"Are we to have nothing tonight?" said one of them, with a soft laugh. She pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which moved as though there were something alive inside it. To answer her he nodded his head. One of the women jumped forward and opened the bag. If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a half-suffocated child. The women gathered around the bag, whilst I could hardly think from the horror of it. But as I looked, they disappeared, and with them the dreadful bag.

There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me without my noticing. They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the moonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the dim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away. Then the horror overcame me, and I collapsed unconscious.

I awoke in my own bed. If I did not dream the whole thing, then the Count must have carried me here. I tried to satisfy myself on the subject, but could not be absolutely sure. Certainly, there were certain small bits of evidence. For example my clothes were folded and put away differently from my usual manner. My watch was still unwound, and I make it my firm habit to wind it the last thing before going to bed. There were many other such details. But these things are no proof, for they may simply prove that my mind was not as usual, and, for some reason or another, I had certainly been very upset. I must watch for proof.