“Person!” exclaimed the man—“it was the devil, and this is not the first time I have seen him!”
“Nor will it be the last,” observed one of his comrades, laughing.
“No, no, I warrant not,” said another.
“Well,” rejoined Roberto, “you may be as merry now, as you please; you were none so jocose the other night, Sebastian, when you were on watch with Launcelot.”
“Launcelot need not talk of that,” replied Sebastian, “let him remember how he stood trembling, and unable to give the word, till the man was gone. If the man had not come so silently upon us, I would have seized him, and soon made him tell who he was.”
“What man?” enquired Emily.
“It was no man, lady,” said Launcelot, who stood by, “but the devil himself, as my comrade says. What man, who does not live in the castle, could get within the walls at midnight? Why, I might just as well pretend to march to Venice, and get among all the Senators, when they are counselling; and I warrant I should have more chance of getting out again alive, than any fellow, that we should catch within the gates after dark. So I think I have proved plainly enough, that this can be nobody that lives out of the castle; and now I will prove, that it can be nobody that lives in the castle—for, if he did—why should he be afraid to be seen? So after this, I hope nobody will pretend to tell me it was anybody. No, I say again, by holy Pope! it was the devil, and Sebastian, there, knows this is not the first time we have seen him.”
“When did you see the figure, then, before?” said Emily half smiling, who, though she thought the conversation somewhat too much, felt an interest, which would not permit her to conclude it.
“About a week ago, lady,” said Sebastian, taking up the story.
“And where?”
“On the rampart, lady, higher up.”
“Did you pursue it, that it fled?”
“No, Signora. Launcelot and I were on watch together, and everything was so still, you might have heard a mouse stir, when, suddenly, Launcelot says—Sebastian! do you see nothing? I turned my head a little to the left, as it might be—thus. No, says I. Hush! said Launcelot—look yonder—just by the last cannon on the rampart! I looked, and then thought I did see something move; but there being no light, but what the stars gave, I could not be certain. We stood quite silent, to watch it, and presently saw something pass along the castle wall just opposite to us!”
“Why did you not seize it, then?” cried a soldier, who had scarcely spoken till now.
“Aye, why did you not seize it?” said Roberto.
“You should have been there to have done that,” replied Sebastian. “You would have been bold enough to have taken it by the throat, though it had been the devil himself; we could not take such a liberty, perhaps, because we are not so well acquainted with him, as you are. But, as I was saying, it stole by us so quickly, that we had not time to get rid of our surprise, before it was gone. Then, we knew it was in vain to follow. We kept constant watch all that night, but we saw it no more. Next morning, we told some of our comrades, who were on duty on other parts of the ramparts, what we had seen; but they had seen nothing, and laughed at us, and it was not till tonight, that the same figure walked again.”
“Where did you lose it, friend?” said Emily to Roberto.
“When I left you, lady,” replied the man, “you might see me go down the rampart, but it was not till I reached the east terrace, that I saw anything. Then, the moon shining bright, I saw something like a shadow flitting before me, as it were, at some distance. I stopped, when I turned the corner of the east tower, where I had seen this figure not a moment before—but it was gone! As I stood, looking through the old arch which leads to the east rampart, and where I am sure it had passed, I heard, all of a sudden, such a sound!—it was not like a groan, or a cry, or a shout, or anything I ever heard in my life. I heard it only once, and that was enough for me; for I know nothing that happened after, till I found my comrades, here, about me.”
“Come,” said Sebastian, “let us go to our posts—the moon is setting. Good night, lady!”
“Aye, let us go,” rejoined Roberto. “Good night, lady.”
“Good night; the holy mother guard you!” said Emily, as she closed her casement and retired to reflect upon the strange circumstance that had just occurred, connecting which with what had happened on former nights, she endeavoured to derive from the whole something more positive, than conjecture. But her imagination was inflamed, while her judgment was not enlightened, and the terrors of superstition again pervaded her mind.
XXIX
There is one within,
Julius Caesar
Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
Recounts most horrid sights, seen by the watch.
In the morning, Emily found Madame Montoni nearly in the same condition, as on the preceding night; she had slept little, and that little had not refreshed her; she smiled on her niece, and seemed cheered by her presence, but spoke only a few words, and never named Montoni, who, however, soon after, entered the room. His wife, when she understood that he was there, appeared much agitated, but was entirely silent, till Emily rose from a chair at the bedside, when she begged, in a feeble voice, that she would not leave her.
The visit of Montoni was not to sooth his wife, whom he knew to be dying, or to console, or to ask her forgiveness, but to make a
