'When I left you, lady,' replied the man, 'you might see me go down the
rampart, but it was not till I reached the east terrace, that I saw
any thing. Then, the moon shining bright, I saw something like a shadow
flitting before me, as it were, at some distance. I stopped, when I
turned the corner of the east tower, where I had seen this figure not
a moment before,--but it was gone! As I stood, looking through the
old arch, which leads to the east rampart, and where I am sure it had
passed, I heard, all of a sudden, such a sound!--it was not like a
groan, or a cry, or a shout, or any thing I ever heard in my life. I
heard it only once, and that was enough for me; for I know nothing that
happened after, till I found my comrades, here, about me.'
'Come,' said Sebastian, 'let us go to our posts--the moon is setting.
Good night, lady!' 'Aye, let us go,' rejoined Roberto. 'Good night, lady.'
'Good night; the holy mother guard you!' said Emily, as she closed her
casement and retired to reflect upon the strange circumstance that had
just occurred, connecting which with what had happened on former nights,
she endeavoured to derive from the whole something more positive, than
conjecture. But her imagination was inflamed, while her judgment was not
enlightened, and the terrors of superstition again pervaded her mind.