“She appears to be a bit nervous and in a hurry,” he said to himself, while she mounted the stairs. “She may be seeking some one, or possibly has lost her partner for this dance. That would irritate most young women.” Nick turned upon hearing the voice of his chief assistant. Chick had just entered through the open front door and paused at Nick’s elbow. “A penny for your thoughts,” he said quietly. “They are not worth it,” Nick dryly answered. “I was thinking of a woman who just went upstairs. She is clad all in black and sprinkled with stars. She evidently represents Night, and I----” “There she is, now,” said Chick, with a glance toward the rear part of the hall. Nick gazed in that direction. “By Jove, that’s quite remarkable,” he muttered audibly. “It is a striking costume, Nick, for fair.” “I don’t mean the costume.” “No? What do you mean?” “That two women have costumes precisely alike,” said Nick. “This one appears to be an exact duplicate of the other. She is, so to speak, a duplicate Night.” “She probably is the same one,” said Chick. “Impossible!” “Why so?” “The other just went upstairs. She cannot be in two places at once.” “She may have come down. There is a side stairway.” “She would not have had time when you called my attention to her. She had only disappeared at the head of these stairs.” “There can be only one explanation,” said Chick. “There are two women wearing similar costumes. There evidently is, as you put it, a duplicate Night.” Nick had been watching this second woman while they were talking, and his brows had knit perceptibly. “She appears a bit nervous and in a hurry, like the other,” he muttered, after the masked woman had gazed into two of the rooms in which the dance was in progress. “She evidently is searching for some one.” “Some one she knows, then, or with whom she came here,” said Chick. “She could not identify any one else, unless informed of the wearer’s costume.” “True.” “She appears to be----” “Wait!” Nick interrupted. “Ah, she has found him. He was dancing in the rear parlor.” The music had ceased and the dance ended. A man in the costume of a Mexican toreador had just emerged from the room mentioned. The woman in starry black hastened to approach and speak to him. He bowed and listened to her, while she slipped one hand around his arm and strove to draw him away. He hesitated for a few seconds, then bowed again and accompanied her. They disappeared into a diverging hall, one leading to a side door of the palatial residence. “We’ll go out this way,” Nick muttered, turning toward the front door. “Out after them?” questioned Chick, a bit surprised. “Yes. I’m something more than curious. I want to know where they are going.” “After a breath of fresh air, most likely, and one cannot blame them,” said Chick. “It’s like a melting pot indoors.”