him. Her eyes gazed into infinity.

She murmured--

"Heaven opens. I see the angels, the prophets, and the saints. . . . The
good Theodore is amongst them, his hands filled with flowers; he smiles
on me and calls me. . . . Two angels come to me. They draw near. . . .
How beautiful they are! I see God!"

She uttered a joyful sigh, and her head fell back motionless on the
pillow. Thais was dead.

Paphnutius held her in a last despairing embrace; his eyes devoured her
with desire, rage, and love.

Albina cried to him--

"Avaunt, accursed wretch!"

And she gently placed her fingers on the eyelids of the dead girl.
Paphnutius staggered back, his eyes burning with flames and feeling the
earth open beneath his feet.

The virgins chanted the song of Zacharias:

_"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel."_

Suddenly their voices stayed in their throat. They had seen the monk's
face, and they fled in affright, crying--

"A vampire! A vampire!"

He had become so repulsive, that passing his hand over his face, he felt
his own hideousness.

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