'And as for me, my feet were almost ...'
At the 'almost' I stopped, being brought up suddenly with a fierce beat
of blood through my veins, and a jump fit to burst them, for I had heard
a scuffling noise in the passage that led to the cave, as if someone had
stumbled against a loose stone in the dark. I did not know then, but have
learnt since, that where there is a loud noise, such as the roaring of a
cascade, the churning of a mill, or, as here, the rage and bluster of a
storm--if there arise some different sound, even though it be as slight
as the whistle of a bird, 'twill strike the ear clear above the general
din. And so it was this night, for I caught that stumbling tread even
when the gale blew loudest, and sat motionless and breathless, in my
eagerness of listening, and then the gale lulled an instant, and I heard
the slow beat of footsteps as of one groping his way down the passage in
the dark. I knew it was not Elzevir, for first he could not be back from
Poole for many hours yet, and second, he always whistled in a certain way
to show 'twas he coming and gave besides a pass-word; yet, if not
Elzevir, who could it be? I blew out the light, for I did not want to
guide the aim of some unknown marksman shooting at me from the dark; and
then I thought of that gaunt strangler that sprang on marbleworkers in
the gloom; yet it could not be the Mandrive, for surely he would know his
own passages better than to stumble in them in the dark.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167