Book Description

Excerpt from Roman Nights, Vol. 2 of 2: Or the Tomb of the Scipios Suddenly the cavern was illuminated with a flash of light the total darkness that succeeded gave me warning of the return of the supernatural visi tants. I then perceived them at a distance, slowly and with exceeding fearfulness, arising from their places of rest, and venturing hesitatingly forward as we see on earth the crowd pressing with caution and tremor to the site of some recent calamity. In an instant the afl'able Tully was at my side I said to him, What do the phantoms fear? This place, he replied, still seems to them contaminated by the presence of the parricide, and they dread a second encounter. Meanwhile, how ever, they were gradually approaching by the converging paths, and as soon as I saw them all assembled, l resolutely mingled among them. They, though so incorporeal, shrunk from my touch, and opened a way for me wherever 1 ad vanced, each one gazing upon me with gestures of surprise. It seemed like passing through the va pours of the morning, so little obstruction their light forms opposed to my movements. Then I silently cast my eyes around me with unceasing admiration on the throng of shadowy beings, youths and dames, forms enveloped in the toga, warriors and civil Officers, each with peculiar and appropriate costume and manner. As soon as I had satisfied the first impulse of my curiosity, em boldened by my frequent observations of those spirits during the preceding nights, I exclaimed aloud, 0 great Quirites! As ye once were mag. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.