To her surprise, no chamber was revealed, but merely a walled and roofed passage closed at the farther end with a door. Piled within it was a store of wood; there was nothing else. It was very awkward for the young woman to carry the crutch, the torch, and the wood all at once; it was necessary to relinquish the torch. She carried it back to the fireplace, and went again to the passage, piled some wood in her free arm, and started back. As she did so she saw her host sitting up and staring at her in horror. This so frightened her that she dropped the wood, screamed, and fell fainting to the floor. When she became conscious she found herself on the bed and her host watching beside her. There was the old look of command in his face, the old veil that hung between her and his confidence; and thus her glorious day had come to an inglorious end, and her spirit was nearly crushed. Her host had recovered in a measure,--sufficiently for him to resume the command of his house. No questions were asked, no explanations were given. He thanked her gratefully for her kindness to him, and thus her brief happiness came to an end. The old round of labor, of waiting, of hoping, of suffering, of imprisonment, was taken up again. CHAPTER ELEVEN A FEW days afterward they were sitting before the fire in silence. It had become habitual with the young woman to study every look and movement of her host; to anticipate him in the discharge of the household duties; to provide for him every little comfort that the meagre resources of the hut afforded; and to observe with a strange pleasure the steady breaking down of his will and courage. She realized that his recent attack, though so quickly overcome, was a warning of his approaching complete collapse; and she believed that only when that should happen could she hope with sympathy and careful nursing to save him. She welcomed the moroseness that was stealing over him, his growing failure to study her every want, and his occasional lapses into a petulant bearing toward her. It gratified her to see him gradually loosen the iron mask that he had worn so long. Most significant of all his symptoms were hallucinations that began to visit him. At times he would start up in violent alarm and whisper, “Did you hear the howling of the wolves?” At others he would start in alarm to resist an imaginary attack upon the rear door. A touch of her hand, a gentle, firm word, would instantly calm him, and then he would look foolish and ashamed. On this day, as they sat before the fire, matters took a new and strange turn. He suddenly said,-- “Listen!”