He immediately looked about him, but except the usual inanimate objects of nature, he could see nothing.

Whatever it is, thought he, or, rather, whoever it is, he has thought proper to remain undiscovered in the darkness.

I shall now bid him good-night, and proceed on my way home.

He accordingly moved on once more, when, to his utter astonishment, he heard the footsteps again, precisely within the same distance of him as before.
"Tut," said he, "I now perceive what the matter with me is.

This is a mere hallucination, occasioned by a disordered state of the nerves; and as he spoke he returned his pistols into his breast pockets, where he usually wore them, and once more resumed his journey.