“Now get up and dress yourself,” was her sharply-spoken salutation to
Andy as she came into the room. “And you're to be just as still as a
mouse, mind. There's your breakfast.” She set the plate on a table and
went out, bolting, as before, the door on the other side. Andy did not
see her again for over an hour. Left entirely alone in his prison,
his restless spirit chafed for freedom. He moved about the apartment,
examining everything it contained with the closest scrutiny, yet without
making any noise, for the woman's threat, accompanied as it had been
with such a wicked look, was not forgotten. He had seen in that look a
cruel spirit of which he was afraid. Two or three times he thought he
heard a step and a movement in the adjoining chamber, and waited, almost
holding his breath, with his eyes upon the door, expecting every moment
to see the scowling face of his jailer. But no hand touched the door.
Tired at last with everything in the room, he went to the window and
sought to look out, as he had already done many times. He could not
understand why this window, was so different from any he had ever seen,
and puzzled over it in his weak, childish way. As he moved from pane to
pane, trying to see through, he caught a glimpse of something outside,
but it was gone in a moment. He stepped back, then came up quickly to
the glass, all the dull quietude of manner leaving him. As he did so a
glimpse of the outside world came again, and now he saw a little hole in
the paper not larger than a pin's head. To scrape at this was a simple
instinct. In a moment he saw it enlarging, as the paper peeled off
from the glass. Scraping away with his finger-nail, the glass was soon
cleared of paper for the space of an inch in diameter, and through this
opening he stood gazing out upon the yards, below, and the houses that
came up to them from a neighboring street. There was a woman in one
of these yards, and she looked up toward the window where Andy stood,
curiously.
“You imp of Satan!” were the terrible words that fell upon his ears at
this juncture, and he felt himself caught up as by a vulture. He knew
the cruel voice and the grip of the cruel hands that had already left
their marks in his tender flesh. Mother Peter, her face red with passion
and her eyes slowing like coals of fire, held him high in the air,
and shook him with savage violence. She did not strike, but continued
shaking him until the sudden heat of her passion had a little cooled.
“Didn't I tell you not to meddle with anything in this room?” and with
another bruising grip of Andy's arms, she threw him roughly upon the
floor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account