Alas! poor Hans! His knees knocked together and his frame shook so violently, he could not move. He was as much a prisoner to his terror as the chained criminal in his cell. It was now that the solicitous advice of his faithful Malchen came rushing upon his memory, and he deplored the folly which had caused him to disobey it. His regrets however, it is believed, were more owing to the wealth he had left behind him than to his having disregarded her good advice, for he began to apprehend that he should never see it more. During this interval of his great consternation, the spirit had remained perfectly calm and composed; and after the noise had entirely subsided it again exhorted him to silence, and softly whispered into his ears that the place was surrounded and protected by numerous imps of the devil who had been commissioned to guard the treasure. Though many before Hans’ time may have been in equally close contact with some of Satan’s extensive brood and felt no fear, and although he had spent nearly all his days in executing to their master an indisputable title to himself, he found no consolation in what the spirit had told him. If he was inclined to render service to Lucifer he preferred doing so at a more convenient distance from him. Without any visible intervention of the spirit, at least such is the testimony of Hans Dundermann, an opening into the cellar of the building now appeared. Here he was bidden to enter, which he did more through fear than inclination, attended by his mysterious guide. The red glare reflected by the lantern, gave the place a very solemn and haunted appearance, and made the old walls resemble more the neglected ruins of some venerable edifice, than what they purported to be. They had evidently been built when masonic skill was in its infancy and when huge, substantial clumsiness was the fashion. He surveyed the cavern, for such it appeared to him, with wild respect, confident that this had once been the retreat of the Englishman whose memory had so long been perpetuated in the traditions of the village. What was next to befall him, now that he was entirely at the mercy and in the power of the spirit, he could not divine. He was carefully watching its movements as it walked around the cellar, cautiously treading the damp ground, until it came to a stand, and beckoned him to approach. Here, then, he ascertained, was hidden the treasure which had so much engrossed his attention, and caused him so many perplexing thoughts. His fears now yielded to the first flushes occasioned by the almost certain assurance of securing the hoarded gold. Thus animated by the promising prospect before him; his recent regrets were entirely forgotten, and he felt pleased and proud that he had left his bed for so bold and profitable an adventure. His anxious anticipations, however, were not to be so easily gratified as he had at first imagined. The wealth he coveted was