Dry and withered, they caught fire at once, and the wind carried the
flame in a long line down the length of the wall, licking upwards as it
ran; and with shrieks and wailings, the crowded row of forms upon the
top melted away into the air on the other side, and were gone with a
great rush and whirring of their bodies down into the heart of the
haunted valley, leaving Vezin breathless and shaken in the middle of the
deserted ground.

"Ilsé!" he called feebly; "Ilsé!" for his heart ached to think that she
was really gone to the great Dance without him, and that he had lost the
opportunity of its fearful joy. Yet at the same time his relief was so
great, and he was so dazed and troubled in mind with the whole thing,
that he hardly knew what he was saying, and only cried aloud in the
fierce storm of his emotion....

The fire under the wall ran its course, and the moonlight came out
again, soft and clear, from its temporary eclipse. With one last
shuddering look at the ruined ramparts, and a feeling of horrid wonder
for the haunted valley beyond, where the shapes still crowded and flew,
he turned his face towards the town and slowly made his way in the
direction of the hotel.

And as he went, a great wailing of cries, and a sound of howling,
followed him from the gleaming forest below, growing fainter and fainter
with the bursts of wind as he disappeared between the houses.

VI

"It may seem rather abrupt to you, this sudden tame ending," said Arthur
Vezin, glancing with flushed face and timid eyes at Dr. Silence sitting