between our apartments. You
didn't know anything about it, did you? The back of your fireplace is a
secret door. If you press on the green tile here at the left, the
phoenix flies up the chimney, and then if you bear down hard on this
one at the right, it returns to its place again. Do you see?"

As she spoke the white lady stepped on the tile last designated, and
straightway the phoenix descended and filled the opening through which
she had just made her entrance.

"On the other side," she continued, "is a piece of mechanism which will
only work when a secret lock has been opened, and to effect this the
bird's eye must first be pushed aside to make room for the key. Your
ignorance of all this became apparent to me when I found both of the two
keys in my room. One of them belongs to you, and I have brought it to
give you. Without it you might be broken in upon most unpleasantly by
some unwelcome intruder. But with the key in your possession, you can
insert it in the lock whenever you wish to guard against any such
intrusion."

With that the speaker handed over the key, and then went on:

"Now you will be able to visit me, just as I do you. One thing more,
however, is necessary. You generally have a fire in your fireplace, and
not every woman is a Saint Euphrosyne, able to walk barefoot over
glowing coals. Here is a little bottle of liquid with which you can
quench the flames at pleasure. It is a chemical mixture expressly
prepared for this purpose. And in this other bottle is another liquid
for rekindling the fire,--no secret of chemistry, this time, but only
naphtha. Let us try it at once, for your room is cold and I have nothing
on but this dressing-gown."

The flames were soon crackling merrily again in the fireplace. Blanka,
much bewildered and still doubting the evidence of her senses, sank down
on a sofa, while her unbidden guest seated herself opposite. The
princess raised her eyes involuntarily to the Sappho over the
mantelpiece. Again the familiar laugh fell on her ears.

"You look up at the Sappho," said the marchioness. "You have heard her
play and sing and laugh more than once, haven't you? Well, you shall
learn the secret of it all. A jealous husband once had the passage
constructed which connects our two apartments. You know the story of
Dionysius's Ear. Here you see it in real life. A hollow tube runs from
the opening in the lyre directly to my room, and through this the
jealous husband was able to