"But the terms--the conditions--the compact!" exclaimed Wagner, in feverish haste, though with foreboding apprehension. "THINE IMMORTAL SOUL!" responded the fiend, in a low but sonorous and horrifying whisper. "No--no!" shrieked Wagner, covering his face with his hands. "Avaunt, Satan, I defy thee! Ten thousand, thousand times preferable is the doom of the Wehr-Wolf, appalling even though that be!" With folded arms and scornful countenance, did the demon stand gazing upon Wagner, by the light of the supernatural luster which filled the cell. "Dost thou doubt my power?" he demanded, in a slow and imperious tone. "If so, put it to the test, unbelieving mortal that thou art! But remember--should'st thou require evidence of that power which I propose to make available to thee, it must not be to give thee liberty, nor aught that may enhance thy interest." "And any other evidence thou wilt give me?" asked Wagner, a sudden idea striking him. "Yes," answered the demon, who doubtless divined his thoughts, for again did a scornful smile play upon his lips. "I will convince thee, by any manifestation thou may'st demand, subject to the condition ere now named, I will convince thee that I am he whose power was placed at the disposal of thy late master, Faust, and by means of which thou wast transported, along with him, to every climate on the earth." "I will name my wish," said Wagner. "Speak!" cried the fiend. "Show me the Lady Nisida as she now is," exclaimed Fernand, his heart beating with the hope of beholding her whom he loved so devotedly; for, with all the jealousy of a lover, was he anxious to convince himself that she was thinking of him. "Ah! 'tis the same as with Faust and his Theresa," murmured the demon to himself; then aloud he said, "Rather ask me to show you the Lady Nisida as she will appear four days hence." "Be it so!" cried Wagner, moved by the mysterious warning those words appeared to convey. The demon extended his arm, and chanted in deep, sonorous tones, the following incantation: "Ye powers of darkness who obey Eternally my potent sway, List to thy sovereign master's call! Transparent make this dungeon wall; And now annihilated be The space 'twixt Florence and the sea! Let the bright luster of the morn In golden glory steep Leghorn; Show where the dancing wavelets sport Round the gay vessels in the port, Those ships whose gilded lanterns gleam In the warm sun's refulgent beam; And whose broad pennants kiss the gale, Woo'd also by the spreading sail!-- Now let this mortal's vision mark Amidst that scene the corsair's bark, Clearing the port with swan-like pride; Transparent make the black hull's side, And show the curtain'd cabin, where Of earth's fair daughters the most fair-- Sits like an image of despair, Mortal, behold! thy Nisida is there!"