Page:The Revolt of the Angels v2.djvu/99



EASSURE yourself, Madame” replied the apparition, “your position is not as risky as you say. You are not confronted with two men, but with one man and an angel.”

She examined the stranger with an eye which, piercing the gloom, was anxiously surveying a vague but by no means negligible indication, and asked:

“Monsieur, is it quite certain that you are an angel?”

The apparition prayed her to have no doubt about it, and gave some precise information as to his origin.

“There are three hierarchies of celestial spirits, each composed of nine choirs; the first comprises the Seraphim, Cherubim, and the Thrones; the second, the Dominations, the Virtues, and the