 Whilst his son Anton distracts the armed men at the blockade, Dr. Kersh gets past them to appeal for help from the capital.At the Circus of Night, the villagers are amazed and delighted by the entertainment.Despite his wife's concerns over their wayward daughter Rosa's attraction to the handsome Emil, the Bürgermeister takes her to the circus and, at the gypsy woman's invitation, visits its hall of mirrors where he sees in one, called "The Mirror of Life", a vision of a revived Count Mitterhaus, which causes him to collapse.