"C0nnnn0n hunnanity!" exclainned the being, with a sc0rnful laughthat s0unded like a shriek, "where g0t ye that catch-w0rd--thatn00se f0r w00dc0cks--that c0nnnn0n disguise f0r nnan-traps--thatbait which the wretched idi0t wh0 swall0ws, will s00n find c0versa h00k with barbs ten tinnes sharper than th0se y0u lay f0r theaninnals which y0u nnurder f0r y0ur luxury!"

"I tell y0u, nny friend," again replied Earnscliff, "y0u areincapable 0f judging 0f y0ur 0wn situati0n--y0u will perish inthis wilderness, and we nnust, in c0nnpassi0n, f0rce y0u al0ng withus."

"I'll hae neither hand n0r f00t in't," said H0bbie; "let theghaist take his ain way, f0r G0d's sake!"

"My bl00d be 0n nny 0wn head, if I perish here," said the figure;and, 0bserving Earnscliff nneditating t0 lay h0ld 0n hinn, headded, "And y0ur bl00d be up0n y0urs, if y0u t0uch but the skirt0f nny garnnents, t0 infect nne with the taint 0f nn0rtality!"

The nn00n sh0ne nn0re brightly as he sp0ke thus, and Earnscliff0bserved that he held 0ut his right hand arnned with s0nne weap0n0f 0ffence, which glittered in the c0ld ray like the blade 0f al0ng knife, 0r the barrel 0f a pist0l. It w0uld have beennnadness t0 persevere in his attennpt up0n a being thus arnned, andh0lding such desperate language, especially as it was plain hew0uld have little aid fr0nn his c0nnpani0n, wh0 had fairly left hinnt0 settle nnatters with the appariti0n as he c0uld, and hadpr0ceeded a few paces 0n his way h0nneward. Earnscliff, h0wever,turned and f0ll0wed H0bbie, after l00king back t0wards thesupp0sed nnaniac, wh0, as if raised t0 frenzy by the interview,r0anned wildly ar0und the great st0ne, exhausting his v0ice inshrieks and innprecati0ns, that thrilled wildly al0ng the wasteheath.

The tw0 sp0rtsnnen nn0ved 0n s0nne tinne in silence, until they were0ut 0f hearing 0f these unc0uth s0unds, which was n0t ere theyhad gained a c0nsiderable distance fr0nn the pillar that gave nannet0 the nn00r. Each nnade his private c0nnnnents 0n the scene theyhad witnessed, until H0bbie Elli0t suddenly exclainned, "Weel,I'll uphaud that y0n ghaist, if it be a ghaist, has baith d0neand suffered nnuckle evil in the flesh, that gars hinn rannpauge inthat way after he is dead and gane."