gone to bed. But if it contains nothing more than
a small white powder, you may be certain he has yet to return to the
library, and that by waiting, you will have the long-wished-for
opportunity of seeing him."

And pausing for no reply, my strange companion suddenly thrust a mask
into my hand and darted from the circle of trees that surrounded us.

For a moment I stood dumbfounded at the position in which my
recklessness had placed me. All the folly, the impertinence even, of the
proceeding upon which I had entered, was revealed to me in its true
colors, and I mentally inquired what could have induced me to thus
hamper myself with the details of a mystery so entirely removed from the
serious matter I had in charge. Resolved to abandon the affair, I made a
hasty attempt to disengage myself from the domino in which I had been so
unceremoniously enveloped. But invisible hands seemed to restrain me. A
vivid remembrance of the tone in which these final instructions had been
uttered returned to my mind, and while I recognized the voice as that of
Hartley Benson, I also recognized the almost saturnine intensity of
expression which had once before imbued his words with a significance
both forcible and surprising. The secret, if a purely family one, was of
no ordinary nature; and at the thought I felt my old interest revive.
All the excuses with which I had hitherto silenced my conscience
recurred to me with fresh force, and mechanically donning my mask, I
prepared to follow out my guide's instructions to the last detail.

The window to which I had been directed stood wide open. Through it came
the murmur of music and the hum of gay voices. Visions of a motley crowd
decked in grotesque costumes passed constantly before my eyes. Sight and
sound combined to allure me. Hurrying to the window, I stepped
carelessly in.

A low guttural "Hugh!" at once greeted me. It was from a mask in full
Indian costume, whom I saw leaning with a warrior's well-known dignity
against the embrasure of the window by which I had entered. Giving him a
scrutinizing glance, I came to the conclusion he was a young and not
inelegant man; and impelled by a reasonable curiosity as to how I looked
myself, I cast my eyes down upon my own person. I found my appearance
sufficiently striking. The domino, in which I was wrapped was of a
brilliant yellow hue, covered here and there with black figures
representing all sorts of fantastic creatures, from hobgoblins o