The
frightful event of the preceding evening had left no impression
on the placid sheet, and the untiring hours pursued their course
in the placid order prescribed by the powerful hand that set
them in motion. The birds were again skimming the water, or were
seen poised on the wing, high above the tops of the tallest pines
of the mountains, ready to make their swoops, in obedience to the
irresistable law of their natures. In a word, nothing was changed,
but the air of movement and life that prevailed in and around the
castle. Here, indeed, was an alteration that must have struck
the least observant eye. A sentinel, who wore the light infantry
uniform of a royal regiment, paced the platform with measured tread,
and some twenty more of the same corps lounged about the place, or
were seated in the ark. Their arms were stacked under the eye of
their comrade on post. Two officers stood examining the shore, with
the ship's glass so often mentioned. Their looks were directed to
that fatal point, where scarlet coats were still to be seen gliding
among the trees, and where the magnifying power of the instrument
also showed spades at work, and the sad duty of interment going on.
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