72 LETTERS ON NATURAL MAGIC. 



were under us, and what he saw was smoke and 

 shadow ; so bid him hold up his head and take 

 courage. No sooner did he look up than he 

 cried out, ' The whole amphitheatre is burning, 

 and the fire is just falling upon us.' So covering 

 his eyes with his hands, he again exclaimed, 

 * that destruction was inevitable, and desired to 

 see no more.' The necromancer entreated me to 

 have a good heart, and take care to burn proper 

 perfumes ; upon which I turned to Romoli, and 

 bid him burn all the most precious perfumes he 

 had. At the same time I cast my eye upon 

 Agnolino Gaddi, who was terrified to such a 

 degree that he could scarce distinguish objects, 

 and seemed to be half dead. Seeing him in this 

 condition, I said, ' Agnolino, upon these occasions 

 a man should not yield to fear, but should stir 

 about and give his assistance, so come directly 

 and put on some more of these.' The effects of 



Cr Agnolino's fear were overpowering. The 

 , hearing a crepitation, ventured once more to 

 raise his head, when, seeing me laugh, he began 

 to take courage, and said ' that the devils were 

 flying away with a vengeance.' 



" In this condition we stayed, till the bell rang 

 for morning prayers. The boy again told us, 

 that there remained but few devils, and these 

 were at a great distance. When the magician 

 had performed the rest of his ceremonies, he 

 stripped off his gown, and took up a wallet full 

 of books which he had brought with him. 



" We all went out of the circle together, keep- 

 ing as close to each other as we possibly could, 

 especially the boy, who had placed himself in the 

 middle, holding the necromancer by the coat, 



