48 SCIOPTICONMANUAL. 



direct me ; and under the pintaculo I held the boy. The necro- 

 mancer, having begun to make his tremendous invocations, called 

 by their names a multitude of demons who were the leaders of the 

 several legions, and questioned them, by the power of the eternal 

 uncreated God who lives forever, in the Hebrew language, as like- 

 wise in Latin and Greek ; insomuch that the amphitheatre was 

 almost in an instant filled with demons more numerous than at the 

 former conjuration. Vincenzio Romoli was busied in making a 

 fire, with the assistance of Agnolino, and burning a great quantity 

 of precious perfumes. I, by the directions of the necromancer, 

 again desired to be in the company of my Angelica. The former 

 thereupon turning to me, said: " Know, they have declared, that 

 in the space of a month you shall be in her company." 



" ' He then requested me to stand resolutely by him, because the 

 legions were now above a thousand more in number than he had 

 designed ; and besides, these were the most dangerous ; so that, after 

 they had answered my question, it behooved him to be civil to them 

 and dismiss them quietly. At the same time the boy under the 

 pintaculo was in a terrible fright, saying that there were in that 

 place a million of fierce men, who threatened to destroy us ; and 

 that, moreover, four armed giants of enormous stature were en- 

 deavoring to break into the circle. During this time, whilst the 

 necromancer, trembling with fear, endeavored by mild and gentle 

 methods to dismiss them in the best way he could, Vincenzio Ko- 

 moli, who quivered like an aspen leaf, took care of the perfumes. 

 Though I was as much terrified as any of them, I did my utmost 

 to conceal the terror I felt, so that I greatly contributed to inspire 

 the rest with resolution; but the truth is, I gave myself over for a 

 dead man, seeing the horrid fright the necromancer was in. The 

 boy placed his head between his knees and said, " In this posture 

 will I die, for we shall all surely perish." I told him that all these 

 demons 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 face with his 

 hands, he 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 Eomoli, and bid him burn all the most precious perfumes he had. 



