Cruel as the grave
think; so they have not done so; but they have their ball this evening,
just as if they were the happiest household in the country."
"Oh, a mask ball have they, this evening! And what sort of an affair is
it to be?"
"Well, sir, the ball is to be like other balls, I believe, only that the
guests are to appear in fancy dresses, or in loose gowns called
dominoes, and to wear false faces until supper-time, when they unmask
and reveal themselves to each other."
"Yes, that is just like other mask balls," said the stranger, and then
he seemed to fall into thought for a few minutes; and then, rousing
himself, he said:
"Landlord, you told me that your house is very full to-night, and so you
must have a great deal of business on your hands."
"I just have, sir," replied the impatient host.
"Then I will not detain you any longer from your other guests. Pray send
the waiter to remove this service immediately. And then, I think, as I
am very much fatigued by my stage-coach journey over your beastly roads,
I will retire to bed," said the stranger.
And the landlord, glad to be relieved, got up and bowed himself out.
His exit was soon followed by the entrance of the waiter who quickly
cleared the table and also retired.
The next proceedings of the stranger were rather singular.
As soon as he found himself quite alone, he locked 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
being recognized." And so saying, he softly drew the key from the inside
of the lock, and closed and locked the door, and taking the key with
him, glided down the stairs and out of the house, and took the road to
Black Hall.
CHAPTER XV.
THE MASQUERADE BALL.
Light up the mansion, spread the festive board;
Welcome the gay, the noble, and the fair!
Through the bright hall in joyous concert poured,
Let mirth and music sound the dirge of care!
But ask thou not if happiness be there,
If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,
Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear;
Lift not the festal mask!--enough to know
No scene of mortal life but teems with mortal woe!
--WALTER SCOTT.
The whole front of Black Hall blazed with festive lights; and these
lights were all reflected in the dark waters of the lake, and by the
glowing foliage of the trees that clothed the mountains, and by the
sparkling spray of the cascades that sprung from the rocks on the other
side.
The space immediately before the house was crowded with carriages of
every description, from the splendid open barouche to the comfortable
family coach and the plain gig.
The portico and passages in front of the house were thronged with
arriving guests and waiting attendants ready to show them to the
dressing-rooms, which were lighted and warmed, and supplied with every
convenience for the completion of the toilets.
The drawing-room and dancing saloon brilliantly lighted by chandeliers,
and beautifully decorated with festoons of dark bright evergreens and
wreaths of gorgeous autumn leaves and bouquets of splendid autumn
flowers, stood ready with wide open doors to welcome the company.
At the hall door, at the head of the servants, stood Mr. Joseph Joy the
house steward, and Miss Tabitha Winterose the housekeeper, both
disgusted with the heathenish costumes, distracted with the confusion,
disapproving of the whole proceedings, yet determined to do their duty.
Their duty was to see that the men and maids did _theirs_, in showing
the gentlemen and ladies to their dressing-rooms. They had both in turn
been astonished, scandalized, and appalled by the grotesque figures that
had passed them. But their manner of expressing their sentiments was
quite different.
Joseph Joy stared, wondered, and shook his head.
Miss Tabby sighed, whimpered, and moralized.
"I feel as if I had been drinking for a week, and had a lively sort of a
nightmare! Here comes another ghoul, in a false face and black gown and
hood! Now, how is anybody to tell what it is? Whether it is a tall woman
or a short man? Gentleman, or lady, if your honor pleases?" said Joseph
Joy, addressing himself to a black domino that just then came up.
"Gentleman," answered the unknown.
"Pass to the right, then, if you please, sir! Here Alick, show this
gentleman in the black shroud to the gentlemen's dressing-room."
A trembling darky came forward and took charge of this terrific
personage.
"Ah, my goodness! no good will ever come of this!" sighed Miss Tabby.
"No good? Yes there will too!" answered Joseph Joy, who was fond of
contradiction. "All these bare-necked, bare-armed, and bare-legged
people will get the pleurisy and be laid on the flat of their backs for
three months, when they will have the opportunity of meditating on the
iniquity of their ways! And won't that be good?"
