of old wood-work which has rotted for long years in some
neglected vault, with no disturbance from the breath of the
external air. Beyond this indication of extensive decay,
however, the fabric gave little token of instability. Perhaps
the eye of a scrutinizing observer might have discovered a
barely perceptible fissure, which, extending from the roof
of the building in front, made its way down the wall in a
zigzag direction, until it became lost in the sullen waters of
the tam.
2 Noticing these things, I rode over a short causeway to
the house. A servant in waiting took my horse, and I
entered the Gothic archway of the hall. A valet, of stealthy
step, thence conducted me, in silence, through many dark
and intricate passages in my progress to the studio of his
master. Much that I encountered on the way contributed, I
know not how, to heighten the vague sentiments of which I
have already spoken. While the objects around me while
the carvings of the ceilings, the sombre tapestries of the
walls, the ebon blackness of the floors, and the
phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I strode,
were but matters to which, or to such as which, I had been
accustomed from my infancy-while I hesitated not to
acknowledge how familiar was all this-I still wondered to
find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images
were stirring up On one of the staircases I met the
4x Which two words would accurately describe the narrator
of this passage?
(Remember to choose two.)
4x
x
X
x
A
bossy
B
happy
C
rude
D
thoughtful
E
wary