In the mean time the ball went on, notwithstanding the absence of this
happy couple, and no one seemed to miss anything. But the later it grew
the more impatiently did the eyes of the red-bearded Capuchin wander
toward the door through which he was expecting the angel of Paradise to
enter and announce that a guest in a cowl was standing outside the door
and waiting for admission. He racked his brains in the vain effort to
imagine what could possibly have detained his lady, who, only a short
time before, had expressed such a strong desire to be present at the
masquerade; and when it struck eleven, and nothing had appeared, he
secretly gave up the affair as lost. As he had made up his mind that
the mysterious stranger would in the end reveal herself in all her
beauty, and afford him an opportunity to celebrate a great triumph, he
naturally felt very much put out at finding that he had been playing a
fool's part, and he slunk about as embarrassed and wretched as a wet
sparrow.
But his distress proved useless, after all. The intermission that
preceded the cotillon had begun, and every one had streamed into the
supper-room to eat and drink, when Fridolin, entering the hall with his
flaming sword under his arm, nodded to him mysteriously, and whispered
that there was some one outside who wished to speak with him. The monk
rushed into the hall with most unclerical haste, and was not
disappointed. She whom he expected stood before him.
She acknowledged his welcome, but in such a formal tone that he found a
good deal of difficulty in stammering out some gallant reproaches for
her late arrival. Her chief anxiety seemed to be that her disguise was
not sufficient to prevent her from being recognized. When he had
somewhat relieved her fears on this score and had, as an additional
precaution, arranged her white eyebrows and beard so that they should
cover a little more of the delicate face, she asked why no music could
be heard from the hall. He explained to her the reason of the pause,
and wanted to escort her in without further ceremony. But she insisted
upon waiting until the dance should begin again, and begged him to
leave her and rejoin the company until that time.
His chivalrous heart would not consent to this, so he staid outside
with the beautiful unknown, who had taken possession of the chair at
Fridolin's table, and who answered in monosyllables to his neat
speeches and appeared to be in a strange state of excitement, and
entirely absorbed in her own thoughts.
At length, the first sound of the fiddle inside gave the signal for his
release; but not until the trembling of the floor made it apparent that
the couples had once more begun the dance, did the muffled figure rise
and seize the arm of her companion. Rosenbusch felt that she trembled
slightly; he could not imagine what should make her, but he was already
too much abashed by her reserve to rally her upon her strange timidity.
The fact that the friar had suddenly associated himself with a
colleague did not at first make the sensation he had expected. Then,
when the attention of one person after another was drawn to the pair of
monks, there was no doubt in the mind of any one as to the identity of
the smaller friar, who betrayed the woman both in manner and carriage.
The love affair of the battle-painter was too well known not to make
every one suspect that the thick white beard, and the bushy eyebrows,
concealed the features of the fair Nanny. The fact of her coming so
late confirmed this supposition. She had been obliged to wait until her
parents were asleep, so that she might steal to the ball undetected.
They all wished her hearty joy of her stolen pleasure, and were only
surprised--since no one doubted her fondness for dancing--that she did
not at once join her companion in a waltz, instead of drawing her cowl
still lower over her eyes and walking slowly past the different groups,
examining the costumes with a searching glance.
In this fashion the couple had already passed down the whole length of
the hall, when this puzzling woman suddenly stood still and dropped her
companion's arm. Her movement was so violent that Rosenbusch gazed at
her in amazement. He saw that her eyes were fixed intently upon the
seats near the window, where Jansen and Julie, and some of the others
who did not care to dance, had again taken their places. But the dance
had just come to an end, and those who had been seated had risen in
order to mingle with the crowd. The blue eyes under the white eyebrows
followed them eagerly, and seemed to take no notice of anything else
that passed around them. So much so, at all events, that the efforts of
the tall Englishman, who wished the decapitated martyr to introduce him
to the new monk, might just as well have been addressed to a statue.
"What is the matter, madame?" whispered Rosenbusch. "You have grown
very pale; I can see that notwithstanding your cowl. I will lead you to
the chairs--you must rest a moment. That noble Venetian over there is
my friend Jansen, a splendid sculptor, and the beautiful woman on his
arm--"
But she was not listening. Without taking his arm again, she had
stepped forward to the empty seat and sunk into a chair.
Rosenbusch stood before her in great embarrassment. He knew less and
less what to make of this extraordinary creature.
