half-ruined palace.

He went with his mysterious guide through several large and

dimly-lighted rooms. In
one of them, surrounded by huge pillars of marble, a senate of ghosts was assemb
led, debating on the progress
of the plague. Other p arts of the building were envel oped in the thickest dar
kness, illumined at intervals by
flashes of lightning, which allowed him to distinguish a number of gibing and ch
attering skeletons, running
about and pursuing each other, or playing at leap-frog over one another's backs.
At the rear of the mansion
was a wild, uncultivated plot of ground, in the midst of which arose a black r
ock. Down its sides rushed with
fearful noi se a torrent of poisonous water, which, insinuating itself through
the soil, penetrated to all the
springs of the city, and rendered them unfit for use. After he had been shewn
all this, the stranger led him into
another large chamber, filled wi th gold and precious stones, all of which he o
ffered him if he would kneel
down and worship him, and conseerter e tye the cathedral. He repeated this stra
nge tale day after day, without
any variation, and all the populace were firm believers in its truth. Repeated s
earch was made to discover the
mysterious house, b ut all in vain. The man pointed out several as resembling i
t, which were searched by the
police; but the Demon of the Pestilence was not to be found, nor the hall of gho
sts, nor the poisonous
fountain. But the minds of the people were so impressed with thr tyrt er they we
re before or since. Almanacs, and
their predictions, frightened them terribly. Even the year before the plague bro
ke out, they were greatly
alarmed by the comet which then appeared, and anticipated that famine, pestilenc
e, or fire would follow.
Enthusiasts, while yet the disease had made but little progress, ran about the s
treets, predicting that in a few