He could not have lain there long, for the earthy smell would have passed away in a few hours.

By the side of the box was its cover, pierced with holes here and there.

I thought he might have the keys on him, but when I went to search I saw the dead eyes, and in them dead though they were, such a look of hate, though unconscious of me or my presence, that I fled from the place, and leaving the Count's room by the window, crawled again up the castle wall.

Regaining my room, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried to think.
29 June .-- Today is the date of my last letter, and the Count has taken steps to prove that it was genuine, for again I saw him leave the castle by the same window, and in my clothes.

As he went down the wall, lizard fashion, I wished I had a gun or some lethal weapon, that I might destroy him.