E-text prepared by Suzanne Lybarger, Janet Blenkinship, Brian Janes, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) THE HOUSE OF THE VAMPIRE BY George Sylvester Viereck Author of Nineveh and Other Poems New York MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY 1912 Copyright, 1907, by MOFFAT, YARD & COMPANY NEW YORK Published September, 1907 Reprinted October, 1907 THE PREMIER PRESS NEW YORK To My Mother CONTENTS [Pg 1] [Pg 1] I The freakish little leader of the orchestra, newly imported from Sicily to New York, tossed his conductor's wand excitedly through the air, drowning with musical thunders the hum of conversation and the clatter of plates. Yet neither his apish demeanour nor the deafening noises that responded to every movement of his agile body detracted attention from the figure of Reginald Clarke and the young man at his side as they smilingly wound their way to the exit. The boy's expression was pleasant, with an inkling of wistfulness, while the soft glimmer of his lucid eyes betrayed the poet and the dreamer.