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The Monk mounted a vehicle standing by the threshold, lashed the

horses with the whip, tickled their sides with the reins, and the

carriage flew off and vanished in billows of fog; only now and

then the grey cowl of the Monk rose above the mist like a vulture

above the clouds.

The Apparitor had long ago arrived at the Count's house. As an

experienced fox, when the scent of bacon allures it, runs towards

it but bears in mind the secret tricks of hunters; it runs,

stops, sits up frequently, raises its brush, and with it as with

a fan waves the breeze to its nostrils, and asks the breeze

whether the hunters have not poisoned the food: so Protazy left

the road and circled over the meadow around the house; he twirled

his stick in his hand and pretended that he had somewhere seen

some stray cattle; thus skilfully manoeuvring he arrived close to

the garden; he bent down and ran so that you would have said that

he was trailing a land rail; then he suddenly jumped over the

fence and plunged into the hemp.