e of his flesh to appear, and that during his visit he did not
once remove his gloves.

Having stood for some moments at the door, Gerard Douw at length
found breath and collectedness to bid him welcome, and, with a mute
inclination of the head, the stranger stepped forward into the room.

There was something indescribably odd, even horrible, about all his
motions, something undefinable, that was unnatural, unhuman--it was
as if the limbs were guided and directed by a spirit unused to the
management of bodily machinery.

The stranger said hardly anything during his visit, which did not exceed
half an hour; and the host himself could scarcely muster courage enough
to utter the few necessary salutations and courtesies: and, indeed, such
was the nervous terror which the presence of Vanderhausen inspired, that
very little would have made all his entertainers fly bellowing from the
room.

They had not so far lost all self-possession, however, as to fail to
observe two strange peculiarities of their visitor.

During his stay he did not once suffer his eyelids to close, nor even
to move in the slightest degree; and further, there was a death-like
stillness in his whole person, owing to the total absence of the heaving
motion of the chest, caused by the process of respiration.

These two peculiarities, though when told they may appear trifling,
produced a very striking and unpleasant effect when seen and
observed. Vanderhausen at length relieved the painter of Leyden of his
inauspicious presence; and with no small gratification the little party
heard the street-door close after him.

'Dear uncle,' said Rose, 'what a frightful man! I would not see him
again for the wealth of the States!'

'Tush, foolish girl!' said Douw, whose sensations were anything but
comfortable. 'A man may be as ugly as the devil, and yet if his heart
and actions are good, he is worth all the pretty-faced, perfumed puppies
that walk the Mall. Rose, my girl, it is very true he has not thy pretty
face, but I know him to be wealthy and liberal; and were he ten times
more ugly----'

'Which is inconceivable,' observed Rose.

'These two virtues would be sufficient,' continued her uncle, 'to
counterbalance all his deformity; and if not of power sufficient
actually to alter the shape of the features, at least of efficacy enough
to prevent one thinking them amiss.'

'Do you know, uncle,' said Rose, 'when I saw him standing at the door,
I could not get