पृष्ठ 470 / 657

"I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and

I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor,

while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand,

while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend

whose warning I had so foolishly rejected.

"'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a

moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste

the so-precious time, but come!'

"This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to

my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding

stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we

reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of

two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we

were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about

her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door

which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon

was shining brightly.