Perplexing and painful thoughts rolled on his mind like a
troubled stream, and the more he laboured to lull himself to slumber,
the farther he seemed from attaining his object. He tried all the
resources common in such cases; kept counting from one to a thousand,
until his head was giddy--he watched the embers of the wood fire till
his eyes were dazzled--he listened to the dull moaning of the wind,
the swinging and creaking of signs which projected from the houses,
and the baying of here and there a homeless dog, till his very ear was
weary.
Suddenly, however, amid this monotony, came a sound which startled him
at once. It was a female shriek. He sat up in his bed to listen, then
remembered he was in Alsatia, where brawls of every sort were current
among the unruly inhabitants. But another scream, and another, and
another, succeeded so close, that he was certain, though the noise was
remote and sounded stifled, it must be in the same house with himself.
Nigel jumped up hastily, put on a part of his clothes, seized his
sword and pistols, and ran to the door of his chamber. Here he plainly
heard the screams redoubled, and, as he thought, the sounds came from
the usurer's apartment. All access to the gallery was effectually
excluded by the intermediate door, which the brave young lord shook
with eager, but vain impatience. But the secret passage occurred
suddenly to his recollection.
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