"You don't mean the Yellow Mask?"

"Yes, I do. Have you seen her?"

"Everybody has seen her; but nobody can
make her unmask, or get her to speak. Our
host has not the slightest notion who she is;
and our hostess is horribly frightened at her.
For my part, I think she has given us quite
enough of her mystery and her grim dress;
and if my name, instead of being nothing but
plain Andrea d'Arbino, was Marquis Melani,
I would say to her, ' Madam, we are here to
laugh and amuse ourselves; suppose you
open your lips, and charm us by appearing in
a prettier dress! '"

During this conversation they had sat
down together, with their backs towards the
door, by the side of one of the card-tables.
While d'Arbino was speaking, Fabio
suddenly felt himself shuddering again, and
became conscious of a sound of low breathing
behind him. He turned round instantly,
and there, standing between them and
peering down at them, was the Yellow
Mask!

Fabio started up, and his friend followed
his example. Again the gleaming black eyes
rested steadily on the young nobleman's
face, and again their look chilled him to the
heart.

"Yellow lady, do you know my friend? "
exclaimed d'Arbino, with mock solemnity.

There was no answer. The fatal eyes never
moved from Fabio's face.

"Yellow lady," continued the other, " listen
to the music. Will you dance with me?"

The eyes looked away, and the figure
glided slowly from the room.

"My dear count," said d'Arbino, " that
woman seems to have quite an effect on you.
I declare she has left you paler than ever.
Come into the supper-room with me, and
have some wine; you really look as if you
wanted it."

They went at once to the large refreshment-room.
Nearly all the guests had by
this time begun to dance again. They had
the whole apartment, therefore, almost entirely
to themselves.

Among the decorations of the room, which
were not strictly in accordance with genuine
Arcadian simplicity was a large looking-glass,
placed over a well-furnished sideboard.
D'Arbino led Fabio in this direction,
exchanging greetings, as he advanced, with a
gentleman who stood near the glass looking
into it, and carelessly fanning himself with
his mask.

"My dear friend!" cried d'Arbino, "you
are the very man to lead us straight to the
best bottle of wine in the palace. Count
Fabio, let me present to you my intimate and
good friend the Cavaliere Finello, with whose
family I know you are well acquainted.
Finello, the count is a little out of spirits, and
I have prescribed a good dose of wine. I see
a whole row of bottles at your side, and I
leave it to you to apply the remedy.— Glasses
there! three glasses, my lovely shepherdess
with the black eyes—the three largest you
have got."

The glasses were brought; the Cavaliere
Finello chose a particular bottle, and filled
them. All three gentlemen turned round to
the sideboard to use it as a table, and thus
necessarily faced the looking-glass.

"Now, let us drink the toast of toasts,"
said d'Arbino. "Finello, Count Fabio—the
ladies of Pisa!"

Fabio raised the wine to his lips, and was
on the point of drinking it, when he saw
reflected in the glass the figure of the Yellow
Mask. The glittering eyes were again fixed
on him, and the yellow-hooded head bowed
slowly, as if in acknowledgment of the toast
he was about to drink. For the third time,
the strange chill seized him, and he set down
his glass of wine untasted.

"What is the matter?" asked d'Arbino.

"Have you any dislike, count, to that
particular wine ?" inquired the Cavaliere.

"The Yellow Mask!" whispered Fabio.
"The Yellow Mask again!"

They all three turned round directly
towards the door. But it was too late—the
figure had disappeared.

"Does any one know who this Yellow
Mask is ?" asked Finello. " One may guess
by the walk that the figure is a woman's.
Perhaps it may be the strange colour she has
chosen for her dress, or perhaps her stealthy
way of moving from room to room; but
there is certainly something mysterious and
startling about her."

"Startling enough, as the count would tell
you," said d'Arbiuo. "The Yellow Mask
has been responsible for his loss of spirits
and change of complexion, and now she has
prevented him even from drinking his
wine."

"I can't account for it," said Fabio, looking
round him uneasily; " but this is the
third room into which she has followed me
the third time she has seemed to fix her eyes
on me alone. I suppose my nerves are hardly
in a fit state yet for masked balls and adventures:
the sight of her seems to chill me.
Who can she be?"

"If she followed me a fourth time," said
Finello, " I should insist on her unmasking."

"And suppose she refused? " asked his
friend.

"Then I should take her mask off for her."

"It is impossible to do that with a woman,"
said Fabio. " I prefer trying to lose her in
the crowd. Excuse me, gentlemen, if I leave
you to finish the wine, and then to meet me,
if you like, in the great ball-room."

He retired as he spoke, put on his mask,
and joined the dancers immediately, taking
care to keep always in the most crowded
corner of the apartment. For some time
this plan of action proved successful, and he
saw no more of the mysterious yellow domino.
Ere long, however, some new dances were