Come ye out, ye reeking fiends,
Never more return to hinder
This old man from groping forwards
To the radiant fields Elysian.'
Putting her hands forward towards the man and lowering them towards the ground, she paused with greedy expectation, whilst the possessed stood still with vacant stare, and naught was heard but the barking of the night-hounds.
'Thou hast failed, mother,' said Sceva—'thou hast failed!'
'Yes, I know—I know! Look ye—look at the cross yonder! See how it streams with living light! 'Tis guarded by spirits of flame more powerful than Hecate—ah, more powerful than Hecate is here!'
'Nonsense, woman! cease thy prattling! Thou hast drunk the Samian wine—thou art weak to-night. We will abjure. Eh? By Solomon! who left us incantations stronger than thine.'
Sceva said: 'Set a basin full of water on the floor. It shall be upturned by unseen hands, that we may be assured of the departure of the demons.'
Then, drawing from the folds of his dress a blood stone ring, he placed it near the nostrils of the demoniac, commanding the legion to come out of him, chanting:
'By the Jewish altar throne,
By the temple at fair Salem,
By the rites of Solomon,
By the sovereign power of Judah,
Children loved by God of gods,
Come ye forth, ye fiends rebellious,
Hasten with the waning hour
Back to hell, your endless house!'
Still the look of Samo was one of blank despair. No voice came from him, no paroxysms, no falling to the ground, and the water was unspilt.
Then the men gazed at each other, and Endora said with her sardonic smile: