had
already begun to rip in a suspicious way, as if it were on the point of
tearing and remaining alone in his hands, like the affair of Joseph
reversed, when the other woman, who had in the mean while reached the
carriage, turned round again and said, in a deep voice:

"Don't be afraid, my dear, the gentleman is much too chivalrous to make
an attack on two unprotected ladies. _Venez, ma chere!_"

"These words," he continued, springing up, "made--I confess it to my
shame--so strong an impression upon me that I, ass that I was, let go
of the cloak and the woman for the purpose of taking off my hat and
making a very polite bow to the second of the wretches. They were both,
however, too much frightened to laugh at my devilish absurdity, and
spoke not another word, but slipped away from me into the carriage, and
drove off the devil knows where."

"And I stood there and could have knocked my brains out; for it
occurred to me in a second what a wonderful figure I must have cut in
the affair. But the best is still to come. What did the woman have
under her cloak? In struggling with her I had several times struck
against it, and noticed that it must be something four-cornered,
something like a picture-frame. And suddenly, as I was very sulkily
sneaking back again toward the house, it occurred to me, 'what if it
were the Bride of Corinth! Now, supposing I go and see what really
became of it.' I knew perfectly well out of which window Stephanopulos
had sent it flying. So I searched and searched--but, grope about as I
would, no trace of it could be discovered, and inasmuch as the ground
all around the place is still full of little puddles, and the flame
must undoubtedly have been immediately extinguished, you may bet ten to
one that these spying night-rovers saw it burning--perhaps indeed were
first led by it to slink into the garden; and that now they have borne
away their booty to a place of safety."

A great tumult followed upon this communication. Some of the youngest,
excited by wine, wanted to rush out on the track of the flying women,
in order that they might recover the stolen property. The wildest
proposals were heard as to how they should take revenge for this
outrage, and how they should prevent such a desecration of their mystic
rites in the future. All these noisy ones were silenced when Jansen
suddenly took up the matter, and admonished them to listen to reason.
What was done here had no cause to shun the light.