Roanoke of Roanoke Hall: A Romance — page 187: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Roanoke of Roanoke Hall, 181 sitting with my back half turned towards the light, and beheld between me and the lamp the figure of a woman so sombre against the brightness as to appear absolutely black. I sprang to my feet, astounded at this unheard approach, and in doing so once more brought the lamp within the range of my eyes. At the same instant the figure van- ished. I felt that this was becoming serious, and determined to take the advice of an apothecary at the earliest opportunity ; but in the meantime I was anxious not to give way to these delusions, but rather to combat them to the best of my powers, with which idea I returned to my place. No sooner had I opened the book than I saw that the unusually gloomy shadow still lay upon it, and extended also to the floor beyond. Once more I turned, and beheld the murky figure in its former position. ** Who are you, and what is your will with me?” I cried, for I was beginning to think that the phantom was not merely the outcome of nervous excitation, but stood there indeed. There was no answer ; but I was conscious, by the same strange intuition that had in- a comichbooks.com