"Oh, that I could bury in oblivion the myriad thoughts
that sting me with remorse!" He paused a moment. "Am I to give you the
whole--speech as Fast Devil delivered it originally?"
"Thought for thought, and gesture for gesture," I answered with
authority.
Ere the last syllable fell from my lips Blackana was suddenly
transformed into a more terrifying creature than he was himself. I was
paralyzed at the sight of the weird monster which I learned was the
image of Fast Devil.
There he stood, tall and erect, seven times the height of man, with
sinews like iron-rope and with a face defying human description. His
eyes were fiery with life, and determination marked every movement as
he stepped forward to speak.
Notwithstanding my consciousness of being sustained by supernatural
power, I trembled as Blackana reproduced this noted speech of Fast
Devil:
"Most honored chief and glorious master," he commenced, "be thou
indulgent as I speak to thee and unto these my comrades who lie in
anxious posture over this vast expanse of Hell. I am here to state an
issue of which we have heard murmurings for many an age. To prepare
for this hour I have taxed my ingenuity to its utmost.
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