is about to listen to the lady's confession.
When the pastor had closed the door behind him, he came to the
countess, who sat in a large armchair, looking pale and exhausted.
She signed to the priest to take his place in another armchair
opposite to her.

"Have you seen them again?" he asked.

"I have," said the countess, in an awed whisper. "All happened in the
same way as usual. So soon as the clock-tower had sounded midnight,
there rose from below, as if out of the vault, a fearful chorus of
voices intoning the _De Profundis_. It was a ghostly, terrible sound.
I could distinguish the solo of the celebrant, the antiphon, the
chorus; and between them loud laughter, diabolical words, the shrieks
of women, and the clatter of glasses. I heard comic songs accompanied
by wild howls; then, again, the soft, pious hymn succeeded by the wild
disorder. I pinched my arm to see did I dream. Here you can see the
mark. 'Twas not dreaming. I got up; I wished to convince myself that I
was awake. I took my pencil and note-paper, and when a distinct tune
reached my ear I wrote it down. Here is the paper. You understand
music."

The priest threw a hasty glance over the ghostly melody, and
recognized a well-known Hungarian volkslied--"Maiden with the black
eyes, let me taste thy lips." Undoubtedly an unclean song to issue
from the family vault at midnight!

"And, gracious countess, have you never heard the peasants singing
this in the fields?"

The countess drew herself up with dignity. "Do I frequent the places
where peasants sing?" she made answer; and then continued her story.
"These notes are sufficient proof that I was awake; my nerves were too
excited to allow me to sleep again. Moreover, I was drawn by an
invincible desire to go to the spot from whence the sound came. I
dressed myself. I am certain that I took out my grass-green skirt of
Gros de Naples, with a flounce of cashmere. I called none of my
servants; every one in the house was asleep. An extraordinary courage
awoke in me. Quite alone I descended the steps which lead to the
family vault. When I reached the door both sides opened of themselves;
I entered, and found myself in the presence of my departed ancestors.
The monuments were all removed, the niches empty; the occupiers of
both sat round the long table which stands in the vault, in the
identical dress in which they are painted in the portraits which hang
in the hall, and by which their calling in life is distin