Page:Tales of a Voyager to the Arctic Ocean, vol. 3 (1826).djvu/338

 issued from beneath the eaves and crevices in the walls.

“Impatient and alarmed, Hendrick, with a lover’s privilege, hastily opened the door, and entered; but what was his amazement to find himself in the midst of a company of beings of the most appalling description. There sat in the old chair, which the beauty’s father was wont to occupy, the same fiend who had tempted Wolfgang to his destruction. Before him, in the midst of the floor, was a large fire, blazing up to the ceiling in blue flames, mingled with green and yellow. Around this danced a circle of devils, of all figures and sizes, throwing themselves into the most distorted attitudes, and shrieking at alternate intervals. There lay on the floor a human carcass, the head of which was concealed by a black veil, and the old fiend had his feet placed upon it, while his hoofs, now lengthened into claws, penetrated the flesh, and when the demon contracted his talons, the body gave convulsive throes, and dashed its limbs about, to the great diversion of the assembly.

“Hendrick stood and stared aghast at this sight, for a crowd of fears and suspicions overwhelmed his soul. He looked around for the