The house was of one story only, with a
window on either side of the door, and no other appeared in
sight; but a little smoke rising from the chimney seemed to
promise a better reception than the desolate landscape and the
girl's scanty dress had led us to expect.
As we drew nearer, however, a thing happened so remarkable as to
draw our attention in a moment from all these points, and bring
us, gaping, to a standstill. The shutters of the two windows
were suddenly closed before our eyes with a clap that came
sharply on the wind. Then, in a twinkling, one window flew open
again and a man, seemingly naked, bounded from it, fled with
inconceivable rapidity across the front of the house and vanished
through the other window, which opened to receive him. He had
scarcely gained that shelter before a coal-black figure followed
him, leaping out of the one window and in at the other with the
same astonishing swiftness--a swiftness which was so great that
before any of us could utter more than an exclamation, the two
figures appeared again round the corner of the house, in the same
order, but this time with so small an interval that the fugitive
barely saved himself through the window.
Pages:
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88