"Art thou satisfied with the proof of my power?" demanded a deep voice, sounding ominously upon his ear. He raised his hand with a spasmodic start; before him stood the demon with folded arms and scornful expression of countenance--and though the phantasmagorian scene had disappeared, the supernatural luster still pervaded the dungeon. "Fiend!" cried Wagner, impatiently; "thou hast mocked--thou hast deceived me!" "Thus do mortals ever speak, even when I give them a glimpse of their own eventual fate, through the medium of painful dreams and hideous nightmares," said the demon, sternly. "But who has dared--or rather, who _will_ dare--for that vision is a prospective warning of a deed to happen four days hence--who, then, I ask, will dare to carry off the Lady Nisida--my own loved and loving Nisida?" demanded Wagner, with increased impatience. "Stephano Verrina, the formidable captain of the Florentine banditti, has this night carried away thy lady-love, Wagner," replied the demon. "Thou hast yet time to save her; though the steed that bears her to Leghorn be fleet and strong, I can provide thee with a fleeter and a stronger. Nay, more--become mine, consent to serve me as Faust served me, and within an hour, within a minute if thou wilt, Nisida shall be restored to thee, she shall be released from the hands of her captors, thou shalt be free, and thy head shall be pillowed on her bosom, in whatever part of the earth it may suit thee thus to be united to her. Reflect, Wagner--I offer thee a great boon--nay, many great boons: the annihilation of those trammels which bind thee to the destiny of a wehr-wolf, power unlimited for the rest of thy days, and the immediate possession of that Nisida whom thou lovest so fondly, and who is so beautiful, so exceedingly beautiful." Desperate was the struggle that took place in the breast of Wagner. On one side was all he coveted on earth; on the other was the loss of the immortal soul. Here the possession of Nisida--there her forced abduction by a brigand; here his earthly happiness might be secured at the expense of his eternal welfare--there his eternal welfare must be renounced if he decided in favor of his earthly happiness. What was he to do? Nisida was weighing in the balance against his immortal soul: to have Nisida he must renounce his God! Oh! it was maddening--maddening, this bewilderment! "An hour--an hour to reflect!" he cried, almost frantically. "Not a quarter of an hour," returned the demon, "Nisida will be lost to you--haste--decide!" "Leave me--leave me for five minutes only!" "No--no, not for a minute. Decide--decide!" Wagner threw up his arms in the writhings of his ineffable anguish:--his right hand came in contact with a crucifix that hung against the wall; and he mechanically clutched it--not with any motive prepense--but wildly, unwittingly.