood never having flowed into his face since his strangulation, for the devil, it is said, had only just kept his word; that the German, as he was called, had since often been seen riding up and down the road, and that he entered very freely into conversation, and endeavoured to entrap the unwary to put them into the power of his master.

Could it be possible that this was the German? Tut! an idle thought; and yet I remember there was something foreign in his accent;then the paleness of his face, the strange circumstances that accompanied his presence, the pressing and extraordinary manner in which he offered his cloak, which might have been some device to get me within his power,—the extreme cold with which I was afflicted, the ominous

beckoning, too, of the figure on the gibbet ;each circumstance came forcibly before me ; and were he the German or not, I more than

ever rejoiced that I had thus easily got rid of him.

I now rode briskly on to a small inn, that was situated about half-way between the commencement and end of my journey, and arrived there about half-past eight o'clock. On alighting, the host, a fat jolly fellow, with a perpetual smile on his face, came out and welcomed me. "Show me into a private room," said I, "and bring me some refreshment;" the landlord replied he was very sorry his only room was at present occupied by a gentleman who had been there about ten minutes, but he was sure he would have no objection to my company. He departed to obtain his permission, and returned with the gentleman's compliments, and that he would be most happy in my company: so I followed mine host to the room; but what was my confusion when, on opening the door, I discovered, seated, the mysterious stranger, whose presence had before

caused me such annoyance! A sort of chillness instantly came over me, and I would have retired, when the stranger got up, and bowing politely, said, "he was exceedingly happy to accede to my request of allowing me to occupy the same room," and at the same time handed me a chair. It was impossible for me now to refuse; so, thanking him for his offer, I seated myself, and, as I before said, being rather chilly, asked him if he had any objection to a fire? I immediately perceived a strong alteration in his features, but it was only momentary; he instantly recovered himself, and said, “that, for his part, his cloak, pointing to one which hung on the back of his chair, was quite enough for him, however cold the weather might be ;" and added, "if I would but put it on for one moment, he was sure I should be warm enough then." I had a sort of instinctive dread of this cloak, and I determined not to put it on; so starting