He was just thinking that he would try and give a humorous turn to the
affair, by reminding her that she was in Paradise and not in a convent,
when he saw her leap up as if she were set on springs.
She had been frightened by the sound of a deep, angry growl. She
turned, trembling from head to foot, and beheld the old dog, who had
been sleeping behind the chair, as his custom was, but who now raised
himself up, and, wagging his shaggy tail back and forth, fixed a pair
of glowing eyes upon the guest.
"Take me away!--take me away!" she whispered to Rosenbusch, and seized
his arm. "That furious beast--don't you see how he glares at me? Good
Heavens, how frightened I am!"
"Don't be at all alarmed, dear madame; it is only old Homo. Here, in
Paradise, where the lion lies down by the lamb--"
She clung convulsively to his sleeve, and drew him away from the
windows. But it really did seem as though the strange old animal, who
paid no attention whatever to the other figures, took a particular
interest in the Capuchin's double.
He followed the couple with stately, dignified step, no matter in which
direction they turned, shaking his big ears from time to time and
emitting that hoarse growl which, with him, was always a sign of
violent excitement.
"For God's sake, free me from this monster!" cried the frightened
woman, in a choking voice. "I have an unconquerable horror of all dogs,
even when they are gentle. And this one--unless you put him out you
will force me to leave the hall."
"Down, Homo!--down, old boy!" said the battle-painter, looking round
for Jansen with growing embarrassment, for he did not dare to turn out
this old and honored guest of Paradise upon his own responsibility. But
the animal seemed no longer to recognize the voice of his friend and
house-mate. As Rosenbusch put out his hand in order to take him by the
collar and gently conduct him out, a howl burst from his throat, so
fierce and threatening, that every one standing near started back in
alarm. The familiar sound reached Jansen's ear also.
"What's the matter with the old fellow?" he said, listening. "I must go
and see," and with these words he turned away from Julie, who, with
Angelica, was just on the point of going in search of the young couple
whose disappearance they had at last begun to notice.
The music, which had just begun again, broke off suddenly, for a second
howl was heard through the room.
At this moment Jansen reached the group that had gathered about the
dog, and called him by name. The animal obediently turned his head
toward his master; but, when his victim tried to take advantage of this
movement to slip away quickly in the crowd, the dog gave forth a still
more angry growl, leaped with a powerful spring after the retreating
figure, and caught the end of the gown in his teeth.
"Back, Homo! Come here--back!" cried Jansen, in a voice of command.
But the animal continued to keep his hold. A low cry came from beneath
the cowl, and the little hand which was carefully held before the face
trembled violently, while the other struggled to tear loose the gown.
At this moment, Stephanopulos forced his way through the stupefied
crowd of spectators. With a quick movement he seized the furious animal
by the throat, with the intention of forcing it back. The dog's teeth
let go the gown, but, though a wild howl came from his powerful throat
and his eyes turned with a furious glare upon the bold intruder, he
succeeded in laying his heavy forepaws on the cord that answered for a
girdle, and with such violence that the muffled figure staggered and
fell upon the floor. The animal at once laid one of his paws upon the
prostrate figure, and, with a loud bark of triumph and violently
lashing his tail back and forth, stood by the side of his prey, with an
aspect so horrible that even Jansen recoiled from him.
True, it was not this sudden outbreak of fury in his old companion that
made him stagger back and stare in horror at the prostrate figure. In
her confusion and alarm the stranger had let her cowl fall back, her
white beard drop off, and for a few seconds they saw a woman's pale
face looking out from the disguise long enough for it to be recognized
by Jansen and the young Greek at his side.
"Are you crazy?" cried the latter, excited still more by the sudden
discovery. "Why do you stand there like a statue? Drag off this mad
beast before an accident happens, or by all the devils--"
Jansen did not move. His face was ashy pale; they could see his teeth
clinched tightly behind his parted lips. All around was breathless
stillness, broken only by the heavy breathing of the dog.
"Then we must help ourselves as best we can!" cried Stephanopulos. "To
hell with this devil's brute!"
Quick as a flash he unsheathed a long dagger that was stuck in his
belt, and before any one could interfere he had driven the sharp steel
down the wide-opened throat of the old animal.
A frightful howl, stifled the next moment by a stream of blood, and
then the powerful animal fell back, and, with a dull rattling in the
throat, dropped dead beside the woman in the cowl.