"Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail, Macbeth! that shall be king hereafter!"
and probably the same thing has occurred to many of my readers.
When a certain conviction has taken hold upon a man's mind in a solemn and extraordinary manner, it is sure to follow that all subsequent ideas which are in any way capable of being associated with this conviction should attach themselves to, and in some degree seem to be consequent upon it. The Sicilian, who seems to have had no other motive for his whole scheme than to astonish the prince by showing him that his rank was discovered, played, without being himself aware of it, the very game which most furthered the view of the Armenian; but however much of its interest this adventure will lose if I take away the higher motive which at first seemed to influence these actions, I must by no means infringe upon historical truth, but must relate the facts exactly as they occurred.—Note of the German Editor.]
"But," continued he, after a long silence, "how did you produce the figure which appeared on the wall over the chimney?"
"By means of a magic lantern that was fixed in the opposite window-shutter, in which you have undoubtedly observed an opening."
"But how did it happen that not one of us perceived the lantern?" asked
Lord Seymour.
"You remember, my lord, that on your re-entering the room it was darkened by a thick smoke of frankincense. I likewise took the precaution to place the boards which had been taken up from the floor upright against the wall near the window. By these means I prevented the shutter from immediately attracting observation. Moreover, the lantern remained covered by a slide until you had taken your places, and there was no further reason to apprehend that you would institute any examination of the saloon."
"As I looked out of the window in the other pavilion," said I, "I fancied I heard a noise like that of a person placing a ladder against the side of the house. Was I right?"
"Exactly; it was the ladder upon which my assistants stood to direct the magic-lantern."
"The apparition," continued the prince, "had really a superficial likeness to my deceased friend, and what was particularly striking, his hair, which was of a very light color, was exactly imitated. Was this mere chance, or how did you come by such a resemblance?"