 my voice quivered
and failed me, as I beheld tears trickle fast from between his fingers, - a
groan burst from his heaving breast. I paused; - at length he spoke, in broken
accents; - »Unhappy man! Do you share my madness? Have you drank also of the
intoxicating draught? Hear me, - let me reveal my tale, and you will dash the
cup from your lips!«
    Such words, you may imagine, strongly excited my curiosity; but the paroxysm
of grief that had seized the stranger overcame his weakened powers, and many
hours of repose and tranquil conversation were necessary to restore his
composure.
    Having conquered the violence of his feelings, he appeared to despise
himself for being the slave of passion; and quelling the dark tyranny of
despair, he led me again to converse concerning myself personally. He asked me
the history of my earlier years. The tale was quickly told: but it awakened
various trains of reflection. I spoke of my desire of finding a friend - of my
thirst for a more intimate sympathy with a fellow mind than had ever fallen to
my lot; and expressed my conviction that a man could boast of little happiness,
who did not enjoy this blessing.
    »I agree with you,« replied the stranger; »we are unfashioned creatures, but
half made up, if one wiser, better, dearer than ourselves - such a friend ought
to be - do not lend his aid to perfectionate our weak and faulty natures. I once
had a friend, the most noble of human creatures, and am entitled, therefore, to
judge respecting friendship. You have hope, and the world before you, and have
no cause for despair. But I - I have lost every thing, and cannot begin life
anew.«
    As he said this, his countenance became expressive of a calm settled grief,
that touched me to the heart. But he was silent, and presently retired to his
cabin.
    Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the
beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these
wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from
earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be
overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will
be like a celestial spirit, that has a halo around him, within whose circle no
grief or folly ventures.
    Will you smile at the enthusiasm I express concerning this divine wanderer?
You would not, if you
