As the soldiers
moved hastily under the casement, she called to enquire what had
happened, but they passed without regarding her. Emily’s thoughts returning to the figure she had seen, “It cannot be a
person, who has designs upon the castle,” said she; “such a one would
conduct himself very differently. He would not venture where sentinels
were on watch, nor fix himself opposite to a window, where he perceived
he must be observed; much less would he beckon, or utter a sound of
complaint. Yet it cannot be a prisoner, for how could he obtain the
opportunity to wander thus?”

If she had been subject to vanity, she might have supposed this figure
to be some inhabitant of the castle, who wandered under her casement in
the hope of seeing her, and of being allowed to declare his admiration;
but this opinion never occurred to Emily, and, if it had, she would
have dismissed it as improbable, on considering, that, when the
opportunity of speaking had occurred, it had been suffered to pass in
silence; and that, even at the moment in which she had spoken, the form
had abruptly quitted the place. While she mused, two sentinels walked up the rampart in earnest
conversation, of which she caught a few words, and learned from these,
that one of their comrades had fallen down senseless. Soon after, three
other soldiers appeared slowly advancing from the bottom of the
terrace, but she heard only a low voice, that came at intervals. As
they drew near, she perceived this to be the voice of him, who walked
in the middle, apparently supported by his comrades; and she again
called to them, enquiring what had happened. At the sound of her voice,
they stopped, and looked up, while she repeated her question, and was
told, that Roberto, their fellow of the watch, had been seized with a
fit, and that his cry, as he fell, had caused a false alarm. “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
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.