It was also probable Rivenoak was aware that, in holding
his captive, he had in his own hands the most dangerous of all his
enemies.
The precision with which those accustomed to watchfulness, or
lives of disturbed rest, sleep, is not the least of the phenomena
of our mysterious being. The head is no sooner on the pillow
than consciousness is lost; and yet, at a necessary hour, the mind
appears to arouse the body, as promptly as if it had stood sentinel
the while over it. There can be no doubt that they who are thus
roused awake by the influence of thought over matter, though the
mode in which this influence is exercised must remain hidden from
our curiosity until it shall be explained, should that hour ever
arrive, by the entire enlightenment of the soul on the subject of
all human mysteries. Thus it was with Hetty Hutter. Feeble as
the immaterial portion of her existence was thought to be, it was
sufficiently active to cause her to open her eyes at midnight. At
that hour she awoke, and leaving her bed of skin and boughs she
walked innocently and openly to the embers of the fire, stirring the
latter, as the coolness of the night and the woods, in connection
with an exceedingly unsophisticated bed, had a little chilled her.
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