Perish thou shalt by deed thine own,
And yet a stranger's hand shall fell thee.

[THE SHADOW glides away as in a mist.]

CATILINE. [After a pause.]
Ah, he has vanished. Was it but a dream?
No, no; even here he stood; the moonbeams played
Upon his sallow visage. Yes, I knew him!
It was the man of blood, the old dictator,
Who sallied from his grave to frighten me.
He feared lest he should lose the victor's crown,--
Not the reward of honor, but the terror
Whereby his memory lives. Are bloodless shades
Spurred onward also by the thought of glory?

[Paces to and fro uneasily.]

CATILINE. All things storm in upon me. Now Aurelia
In gentle admonition speaks,--and now
In me reechoes Furia's warning cry.
Nay, more than that;--out of the grave appear
The pallid shadows of a by-gone age.
They threaten me. I should now stop and pause?
I should turn back? No. I shall venture on
Unfaltering;--the victory soon is mine!

[CURIUS comes through the forest in great agitation.]

CURIUS. O Catiline--!