police as a vagabond? Or imagine a fire--a fire
and no one knowing that I am here! A fire and no means of escape! My
friends losing all trace of me, unable to ascertain how I came by my
death! And such a horrible death! Four hours yet till dawn! What
might not happen in four hours? The man himself might only have gone
to seek an accomplice to murder me. He might have known that the key
would not turn on the inside. But at last, in spite of myself,
fatigue conquered fear and I slept.

"I cannot say how long I had been unconscious when I was awakened by
hearing a key turning in the lock: the door cautiously opened, and a
man entered and came toward the bench where I was lying. My
drowsiness calmed me. I wondered quite placidly whether it was to be
robbery or murder. What a paragraph it would make in the _Moniteur_
next day! I would cheerfully give him my watch and purse if they
would content him. I might call out and rouse the house, but most
likely Brunhilda in my situation would have held a parley. A good
precedent. I sat up to show that I was awake, and in doing so
recognized my old man. Though nothing could look more threatening as
he stealthily advanced, shading his light, taking pains to make no
noise, I could not entirely mistrust the weatherbeaten face with its
anxious, benevolent eyes that met mine.

"'Is it time to go?' I asked.

"'Not yet, but soon. I have just returned, and came in to know if
you would have a fire: it is cold outside.'

"'No, never mind: I am doing well enough. I think I will take
another nap.'

"'Very well: I shall be near for the rest of the night, so you need
not be afraid.' And he left, carefully locking me in again.

"When he came for me the dawn was beginning to break; the morning
star was shining in the sky; the earliest birds were twittering, and
cocks answered each other from distance to distance; but not a human
being was to be seen. We crossed ploughed fields and stubble to find
the road, and I felt the truth of my guide's augury of the night
before. Had I attempted to go alone I should have become bewildered,
and ended by sleeping in the fields. It did strike me that if the
man wished to rob me, now would be his chance, and at first I
intentionally kept a little behind; but his innocent garrulity was
such as to allay all suspicio