hitherto witnessed, or expected to witness, in this strange house,
I believed to be occasioned through some agency or medium as mortal
as myself; and this idea necessarily prevented the awe with which
those who regard as supernatural things that are not within the
ordinary operations of Nature, might have been impressed by the
adventures of that memorable night.

As, then, it was my conjecture that all that was presented, or
would be presented to my senses, must originate in some human being
gifted by constitution with the power so to present them, and
having some motive so to do, I felt an interest in my theory which,
in its way, was rather philosophical than superstitious. And I can
sincerely say that I was in as tranquil a temper for observation as
any practical experimentalist could be in awaiting the effects of
some rare, though perhaps perilous, chemical combination. Of
course, the more I kept my mind detached from fancy, the more the
temper fitted for observation would be obtained; and I therefore
riveted eye and thought on the strong daylight sense in the page of
my Macaulay.

I now became aware that something interposed between the page and
the light,--the page was overshadowed. I looked up, and I saw what
I shall find it very difficult, perhaps impossible, to describe.

It was a Darkness shaping itself forth from the air in very
undefined outline. I cannot say it was of a human form, and yet it
had more resemblance to a human form, or rather shadow, than to
anything else. As it stood, wholly apart and distinct from the air
and the light around it, its dimensions seemed gigantic, the summit
nearly touching the ceiling. While I gazed, a feeling of intense