emotions with any former mental associations, that his mind pressed on the very verge of insanity. At first he thought he was oppressed by some Phantasma, or some hideous dream;' and he afterwards began almost to doubt his own identity, and even to imagine that he had suffered the fate which had threatened him, and that his body was the corpse which he now saw consuming, while his spirit, robed in white, was within the confines of Tartarus, awaiting the judgment of Rhadamanthus ! The fire, the music, the shadowy costume, the place, the time, all-all contributed to add to the delusion.

Such were the mysterious feelings which accompanied his returning consciousness. Such were the spectral illusions which flitted across the chambers of imagery, ere yet Reason, with her wand, like the spear of Ithuriel, had made reality reveal herself without disguise!

By the time the mystic ceremony was concluded, the Arch Druid was recovered, and had given orders that Pudens should be conducted to his abode; who was accordingly taken to the residence of his new, but unknown relative.

The Arch Druid did not reveal his relationship that evening, for he compassionated the

exhausted state of Pudens; and, indeed, his own strength was unequal to the task; for besides the fatigue consequent on his sacerdotal exertions, his heart was bursting with those parental emotions, which could only find relief in solitude and tears. He, therefore, shared with Pudens the remains of a sacrificial wheaten cake, and a cordial distilled from the sacred mistletoe, with honey and an infusion of white poppies. Having discussed this light meal almost in silence, three or four fleecy skins were piled on each other, at a little distance from the fire, as a couch for Pudens; and, in a few moments, his marvellous but brief adventures, his past trials and present dangers, were all alike forgotten.

CHAPTER IV.

Nec reticebo senem,
Qui, Beleni, œdituus,
Nil opis inde tulit;
Sed tamen, ut placitum,
Stirpe satus Druidûm.

AUSONIUS, PROF. 10.

Nor in oblivious silence shall remain
The holy warden of Apollo's fane;
He his religion's glory had survived,

And from his office little wealth derived.
But from the noble race of Druids sprung,

It were not meet his name should be unsung.

WHEN Pudens awoke on the morrow, he began to survey the apartment in which he had slept; and which he now found was a subterraneous one, apparently formed by the excavation of some hill or rock. The only avenue for the admission of light was a long tube in the centre of the apartment, resembling, and indeed among other uses, subserving the purpose of a chimney; but which was not immediately over the fire-place. On looking above,

he observed that the stars were visible; but the sky appeared unusually light around, and he fancied that he could discern the distant songs of birds. To add to his perplexity, the huge oaken log piled on the fire when he came in, and which then seemed fuel for the next twenty-four hours, was now in ashes; and the long torches of fir splinters saturated with grease, which served as lights, had for the most part mouldered away, and their places been supplied by others.

After torturing his imagination in vain to account for these appearances, he fortunately recollected that he had heard of the Egyptians being able to see the stars at mid-day, notwithstanding an almost vertical sun, by looking upwards from the bottom of a deep well; he, therefore, attributed to the long tube* the same property of making the stars visible by daylight; which was indeed the case, for day-light had illumined the world for some hours; his

The use of these tubes for astronomical purposes has led some writers to suppose that optical instruments were not unknown to the Druids; who adduce in support of their opinion the following passage from Diodorus Siculus :"In this island, the moon appears so near the earth, that certain eminences of a terrestrial form are plainly seen on it."

slumbers having encroached very much upon the morning.

Pudens, having allayed his curiosity on this point, naturally felt a desire to explore the mysteries of his singular place of sojourn. Looking out at the vaulted entrance of his apartment, into a dark, but apparently spacious cavern beyond, he could see nothing but some high and bulky, but misshapen columns, which caught and reflected back the feeble ray emitted by his lamp; and no sound reached his ears but that of a perpetual dropping of water, as though from a considerable height, into some pool or reservoir below. As his curiosity, however, had more scope than opportunity of indulgence in the exterior of his apartment, he very wisely turned his attention to the interior; sensible that a traveller exposes himself to the charge of great ignorance, who does not make himself acquainted with the peculiarities of his own country, before he seeks others.

Upon taking a survey of the room in which he had slept, he discovered that it was the Arch Druid's secret laboratory, and observed the following articles lying about in different directions:-On a massive, but smooth piece of limestone, projecting from a recess in the