The Mysteries of Udolpho

'Is he subject to fits?' said Emily. 'Yes, Signora,' replied Roberto; 'but if I had not, what I saw was

enough to have frightened the Pope himself.' 'What was it?' enquired Emily, trembling. 'I cannot tell what it was, lady, or what I saw, or how it vanished,'

replied the soldier, who seemed to shudder at the recollection.

'Was it the person, whom you followed down the rampart, that has

occasioned you this alarm?' said Emily, endeavouring to conceal her own.

'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

was none so jocose the other night, Sebastian, when you was 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 every thing

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 to-night, that the same figure walked

again.' 'Where did you lose it, friend?' said Emily to Roberto.