Obeying his injunction--for I can
scarcely call it an invitation--to sit down, I took a seat by the fire,
and warming my half-frozen limbs, waited impatiently whilst the woman
made up my bed and prepared supper. "The storm had now reached cyclonic dimensions, and under its stupendous
fury the whole house--stoutly built though it was--swayed on its
foundations. The howling of the wind in the rude, old-fashioned chimney
and along the passage, and the frenzied beating of the snow against the
diamond window-panes, deadened all other noises, and rendered any
attempt at conversation absolutely abortive. So I ate my meal in
silence, pretending not to notice the subtle interchange of glances that
constantly took place between the strangely assorted pair. Whether they
were husband and wife, what the man did for a living, were questions
that continually occurred to me, and I found my eyes incessantly
wandering to the numerous packing-cases, piles of carpets, casks and
other articles, which corroborated the woman's statement that they had
but recently 'moved in.' Once I attempted to empty the coffee (which was
black and peculiarly bitter) under the table, but had to desist, as I
saw the man's devilish eyes fixed searchingly on me. I then pushed aside
the cup, and on the woman asking if it was not to my liking, I shouted
out that I was not in the least thirsty. After this incident the covert
looks became more numerous, and my suspicions increased accordingly. "At the first opportunity I got up, and signalling my intention to go to
bed, was preparing to leave my seat, when my host, walking to a
cupboard, fetched out a bottle of cognac, and pouring out a tumbler,
handed it me with a mien that I dare not refuse. "The woman then led me up a flight of rickety, wooden steps and into a
sepulchral-looking chamber with no other furniture in it save a long,
narrow, iron bedstead, a dilapidated washstand, a very unsteady, common
deal table, on which was a looking-glass and a collar stud, and a
rush-bottomed chair. Setting the candlestick on the dressing-table, and
assuring me again that the bed was well aired, my hostess withdrew,
observing as she left the room that she would get me a nice breakfast
and call me at seven. At seven! How I wished it was seven now! As I
stood in the midst of the floor shivering--for the room was icy cold, I
suddenly saw a dark shadow emerge from a remote corner of the room and
slide surreptitiously towards the door, where it halted. My eyes then
fell on the lock, and I perceived that there was no key. No key! And
that evil-looking pair below! I must barricade the door somehow. Yet
with what? There was nothing of any weight in the room! Nothing! I began
to feel horribly tired and sleepy--so sleepy that it was only with
supreme effort I could prevent my eyelids closing. Ah! I had it--a
wedge! I had a knife. Of wood there was plenty--a piece off the
washstand, table, or chair. Anything would suffice. I essayed to
struggle to the chair, my limbs tottered, my eyelids closed. Then the
shadow from the doorway moved towards and THROUGH me, and with the
coldness of its passage I revived! With desperate energy I cut a couple
of chunks off the washstand, and paring them down, eventually succeeded
in slipping them in the crack of the door, and rendering it impossible
to open from the outside. That done, I staggered to the bed, and
falling, dressed as I was, on the counterpane, sank into a deep sleep. How long I slept I cannot say. I suddenly heard the loud neighing of a
horse which seemed to come from just under my window, and, as in a
vision, saw by my side in the bed a something which gradually developed
into the figure of a man, the counterpart of the mysterious being in the
shaggy coat who had guided me to the house. He was fully dressed, sound
asleep and breathing heavily. As I was looking a dark shadow fell across
the sleeper's face, and on glancing up I perceived, to my horror, a
black something crawling on the floor. Nearer and nearer it came, until
it reached the side of the bed, when I immediately recognized the evil,
smirking face of my hostess. In one hand she held a lamp and in the
other a horn-handled knife. Setting the lamp on the floor, she coolly
undid the collar of the sleeping man, and I saw a stud, the counterpart
of the one on the dressing-table, fall on the bare boards with a sharp
tap, and disappear in the surrounding darkness. Then the woman felt the
edge of the knife with her repulsive thumb, and calmly cut the helpless
man's throat. I screamed--and the murderess and her victim instantly
vanished--and I realized I was alone in the room and very much awake. Whether all that had occurred was a dream, I cannot say with certainty,
though I am inclined to think not. "For some minutes my heart pulsated painfully, and then as the sound of
its throbbing grew fainter and fainter, I heard a curious noise outside
my room--someone was ascending the stairs. I endeavoured to rise, but
could not--fear, an awful, ungovernable fear, held me spellbound. The
steps paused outside the door, the handle of which was gently turned. Then there was a suggestive silence, then whispering, then another
turning of the handle, and then--my state of coma abruptly ended, and I
stepped noiselessly out of bed and crept to the window. I was heard. 'Stop him,' the woman cried out, 'he's trying to escape. Use the gun.' She hurled herself against the door as she spoke, whilst the man tore
downstairs. "It was now a matter of seconds, the slightest accident, a hesitation,
and I was lost. Swinging open the window, I scrambled on the ledge, and
without the slightest idea of the distance--dropped! There was a brief
rushing through air and I alighted--safe and sound--on the snow. Blessed snow! Had it not been for the snow I should in all probability
have hurt myself! I alighted not an instant too soon, for hardly had I
touched the ground before my gigantic host came tearing round the angle
of the wall with a lantern in one hand and gun in the other. I
immediately dashed away, and, thanks to the intense darkness of the
morning--for it must have been two o'clock--had no difficulty in evading
my pursuer, who fired twice in rapid succession. "On and on I went, sometimes falling up to my armpits in the snowdrift,
and sometimes stunning myself against a low-hanging branch of a tree. With the first rays of sunlight, however, my troubles came to an end. The snow had ceased falling, and I quickly alighted on a track, which
brought me to a village, whence I obtained a conveyance into Liffre. "I reported the affair to the local police, and a party of gendarmes at
once set off to arrest the miscreants. But, alas, they had fled. The
house was pulled down, and, on the soil being excavated, a dozen or more
skeletons of men and women--all showing unmistakable signs of foul
play--together with the remains of a horse, were found in various parts
of the premises. The place was a veritable Golgotha.