action; or, if I should not succeed, to convince myself, by my own experience, of Volkert's supernatural skill.
I interrogated the woman about several circumstances, which had appeared to me rather suspicious; and asking her, at last, whether she had any reason to think that the lover of her daughter had really been a son of her deceased husband, she was prevented, by her tears and sobs from answering that question, I therefore dismissed her, with the firm resoJution to make the strictest inquiries at her neighbours, which I did the same day, but all my endeavours to unfold that mysterious transaction proved abortive; they could tell me no more than what I had known already, repeating the unhappy widow's tale without any material alterations; I was left in the dark and found myself necessitated to check my ardent curiosity.
I now waited with impatience for an opportunity of witnessing Volkert's skill, beingdetermined
