He crept back to the kitchen door and listened.
Not a sound.
Fearfully he opened it a crack.
Silence of the tomb.
He banged it to. It opened behind him, and the fact lent wings to his feet.
He turned and plunged out into the night, and ran through the blackness for his life. And a great owl swooped softly by and hooted mockingly:
“For your life! for your life! for your life!”