room all in
a blaze, and a great number of luminous crosses, with scraps of writing
here and there very legible, among which the precept _to be silent_ was
most conspicuous.
In the middle of the room she saw something of a human appearance, which
seemed covered only with a linen garment, like a shirt: it appeared to
diffuse a radiance round it; and, at length, by a slow and silent pace,
approached the bed.
When it came up to the bed-side, it drew the curtain more open, and,
lifting up the bed-clothes, was about to come in. The girl, now more
terrified than ever, screamed out with all her power. As every body in
the house was upon the watch, she was heard by them all; but the father
only had courage to go to her assistance, and his bravery was probably
owing to a considerable quantity of reliques, which he had procured from
the convent, and which he brought in his hand.
When he came, however, nothing was to be seen but some of the little
crosses and inscriptions, several of which were now luminous only in
part.
Being himself greatly terrified at these appearances, he ran to the
Friar's apartment, and with some difficulty prevailed upon him to go
with him to the haunted room. The Friar at first excused himself upon
account of the young woman's being there in bed. As soon as he entered,
and saw the crosses, he prostrated himself on the ground, and uttered
many prayers and incantations, to which the honest landlord most
heartily said _Amen_.
The poor girl, in the mean time, lay in a kind of trance; and her
father, when the prayers were over, ran down stairs for some wine, a
cordial being necessary to recover her: the Friar, at the same time,
ordered him to light and bring with him a consecrated taper; for
hitherto they had no light but that of the vision, which was still
strong enough to discover every thing in the room.
In a short time the old man entered with a taper in his hand; and in a
moment all the luminous appearances vanished. The girl, soon after,
recovered, and gave a very sensible account of all that had happened;
and the landlord and the Friar spent the rest of the night together.
The Friar, however, to shew the power of the daemon, and the holy virtue
of the taper, removed it several times from the chamber, before the day
broke, and the crosses and inscriptions were again visible, and remained
so till the taper was brought back, and then vanished as at first.
When the sun arose, the Friar to
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