At the door of this cabin, and at the time we are describing, stood a solitary figure.  He was a gaunt, thin man, whose stature rather exceeded than fell below six feet.  The object about his person which first arrested attention was a dark grizzled beard, that fell half-way down his breast, in strong contrast with a high white forehead, beneath which glowed large dreamy eyes.  The hair of his head, like his beard, was long, and fell loosely over his shoulders.  His dress was of the coarsest description, consisting of a cloth of a dusky grey color, the upper garment being a loose sort of surtout, falling almost to the knees, and secured round the waist by a dark woollen sash.  His age it was difficult to determine.  It might have been anywhere between forty-five and fifty-five years.

The attitude and appearance of the man, were that of devotion and expectancy.  His body was bent forward, his hands clasped, and his eyes intently fastened on the eastern sky, along the horizon of which layers of clouds, a moment before of a leaden hue were now assuming deeper and deeper crimson tints.  As the clouds flushed up into brighter colors his countenance kindled with excitement.  His form seemed to dilate, his eyes to flash, his hands unclasped themselves, and he stretched out his arms, as if to welcome a long expected friend.  But presently the rays of the sun began to stream over the swelling upland and light up the surface of the river, and fainter and fainter shone the clouds, until they gradually melted into the blue depth away.  It was then a shade of disappointment, as it seemed, passed over the face of the man.  Its rapt expression faded, he cast a look almost of reproach to heaven, and his feelings found vent in words.

“Hast Thou not said, ‘Behold, I come quickly?’ Why then delay the wheels of Thy chariot?  O, Lord, I have waited for Thy salvation.  In the night-watches, at midnight, at cock-crowing, and in the morning, have I been mindful of Thee.  But chiefly at the dawn hath my soul gone forth to meet Thee, for then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven, and they shall see him coming in the clouds of Heaven, with power and great glory.  And he shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from one end of Heaven to the other.”

His eyes glared wildly round, then fell and fastened on the ground, and for a few moments he remained immovable as a statue, after which, with an air of dejection, he turned as if about to enter the hut.  At that moment the report of a gun from the shore close by was heard, and looking, up he saw a man fall from the sloping bank upon the beach.

If there had been any appearance of weakness or infirmity before in the Recluse, it now vanished.  Nothing could exceed the promptitude and energy of his movements.  To rush to the water, to throw himself into a boat, to unfasten it from the stake to which it was tied, and with a vigorous push to send it half-way across the channel, was the work of but an instant.  A few dextrous and strong strokes of the paddle soon sent it grating on the pebbled shore, and with a bound he was by the side of the prostrate man.  He lay with his face to the ground, with one arm stretched out, and the other cramped up beneath his body.  Near him the leaves and grass were stained with drops of blood, and at a short distance a gun was lying.