his door, to secure
himself from any possibility of interruption, and hung a towel over the
key-hole, to guard his movements from observation, and then he unlocked
his portmanteau, and took from it a strange and horrible disguise, that
I will try to describe, so as to make it plain to the reader.

It was a tight-fitting suit, the pantaloons and jacket being made all
in one piece, and of such elastic material as to fit close to the form.
The ground of this dress was black; but upon it was painted, in strong
relief of white, the blanched bones of a skeleton--thus: down the legs
of the pantaloons were traced the long bare leg bones, with the large
joints of the hips, knees, and ankles; across the body was traced the
white ribs, breast-bone, and collar-bone; and down the sleeves were
traced the long bones of the arms, with the large shoulder-blades,
elbow-joints, and wrists; the bones of the hands were traced in white
upon tight-fitting black gloves, and those of the feet upon
tight-fitting black socks: a round scull-cap was to be drawn over the
head; this was all white, to represent the skull, and had its skeleton
features marked out with black.

The stranger having divested himself of his upper garments then put on
this horrible dress. When he had finished his revolting toilet, even to
the drawing on of the skull-cap, he surveyed himself in the mirror that
reflected as ghastly a figure of "Death," as Milton, Dante, or even
Gustav Dore, ever conceived.

He laughed sardonically, as he exclaimed:

"Ah ha! they will not expect 'Death' to be a guest at their ball!"

Then over this grim costume he threw a large travelling cloak, and upon
his head he placed a broad-brimmed black felt hat. And now, being all
ready, he prepared to leave the room.

First he put out the light, and then he cautiously unlocked the door,
and, secure from observation himself, he looked out to see if the coast
was clear.

The passage was dark, but soon he saw a door on the opposite side open,
and two young men come out in masquerade dresses, and hasten, laughing
and talking, down the stairs. They were evidently on their way to the
mask ball.

The next instant, the door on the same side with his own opened, and a
lady and gentleman, both in black dominoes and masks, came out and
passed down stairs.

"Good!" said the stranger to himself. "If I am met at all, I shall be
mistaken for one of the invited guests of the ball, and pass out without
bei