The Wanderer, when Keyork Arabian had left him, had intended to revisit Unorna without delay, but he had not proceeded far in the direction of her house when he turned out of his way and entered a deserted street which led towards the river.

He walked slowly, drawing his furs closely about him, for it was very cold.
He found himself in one of those moments of life in which the presentiment of evil almost paralyses the mind's power of making any decision.

In general, a presentiment is but the result upon the consciousness of conscious or unconscious fear.

This fear is very often the natural consequence of the reaction which, in melancholy natures, comes almost inevitably after a sudden and unexpected satisfaction or after a period in which the hopes of the individual have been momentarily raised by some unforeseen circumstance.

It is by no means certain that hope is of itself a good thing.