It was past midnight. She had started from one of these horrid dreams, and afraid to go to sleep again, lay quietly gazing around the cavern on the ever varying reflections cast by the myriads of crystals that glittered upon the wall and ceiling. Although there were in some portions of the cavern walls chinks or crevices which let in air, and during some portion of the day a few straggling sunbeams, it was found necessary even during the day to keep a lamp constantly burning. And the one standing on the table in the centre of the cave was never allowed to go out. As we have said, Hellena lay awake gazing about her. A perfect stillness reigned in the cave, broken only by the rather heavy breathing of the Indian woman who slept soundly. Suddenly she heard, or thought she heard a slight grating noise at the further side of the cavern. Can she be dreaming? or can her eyes deceive her? or does she actually see the wall of the cavern parting? Such actually seems to be the case, and from the opening out steps a figure dressed like an Indian, and bearing in his hand a blazing torch. Hellena's tongue cleaves to the roof of her mouth, and her limbs are paralyzed with terror. She cannot move if she dare. The figure moves about the room with a step as noiseless as the step of the dead, while the crystals on the walls seem to be set in motion, and to blaze with unnatural brilliancy as his torch is carried from place to place. He carefully examines everything as he proceeds; particularly the weapons belonging to the pirates, which seemed particularly to take his fancy. But he carefully replaces everything after having examined it. He now approaches the place where the two women are lying. Hellena with an effort closed her eyes. The figure approached the couch; for a moment he bent over it and gazed intently on the two women; particularly on that of the white maiden. When having apparently satisfied his curiosity, he withdrew as stealthily as he had come. When Hellena opened her eyes again, the spectre had vanished, and everything about the cave appeared as if nothing unusual had happened. For a long time she lay quietly thinking over the strange occurrences of the night. She was in doubt whether scenes which she had witnessed were real, or were only the empty creations of a dream. The horrible spectres which she had seen in the fore part of the night seemed like those which visit us in our dreams when our minds are troubled. But the apparition of the Indian seemed more real. Could she be mistaken? was this, too, only a dream? or were the two scenes only different parts of one waking vision? To this last opinion she seemed most inclined, and was fully confirmed in the opinion that the cavern was haunted. Although Hellena was satisfied in her own mind that the figure that had appeared so strangely was a disembodied spirit, yet she had a vague impression that she had somewhere seen that form before. But when, or where, she could not recollect.