ness looks upon the society in this way,"
replied Leuchtmar, regarding with loving glances the handsome, excited
countenance of the Prince. "Yes, I know that this is the only view you
have had of the society of the Media Nocte, and that you would turn from
it with horror and disgust if you were conscious of the license lurking
behind its apparent geniality, the coarseness behind the unusual. But I
beseech you, Prince, be not blind with your eyes open, close not
voluntarily the avenues to light. I swear to you as an honest and a
truthful man, that this society is like a plague spot for the noble youth
of The Hague. Each one who touches it becomes impregnated with its poison,
and sickens in spirit and imagination, and the fearful poison flows into
his mind and heart, driving out from them forever truth and freshness,
youth and innocence! Had I a son who belonged to this society with full
understanding and appreciation of its meaning, I should mourn and lament
him as one lost; had I a daughter, and had she even once voluntarily
attended a meeting of the Media Nocte and participated in its pleasures,
then should I thrust her from me with aversion and disgust--should no
longer recognize her as my daughter, but forever expel her from my house
in shame and disgust, for--"

"Desist!" cried the Prince, with thundering voice, springing toward
Leuchtmar and grasping his shoulders with both hands. Glaring fiercely
upon him, he repeated, "Desist, I tell you, Leuchtmar, desist, and recall
what you have just said, for it is a libel, a slander!"

"No, it is the truth, Prince!" cried Leuchtmar, emphatically. "The Media
Nocte is a society of the honorless and shameless, and the woman who
belongs to it is no longer pure!"

"No further, man, or I shall kill you!" said the Prince, in a high-pitched
voice stifled by rage, while his arms clutched Leuchtmar's shoulders yet
more firmly. "Only hear this: You know and have long guessed that I love
the Princess Ludovicka Hollandine. Well, now, the Princess Ludovicka
Hollandine belongs to the society of the Media Nocte!"

"I knew that, Prince," said Leuchtmar solemnly.

The Prince gave a scream of rage, and a deadly pallor overspread his
cheeks. He still retained his grasp upon Leuchtmar's shoulders, his
flashing eyes penetrated like dagger points Leuchtmar's countenance, and
on his brow stood great drops of sweat, which gave witness of his inward
tortures.

"You knew that," he said, with gas