to be, came the longing to see the face that was on the other side. So she
crept round and round by the wall, as far off as she could. The figure
remained motionless. It was a strange kind of shock that she experienced
when she saw the face, disgusting from its inanity. The absurdity next
struck her; and with the absurdity flashed into her mind the conviction
that this was not the doing of a vampire; for of all creatures under the
moon, he could not be expected to be a humorist. A wild hope sprang up in
her mind that Karl was not dead. Of this she soon resolved to make herself
sure.

"She closed the door of the studio; in the strength of her new hope
undressed the figure, put it in its place, concealed the garments--all the
work of a few minutes; and then, finding her father just recovering from
the worst of his fear, told him there was nothing in the studio but what
ought to be there, and persuaded him to go and see. He not only saw no
one, but found that no further liberties had been taken with his pictures.
Reassured, he soon persuaded himself that the spectre in this case had
been the offspring of his own terror-haunted brain. But he had no spirit
for painting now. He wandered about the house, himself haunting it like a
restless ghost.

"When night came, Lilith retired to her own room. The waters of fear had
begun to subside in the house; but the painter and his old attendant did
not yet follow her example.

"As soon, however, as the house was quite still, Lilith glided noiselessly
down the stairs, went into the studio, where as yet there assuredly was no
vampire, and concealed herself in a corner.

"As it would not do for an earnest student like Heinrich to be away from