Buttheseotherapartmentsweredenselycrowded，andinthembeatfeverishlytheheartoflife。Andtherevelwentwhirlinglyon，untilatlengththerecommencedthesoundingofmidnightupontheclock。
Andthenthemusicceased，asIhavetold；andtheevolutionsofthewaltzerswerequieted；andtherewasanuneasycessationofallthingsasbefore。Butnowthereweretwelvestrokestobesoundedbythebelloftheclock；andthusithappened，perhaps，thatmoreofthoughtcrept，withmoreoftime，intothemeditationsofthethoughtfulamongthosewhorevelled。Andthus，too，ithappened，perhaps，thatbeforethelastechoesofthelastchimehadutterlysunkintosilence，thereweremanyindividualsinthecrowdwhohadfoundleisuretobecomeawareofthepresenceofamaskedfigurewhichhadarrestedtheattentionofnosingleindividualbefore。Andtherumorofthisnewpresencehavingspreaditselfwhisperinglyaround，therearoseatlengthfromthewholecompanyabuzz，ormurmur，expressiveofdisapprobationandsurprisethen，finally，ofterror，ofhorror，andofdisgust。
InanassemblyofphantasmssuchasIhavepainted，itmaywellbesupposedthatnoordinaryappearancecouldhaveexcitedsuchsensation。Intruththemasqueradelicenseofthenightwasnearlyunlimited；butthefigureinquestionhadout-HerodedHerod，andgonebeyondtheboundsofeventheprince’sindefinitedecorum。Therearechordsintheheartsofthemostrecklesswhichcannotbetouchedwithoutemotion。Evenwiththeutterlylost，towhomlifeanddeathareequallyjests，therearemattersofwhichnojestcanbemade。
Thewholecompany，indeed，seemednowdeeplytofeelthatinthecostumeandbearingofthestrangerneitherwitnorproprietyexisted。Thefigurewastallandgaunt，andshroudedfromheadtofootinthehabilimentsofthegrave。Themaskwhichconcealedthevisagewasmadesonearlytoresemblethecountenanceofastiffenedcorpsethattheclosestscrutinymusthavehaddifficultyindetectingthecheat。Andyetallthismighthavebeenendured，ifnotapproved，bythemadrevellersaround。ButthemummerhadgonesofarastoassumethetypeoftheRedDeath。Hisvesturewasdabbledinbloodandhisbroadbrow，withallthefeaturesoftheface，wasbesprinkledwiththescarlethorror。
WhentheeyesofPrinceProsperofelluponthisspectralimagewhichwithaslowandsolemnmovement，asifmorefullytosustainitsrole，stalkedtoandfroamongthewaltzershewasseentobeconvulsed，inthefirstmomentwithastrongshuddereitherofterrorordistaste；but，inthenext，hisbrowreddenedwithrage。