"Ah!" exclaimed the stranger, in a half-suppressed voice.
"They do say, sir, that whenever the mistress turns her back, they
two--the master and the guest--do go on like any pair of sweethearts,
which is a great scandal, if it's true."
"Ah ha!" muttered the stranger, clenching and grinding his teeth.
"Howsever, sir, if the master is in love with the visitor, and the
mistress is made unhappy thereby, that is no reason why they should put
off their mask ball and disappoint the whole community, I suppose they
think; so they have not done so; but they have their ball this evening,
just as if they were the happiest household in the country."
"Oh, a mask ball have they, this evening! And what sort of an affair is
it to be?"
"Well, sir, the ball is to be like other balls, I believe, only that the
guests are to appear in fancy dresses, or in loose gowns called
dominoes, and to wear false faces until supper-time, when they unmask
and reveal themselves to each other."
"Yes, that is just like other mask balls," said the stranger, and then
he seemed to fall into thought for a few minutes; and then, rousing
himself, he said: "Landlord, you told me that your house is very full to-night, and so you
must have a great deal of business on your hands."
"I just have, sir," replied the impatient host.
"Then I will not detain you any longer from your other guests. Pray send
the waiter to remove this service immediately. And then, I think, as I
am very much fatigued by my stage-coach journey over your beastly roads,
I will retire to bed," said the stranger.
And the landlord, glad to be relieved, got up and bowed himself out.
His exit was soon followed by the entrance of the waiter who quickly
cleared the table and also retired.
The next proceedings of the stranger were rather singular.
As soon as he found himself quite alone, he locked his door, to secure
himself from any possibility of interruption, and hung a towel over the
key-hole, to guard his movements from observation, and then he unlocked
his portmanteau, and took from it a strange and horrible disguise, that
I will try to describe, so as to make it plain to the reader.
It was a tight-fitting suit, the pantaloons and jacket being made all
in one piece, and of such elastic material as to fit close to the form.
The ground of this dress was black; but upon it was painted, in strong
relief of white, the blanched bones of a skeleton--thus: down the legs
of the pantaloons were traced the long bare leg bones, with the large
joints of the hips, knees, and ankles; across the body was traced the
white ribs, breast-bone, and collar-bone; and down the sleeves were
traced the long bones of the arms, with the large shoulder-blades,
elbow-joints, and wrists; the bones of the hands were traced in white
upon tight-fitting black gloves, and those of the feet upon
tight-fitting black socks: a round scull-cap was to be drawn over the
head; this was all white, to represent the skull, and had its skeleton
features marked out with black.