ead. He knows not thou art alive."

"Thee!--to--but I must not reveal; my tongue cleaves to my mouth. Nay,
nay, it cannot be; none but a fiend could do his behest. Away! for thy
life, away!"

De Vessey related the events of the last few hours. The artist
ruminated awhile, then abruptly exclaimed--

"He hath some diabolical design thereupon which I am not yet able to
fathom. That it is for thine undoing, Sir Knight, for thy misery here
and hereafter, doubt not. Thou hast promised, but not yet offered him
a victim. Thus far thou art safe; but he will pursue thee; and think
not to escape his vengeance. How to proceed is beyond my counsel.
Should midnight come, thou wouldest see horrors in this chamber that
might quail the stoutest heart. Thou art bereft of life or reason if
thou tarry."

"I leave not without an attempt, even should I fail, to wrench her,
who is dearer to me than either, from that demon's grasp. I will not
hence alone."

"Alas! I fear there is little hope; yet shall he not escape yonder
prison before to-morrow. Even his arts cannot convey him through its
walls; the magician's body, if such he be, is subject to like
impediments with our own. This night, for good or ill, is thine."

"To work, then, to work," said De Vessey, as though inspired with new
energy, "to the rescue, and by this good cross," kissing the handle of
his sword, "I defy ye!"

By main force he attempted, and in the end tore open the door of the
cabinet. The grinning skeleton was before him, the miniature in its
grasp. A moment's pause. The cavalier carefully surveyed his prize.
Suspended by an iron chain, the links entwined round its bony arm,
rendered the picture difficult, if not impossible, to detach without
touching the limbs. Gathering fresh courage from the countenance and
smile of his beloved, he snatched the portrait, but the wearer was too
tenacious of the charmed treasure, and resisted his utmost efforts. He
thought a savage, a malicious grin crept upon his features. A smile
more than usually hideous mocked him. From those hollow sockets too,
or his imagination played strange antics, a faint glare shot forth. A
dizzy terror crept over him. His brain reeled. His energies were
becoming prostrate; and unless one desperate attempt could be made,
all hopes of rescue were past. He sought the ebony wand, but forgetful
or incautious, laid hold of the chain which encircled the skeleton's
wrist. A bell answered to the pressure,--a