Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/247

 next to him (for he had carefully avoided to give his arm to any of them, that both his hands might be free, and in case of necessity his feet too) conjured him to be tranquil. He probably considered this as a challenge, to give the company some more specimens of his pretty exclamations; as he now exhausted the whole register of curses he had ever sworn, to assure them, how he longed to measure his prowess with a spirit. This however did not hinder him from anxiously looking around, and keeping in the middle of two sturdy and robust servants who were the hindmost. He audibly gnashed his teeth at intervals, and became stiller and stiller, the more we approached the mansion. The rest were tolerably divided between fear and expectation.

"The wind blowing out some torches, heightened the terrors of some, and at last we arrived at the gate of the castle. The haunted apartment was said to be in the second story, and as we reached the bottom of the stairs, the major part of those who composed the expedition, were in a state of anguish and des-