mplication, in truth, of the ghosts below and the bewitched
countess above, was too much for a man of his calibre to deal with. It
required a superior genius to exorcise the spirits and to calm the
hysterical mind of Theudelinde. In the difficulty it appeared to him
better to temporize.

"My daughter, the penance you have imposed upon yourself is well
thought of. Have you already committed to the flames the portrait of
the last demoniacal appearance?"

"No," answered the countess, with all the hesitation a young girl
would have in speaking of her lover's picture.

"And why not?" questioned the priest, almost sternly. He was glad to
find some tangible fault.

"It would be wrong, I think, to throw this particular portrait into
the fire."

"And wherefore should it be wrong?"

Before she replied the countess opened a concealed pocket of the album
and drew forth what it contained.

"Ah!" cried the pastor as he took the photograph, which he at once
recognized as the Abbe Samuel, the head of an influential order which
possessed many different branches.

"The photographer in Vienna had my directions to send me the
photograph of every clean-shaven celebrity. He, therefore, has
committed the sin of sending me the portrait of an eminent priest. The
fault is mine, not his."

"And in your dreams have you wandered arm-in-arm with the original of
this?" asked Herr Mahok, still holding in his hand the photograph.

"I am guilty!" stammered the countess, laying her hands upon her
breast.

"Then," said the pastor, "Heaven inspired you not to throw this
portrait, like that of the others, into the fire, for in this man you
will find a physician able to cure your sick soul. It is really
providential that this portrait should be in your hands, for the
others were idle, foolish dreams. Here you have found your ideal,
under whose guidance you may hope to find health and salvation. He
will lead you, not in a dream, but in reality, to the blessed regions
of peace and true piety, where alone, my daughter, real happiness is
to be found. This man possesses strength of mind and elevation of
character sufficient to exorcise all the spirits which haunt your
castle, and to banish from your mind those temptations which spring
from the same source as the more visible demons which we call
ghosts."

CHAPTER VIII

THE EXORCIST

Acting upon the advice of Herr Mahok, the countess resolved to lay all
her troubles before a new physic