But in the course
of his meditation, I could observe, on one or two occasions, a dark
shade come over his countenance, that contracted his brow into a deep
furrow, and it was then, for the first time, that I saw the satanic
expression of which his face, by a very slight motion of its muscles,
was capable. His hands, during this silence, closed and opened
convulsively; his eyes shot out two or three baleful glances, first to
his confederates, and afterwards vacantly into the deep gloom of the
lower part of the chapel; his teeth ground against each other, like
those of a man whose revenge burns to reach a distant enemy, and
finally, after having wound himself up to a certain determination, his
features relapsed into their original calm and undisturbed expression.
At this moment a loud laugh, having something supernatural in it, rang
out wildly from the darkness of the chapel; he stopped, and putting his
open hand over his brows, peered down into the gloom, and said calmly in
Irish, "_Bee dhu husth; ha nih anam inh_:--hold your tongue, it is not
yet time."
Every eye was now directed to the same spot, but, in consequence of its
distance from the dim light on the altar, none could perceive the person
from whom the laugh proceeded. It was, by this time, near two o'clock in
the morning.
He now stood for a few moments on the platform, and his chest heaved
with a depth of anxiety equal to the difficulty of the design he wished
to accomplish.
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