"Yes, it will; and I hope it will be sanctified to their souls," sighed
Miss Tabitha.
"And now here comes another bogie! Gentleman, or lady, please?" politely
inquired the usher, as a red domino approached.
"Lady," softly murmured the domino.
"Pass the lady on to your maids, Miss Winterose! And here's another that
certainly belongs to your department too! And another, and another, and
a whole dozen of them!" exclaimed Mr. Joy, as a troupe of bayaderes,
gipsies, peasants, court ladies, et caetera, filed up.
All these Miss Winterose passed on to Delia, with directions to show
them to the ladies' dressing-rooms. And then she turned to Mr. Joy with
a deep sigh, whimpering:
"Ah! Joseph, where do all these people expect to die when they go to?
I--I mean, to go to when they die?"
"They don't trouble themselves about that, I reckon," said contradictory
Joe.
"Ah! but it is written that we shall not make to ourselves the likeness
of anything that is in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in
the waters under the earth. And here are all these people making of
themselves--" Miss Tabby stopped and snivelled, and then stopped again
to wipe a tear from the tip of her nose.
"Well, what?" demanded antagonistic Joe. "What are these people making
of themselves? Nothing that breaks the first commandment, for surely you
don't mean to say that they make of themselves the image of anything in
the heavens above, the earth below, or the waters under the earth, do
you?"
"No, Joseph; but I was mistrusting as they had made themselves up into
images of something in t' other place."
"With the Evil One for a pattern, eh? And here he comes, sure enough.
Talk of the d---- and you know what happens," muttered Joe Joy, as a
most appalling apparition approached. It was a tall, thin figure, clad
in a tight-fitting black suit, that clung close to the skin from the
crown of the head to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands;
skull-cap, mask, jacket, sleeves, trousers, shoes and gloves seeming to
be knit all of one piece, or else very artistically joined together.
Crowning the black brows were two tall white horns; tipping the black
fingers were long white talons; terminating the black feet were cloven
white hoofs. Crimson glass goggles over the eyes gave the look of
burning coals; and by some "devilish cantrap strange," some trick in
chemistry, at least, little jets of flame appeared to issue from the
mouth and nostrils of the mask.
"Heaven save us! There's no mistaking his sex, or identity either,"
gasped Mr. Joe, backing himself away from this diabolical figure until
he was stopped by the wall, from which he cried out, "Here, Jerry, show
the--Enemy--into the gentleman's dressing-room."
The shuddering boy, shaking in every limb, shrank away and merely
pointed out the door of the dressing-room.
Miss Tabby had merely time to raise her hands and eyes in mute appeal to
heaven, before a shoal of new arrivals--"flower girls," "strawberry
girls," "match girls," "morning stars," "evening stars," "springs,"
"summers," "nuns," "bacchantes," etc., claimed her attention; while a
troupe of "brigands," "monks," "troubadours," "clowns," "harlequin,"
"kings," "crusaders," et caetera, demanded the guidance of Mr. Joy.
And after this thicker and faster they came, crowding one group behind
another, until the ushers were nearly demented. When drove after drove
had divided and passed to the right or the left, that is, to the ladies'
or gentlemen's dressing-rooms, and the stream began to slacken a little,
so that they could distinguish individuals, Mr. Joy in turn received
and passed a "puritan preacher," a "cavalier soldier," a "Highlander," a
"knight," a "minstrel," the "vailed prophet," a "Switzer," a "Chinese
mandarin," a "Russian serf," and black, white, and gray, red, yellow,
and blue dominoes, he suddenly exclaimed:
"Good Lord deliver us! What's _that_?"
Miss Tabby, who, to her infinite disgust, had been receiving and passing
any number of "fairies," "fisher girls," "soubrettes," "sultanas,"
et caetera, turned around, and in a quavering voice, inquired:
"What's _what_?"
"Why, _that_!" shuddered Joe, pointing to a ghastly figure that was
standing quite still, a few paces from where they stood, trembling.
"It's a skeleton! Oh, my goodness! how did ever IT get here?"