"
He retired as he spoke, put on his mask, and joined the dancers
immediately, taking care to keep always in the most crowded
corner of the apartment. For some time this plan of action proved
successful, and he saw no more of the mysterious yellow domino.
Ere long, however, some new dances were arranged, in which the
great majority of the persons in the ballroom took part; the
figures resembling the old English country dances in this
respect, that the ladies and gentlemen were placed in long rows
opposite to each other. The sets consisted of about twenty
couples each, placed sometimes across, and sometimes along the
apartment; and the spectators were all required to move away on
either side, and range themselves close to the walls. As Fabio
among others complied with this necessity, he looked down a row
of dancers waiting during the performance of the orchestral
prelude; and there, watching him again, from the opposite end of
the lane formed by the gentlemen on one side and the ladies on
the other, he saw the Yellow Mask.
He moved abruptly back, toward another row of dancers, placed at
right angles to the first row; and there again; at the opposite
end of the gay lane of brightly-dressed figures, was the Yellow
Mask. He slipped into the middle of the room, but it was only to
find her occupying his former position near the wall, and still,
in spite of his disguise, watching him through row after row of
dancers.
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