Unable to check his
desire to know further, he left his seat, to examine the
contents of the chair. As he moved across the room, he
fancied he heard a light sound from without; his companion,
also, seemed to manifest a similar impression by an almost
imperceptible start; but the noise was so momentary, and
so fanciful, neither felt it worth his while to pause
upon the circumstance. The young officer now raised the
garments from the chair: they consisted of a small grey
great-coat, and trowsers, a waistcoat of coarse white
cloth, a pair of worsted stockings, and the half-boots
of a boy; the whole forming the drum-boy's equipment,
worn by the wretched wife of Halloway when borne senseless
into the hut on that fatal morning. Hastily quitting a
dress that called up so many dreadful recollections, and
turning to his companion with a look that denoted
apprehension, lest he too should have beheld these
melancholy remembrances of the harrowing scene, the young
officer hastened to resume his seat. In the act of so
doing, his eye fell upon the window, at which the female
still lingered. Had a blast from Heaven struck his sight,
the terror of his soul could not have been greater.
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