第460页 / 共657页

"I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my

ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises

on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked

across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of

the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded

across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old

clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise

everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began

to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were

they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And

where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was

all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no

idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns,

were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded,

after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness,

that we were in the country.