Thus thinking, he drew his chair to the table, and took some of the provisions which had been brought him, after which he again fell into a deep fit of thought, and then starting up, exclaimed aloud, "There is no use in calculating in such circumstances as these. None can tell what the next minute will bring forth, and the only plan is to be prepared to take advantage of whatever may happen; for circumstances must be hard indeed that will not permit a wise and quick-witted man to abate their evil or to augment their good. So I will even go sleep as soon as I can; but methinks the moon is rising," and, approaching the window, which was strongly barred, he looked out for a few minutes, as the orb of night rose red and large through the dull and heavy air of Hull. "Where is sweet Annie Walton now?" he thought; "and whither is her dear bright mind wandering? Perhaps she is even now looking at the planet, and thinking of him whom she believes far away. Yes, surely she will think of me. God's blessing on her sweet heart! and may she soon know brighter days again, for these are sad ones. However, it is some consolation to know that she is not aware of this misadventure. Well, I will go and try to sleep." He then, after offering his prayers to God--for he was not one to forget such homage--cast himself down upon his bed without taking off his clothes, and in a few minutes was sound asleep. During the two preceding days he had undergone much fatigue, and had not closed an eye for eight-and-forty hours, so that at first his slumber was as profound as that of a peasant; but towards morning Imagination reasserted her power, and took possession of his senses even in sleep. He fancied that he was in Italy again, and that Charles Walton, looking as he had done in early youth, was walking beside him along a terrace, where cypresses and urns of sculptured stone flanked the broad gravel-walk, which overhung a steep precipice. What possessed him he knew not, but it seemed as if some demon kept whispering in his ear to dare his loved companion to leap down, and, though reluctant, he did so, knowing all the while that if his friend attempted it he would infallibly perish. "Charles," he said, in the wild perversity of his dreaming brain, "dare you stand with me on the top of that low wall, and jump down into the dell below?" "Whatever you do I will do, Francis," the young nobleman seemed to reply; and, without waiting for further discussion, they both approached the edge, mounted the low wall, and then leaped off together. The earl's brain seemed to turn as he fell, and everything reeled before his dizzy sight, till at length he suddenly found himself upon his feet at the bottom, unhurt, and, instead of his friend, Annie Walton standing, beside him, in deep mourning, inquiring, "How could you be so rash, Francis?"