their cloaks, or the laps of their companions;
some had concealed themselves beneath a table, on which the remnants of a feast
were visible; while others, with gaping mouths and eyes wide-stretched, pointed
to a figure supposed to have created this disturbance. It represented a female
of more than human stature, clothed in the habit of some religious order. Her
face was veiled; on her arm hung a chaplet of beads; her dress was in several
places stained with the blood which trickled from a wound upon her bosom. In one
hand she held a lamp, in the other a large knife, and she seemed advancing
towards the iron gates of the hall.
    »What does this mean, Agnes?« said I: »Is this some invention of your own?«
    She cast her eyes upon the drawing.
    »Oh! no,« she replied; »'tis the invention of much wiser heads than mine.
But can you possibly have lived at Lindenberg for three whole months without
hearing of the bleeding nun?«
    »You are the first who ever mentioned the name to me. Pray, who may the lady
be?«
    »That is more than I can pretend to tell you. All my knowledge of her
history comes from an old tradition in this family, which has been handed down
from father to son, and is firmly credited throughout the baron's domains. Nay,
the baron believes it himself; and as for my aunt, who has a natural turn for
the marvellous, she would sooner doubt the veracity of the Bible than of the
bleeding nun. Shall I tell you this history?«
    I answered, that she would oblige me much by relating it: she resumed her
drawing, and then proceeded as follows in a tone of burlesqued gravity:
    »It is surprising that in all the chronicles of past times this remarkable
personage is never once mentioned. Fain would I recount to you her life; but
unluckily till after her death she was never known to have existed. Then first
did she think it necessary to make some noise in the world, and with that
intention she made bold to seize upon the castle of Lindenberg. Having a good
taste, she took up her abode in the best room of the house; and once established
there, she began to amuse herself by knocking about the tables and chairs in the
middle of the night. Perhaps she was a bad sleeper, but this I have never been
able to ascertain. According to the tradition, this entertainment commenced
about a century ago. It was accompanied with shrieking, howling,