'But do mine eyes deceive me, or is there a glimmer of light over yonder ?' 'A Will-o'-the-wisp,' said Saxon.
"An _ignis fatuus_ that bewitches, And leads men into pools and ditches." Yet I confess that it burns steady and clear, as though it came from lamp, candle, rushlight, lanthorn, or other human agency.' 'Where there is light there is life,' cried Reuben.

'Let us make for it, and see what chance of shelter we may find there.' 'It cannot come from our dragoon friends,' remarked Decimus.

'A murrain on them! how came they to guess our true character; or was it on the score of some insult to the regiment that that young Fahnfuhrer has set them on our track?
If I have him at my sword's point again, he shall not come off so free.

Well, do ye lead your horses, and we shall explore this light, since no better course is open to us.' Picking our way across the moor, we directed our course for the bright point which twinkled in the distance; and as we advanced we hazarded a thousand conjectures as to whence it could come.

If it were a human dwelling, what sort of being could it be who, not content with living in the heart of this wilderness, had chosen a spot so far removed from the ordinary tracks which crossed it?
The roadway was miles behind us, and it was probable that no one save those driven by such a necessity as that which had overtaken us would ever find themselves in that desolate region.