leasure
of possessing them."

"This masking is not to my taste," replied Tausdorf. "The burning eyes
that sparkle from the fixed black faces have to me something almost
supernatural. The open brow, and an open heart whether in joy or grief,
are what I love."

"I understand you, my poor knight," said Francis mockingly. "You are
already in the cage, and dare no longer take any pleasure in a handsome
face, at least not _show_ it, lest your lady wife should be angry, and
hold a criminal court upon her faithless shepherd."

"Do you know any of the party?" asked Althea, to interrupt this
conversation.

"Not I," answered Francis. "The devil knows where stupid Kit has picked
up the handsome wenches; but my acquaintance with them shall soon be
made, and then I'll let you know more about them."

With this he would have forced himself upon the masks, but the gipsy
with the triangle, an old gray-beard, waved him back, and gave the
women a sign to begin their revels. The music immediately struck up,
and the three gipsies commenced a wild fantastic dance, in which the
twines of their round well-formed arms, the turnings and bendings of
their slim, delicate figures, the springing and agility of their feet,
were shown off in full perfection. One of them, whose auburn hair was
adorned with coloured ribbons and Bohemian stones, particularly
distinguished herself by the gracefulness of her movements; and
Francis, after having looked on for some time, tore open his doublet,
exclaiming, "Zounds! what a figure! It warms an honest fellow who has
got a few bottles of Tokay in him."

"This mad springing may please you," said Althea contemptuously; "it is
just calculated for the taste of a drunkard; but to me it seems like
the wild dance of fiends about a lost soul. It grates me to see that a
woman can so far forget the female dignity as to expose herself thus."

"Heaven deliver me from a tribunal where you preside," said Francis
laughing; "why, it must be worse than that of the emperor at Prague.
Your virtue is of so fierce a nature, there's no reasoning with it.
That which is to please must be a little free: your decorum and modesty
are the most tedious things on the face of the earth."

The trio was at an end. The gipsies fanned themselves with their
motley-coloured handkerchiefs, but they would not move their masks, and
on that account rejected the wine which was proffered to them by the
master of the feast.

"These girls seem to