reckoning.'

I begged his pardon, and, at his instance, once more seated
myself behind hint upon the good horse, which went forth steady
as before--the moon, whenever she could penetrate the clouds,
throwing the huge shadow of the animal, with its double burden,
on the wild and bare ground over which we passed.

Thou mayst laugh till thou lettest the letter fall, if thou wilt,
but it reminded me of the magician Atlantes on his hippogriff
with a knight trussed up behind him, in the manner Ariosto has
depicted that matter. Thou art I know, matter-of-fact enough to
affect contempt of that fascinating and delicious poem; but think
not that, to conform with thy bad taste, I shall forbear any
suitable illustration which now or hereafter may occur to me.

On we went, the sky blackening around us, and the wind beginning
to pipe such a wild and melancholy tune as best suited the hollow
sounds of the advancing tide, which I could hear at a distance,
like the roar of some immense monster defrauded of its prey.

At length, our course was crossed by a deep dell or dingle, such
as they call in some parts of Scotland a den, and in others a
cleuch or narrow glen. It seemed, by the broken glances which
the moon continued to throw upon it, to be steep, precipitous,
and full of trees, which are, generally speaking, rather scarce
upon these shores. The descent by which we plunged into this
dell was both steep and rugged, with two or three abrupt
turnings; but neither danger nor darkness impeded the motion of
the black horse, who seemed rather to slide upon his haunches,