ACT I.

(_A dark night. The curtain rises, and discovers nobody on the stage._)

(ULPHO _speaks_.) How dark it is.

(_He is answered by a hollow voice which is inaudible._)

ULPHO. I do not feel comfortable, nor as I once did. (_Sighs._)

(_The stage gradually fills till Ulpho is forced forward to the footlights, which go out. The crowd parts asunder suddenly, and a figure comes slowly forward._)

FIGURE. (_Says nothing._)

ULPHO. I feel chilly.

(_Figure smiles contemptuously and puts his hands in his breeches’ pockets. He then addresses Ulpho silently, and, after hesitating more than once, breaks down at last altogether._)