laid woods, were carelessly
flung together against the walls of the apartment, and rose high
towards its ceiling.

On every part of the tables not occupied by the vases of wine were laid
gold and jewelled ornaments which dazzled the eye by their brilliancy;
while, in extraordinary contrast to the magnificence thus profusely
displayed, there appeared in one of the upper corners of the hall an
old wooden stand covered by a coarse cloth, on which were placed one or
two common earthenware bowls, containing what my be termed a 'mash' of
boiled bran and salted horseflesh. Any repulsive odour which might
have arisen from this strange compound was overpowered by the various
perfumes sprinkled about the room, which, mingling with the hot breezes
wafted through the windows from the street, produced an atmosphere as
oppressive and debilitating, in spite of its artificial allurements to
the sense of smell, as the air of a dungeon or the vapours of a marsh.

Remarkable as was the change in the present appearance of the
banqueting-hall, it was but the feeble reflection of the alteration for
the worse in the aspect of the host and his guests. Vetranio reclined
at the head of the table, dressed in a scarlet mantle. An embroidered
towel with purple tassels and fringes, connected with rings of gold,
fell over his breast, and silver and ivory bracelets were clasped round
his arms. But of the former man the habiliments were all that
remained. His head was bent forward, as if with the weakness of age;
his emaciated arms seemed barely able to support the weight of the
ornaments which glittered on them; his eyes had contracted a wild,
unsettled expression; and a deadly paleness overspread the once plump
and jovial cheeks which so many mistresses had kissed in mercenary
rapture in other days. Both in countenance and manner the elegant
voluptuary of our former acquaintance at the Court of Ravenna was
entirely and fatally changed. Of the other eight patricians who lay on
the couches around their altered host--some wild and reckless, some
gloomy and imbecile--all had suffered in the ordeal of the siege, the
famine, and the pestilence, like him.

Such were the members of the assemblage, represented from the ceiling
by nine of the burning lamps. The tenth and last lamp indicated the
presence of one more guest who reclined a little apart from the rest.

This man was hump-backed; his gaunt, bony features were repulsively
disproportioned t