t.

But at the end of the school hour, a fearful anxiety overwhelmed
her; her heart began to flutter like a captured bird, and she
pressed her hand against her mouth, to keep herself from screaming
aloud. When leaving the school, she started running towards the
Naze. "That's the wrong way, Ditte!" shouted the girls she used to
go home with. But she only ran on.

It was thick with snow, and the air was still and heavy-laden. It
had been like twilight all day long. As she neared the hill above
the hut on the Naze, darkness began to fall. She had run all the way
and only stopped at the corner of the house, to get her breath.
There was a humming in her ears, and through the hum she heard angry
voices: Granny's crying, and her mother's hard and merciless.

She was about to tap on the window-pane, but hesitated, her mother's
voice made her creep with fear. She shivered as she crept round the
house towards the woodshed, opened the door, and stood in the
kitchen, listening breathlessly. Her mother's voice drowned
Granny's; it had often forced Ditte to her knees, but so frightful
she had never heard it before. She was stiff with fear, and she had
to squat on the ground, shivering with cold.

Through the keyhole she caught a glimpse of her mother's big body
standing beside the alcove. She was bent over it, and from the
movement of her back, it could be seen that she had got hold of the
old woman. Granny was defending herself.

"Come out with it at once," Soerine shouted hoarsely. "Or I'll pull
you out of bed."

"I'll call for some one," groaned Granny, hammering on the wall.

"Call for help if you like," ridiculed Soerine, "there's no-one to
hear you. Maybe you've got it in the eiderdown, since you hold it so
tightly."

"Oh, hold your mouth, you thief," moaned Granny. Suddenly there was
a scream, Soerine must have got hold of the packet on the old woman's
breast.

Ditte jumped in and lifted the latch. "Granny," she shrieked, but
she was not heard in the fearful noise. They fought, Granny's
screams were like those of a dying animal. "I'll make you shut up,
you witch!" shouted Soerine, and the old woman's scream died away to
an uncanny rattle; Ditte wanted to assist her grandmother, but could
not move, and suddenly fell unconscious to the ground. When she came
to herself again, she was lying face downwards on the floor; her
forehead hurt. She stumbled to her feet. The door stood open, and
her mother had gone. Large whi