"He swore he did."
"To whom? the priest?"
"Go along with you! No, to me!"
At this the old man chuckled--"little fool!" said he.
"And if he breaks his oath now, the devil shall have him. I'll murder
him."
"Very well, I suppose you know him. Yet you have never seen his face. If
he were to tear the black velvet mask from his face you would never
recognize him."
"But that he cannot do as to that mask he owes all his power."
"Well, you are a comical wench--to be enamoured of a man whose face you
have never seen!"
"I recognize him by his voice, by the beating of his heart."
"Well, if I were a girl and had a lover, I would insist on seeing his
face. He should not come to me in a mask anyhow."
"He cannot put off his mask, I tell you. His oath forbids him to. The
moment he removes his mask from his face his power is gone, and neither
the devil nor the good angels will obey him any longer."
"That is true," returned the old man solemnly. "When he likes he can
make himself invisible. I know it. He has always escaped pursuit even
when the whole country was out after him, and when they thought they had
him fast he always disappeared in the earth or in the air. Yet, for all
that, if I were his love, see his face I would."
"He told me I should die of fright if I beheld it."
"Then I _would_ die of fright--but I would see it."
"His eyes are very fine,--they glow like coals.
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