GRANDMOTHER. After I figured it out that way I looked about for a
sheltered nook. In between two great big tree trunks there was a cave,
like a little house, a place all filled with soft moss. A pleasant
camping place. I fell into this and prepared myself for a long wait. I
waited and waited. The night peopled the woods with every kind of sound.
There was whistling, whispering, humming, blowing, screeching and once
from a distance a long-drawn deep howling. This, undoubtedly, was the
wolves.
THE SENTIMENTAL HIGH SCHOOL GIRL [_frightened_]. Merciful God!
GRANDMOTHER. Then even I lost my courage. I wanted to run, run as long
as my legs would carry me. But I realized that the wiser thing was to be
brave and to remain. So I set my teeth and kept on waiting. And then
gradually the howling ceased. So, I sat there on this moss bank gazing
before me and thought of many things. Suddenly I heard a noise. I
straightened up and listened. It was a breaking sound and a rustle as
though some one were brushing aside the underbrush.... The noise was
getting nearer and nearer.
THE SENTIMENTAL HIGH SCHOOL GIRL. Oh!
GRANDMOTHER. I was all ears. I could clearly distinguish now that the
sound was the footstep of a human being. Frightened, I started through
the darkness and in the dull moonlight I saw that actually a man was
wading through the thick underbrush. What was I to do? I pressed against
the tree trunk and my fast and loud-beating heart seemed to be in my
throat. The man was coming directly toward me. When he was about three
paces away from me and I could distinguish his features, I felt like
fainting. It was "Red Mike," a very dangerous fellow from our
neighborhood; every one knew that he was a robber. Later on he was
imprisoned for murder, but he escaped from the prison. Now he was
there.... What should I do?
THE VIVACIOUS GIRL [_breathlessly_]. What did you do, grandma?
THE SENTIMENTAL HIGH SCHOOL GIRL. Great heavens!
GRANDMOTHER. Frenzied, I pressed against the tree trunk. I wanted to
hide, but the robber came directly toward me. It was as though he could
see me even in this darkness and behind the tree trunk. Later on when he
was caught, I found out, that he had prepared this very place for his
night's resting place. He had brought all this soft moss there. Of
course, I did not know that he just came there to rest himself. All I
saw was that he was making directly for me. Then such a great fear
seized me that instead of pressing against the tree and letting him go
past me I shrieked just as he came within reaching distance and began to
run away.
[_There is a pause and feverish suspense._]
THE MELANCHOLY YOUNG LADY. And what did the robber do?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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