Such, however, in thousands of instances, are the
consequences of the
_"Opes irritamenta malorum."_
The above facts, in connection with these two families, and the future
incidents of our narrative, we have deemed it necessary, for I the
better understanding of what follows, to place in a preliminary sketch
before our readers.
CHAPTER II. A Murderer's Wake and the Arrival of a Stranger
It is the month of June, and the sun has gone down amidst a mass of
those red and angry clouds which prognosticate a night of storm and
tempest. The air is felt to be oppressive and sultry, and the whole
sky is overshadowed with gloom. On such a night the spirit sinks,
cheerfulness abandons the heart, and an indefinable anxiety depresses
it. This impression is not peculiar to man, who, on such occasions,
is only subject to the same instinctive apprehension which is known
to influence the irrational animals. The clouds are gathering in black
masses; but there is, nevertheless, no opening between them through
which the sky is visible. The gloom is unbroken, and so is the silence;
and a person might imagine that the great operations of Nature had been
suspended and stood still.
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