l beings might be attained. Before
the major could reply, the captain, who was heated with wine, sprang
from his seat, and said bitterly, 'What is the use of all this talking?
You give yourself out as a superior being, major, and want to believe,
that because you are made of better stuff than any of us, you command
spirits! You must allow me to believe that you are nothing but a
besotted dreamer, until you give us some ocular demonstration of your
_psychic_ power.'

"The major laughed wildly, and said, 'So, captain, you take me for a
common necromancer, a miserable juggler, do you? That accords with
your limited view! However, you shall be permitted to take a peep into
a dark region of which you have no notion, and which may, perhaps, have
a destructive effect upon you. I warn you against it, and would have
you reflect, that your mind may not be strong enough to bear many
things, which to me would be no more than agreeable pastime.'

"The captain protested that he was quite ready to cope with all the
spirits and devils that O'Malley could raise, and we were obliged to
give our word of honour to the major that we would meet him at ten
o'clock on the night of the autumnal equinox, at the inn near the ----
gate, when we should learn more.

"In the meanwhile it had become clear daylight; the sun was shining
through the window. The major then placed himself in the middle of the
room, and cried with a voice of thunder, 'Incubus! Incubus!
Nehmahmihah Scedim!' He then threw off his cloak, which he had not yet
laid aside, and stood in full uniform.

"At that moment I was obliged to leave the room as the guard was
getting under arms. When I returned, the major and the captain had
both vanished.

"'I only stayed behind,' said the young officer, a good, amiable youth,
whom I found alone.--'I only stayed behind to warn you against this
major, this fearful man! I will have nothing to do with his fearful
secrets, and I only regret that I have given my word to be present at a
deed, which will be destructive, perhaps, to us all, and certainly to
the captain. You may depend upon it that I am not inclined to believe
in the tales that old nurses tell to children; but did you observe that
the major successively took eight bottles from his pocket, that seemed
scarcely large enough to hold one?--that at last, although he wore
nothing but his shirt under his cloak, he suddenly stood attired by
invisible hands?' It was, indeed