He opened the back-door, and swept the dark garden with the light of his lamp, but she was not there.

Lamp in hand, he went upstairs, and passed rapidly through the different rooms.

As he entered the less frequented ones, he began to fear almost as much to see the gaily-attired figure as he would have done to see a ghost.

He did not know why this feeling crept over him, but, whether he feared or hoped to see her, he did not.

The house was empty, save for himself.