"I went to bed, and soon fell asleep.
"Quite contrary to my usual habit, I woke up while it was dark, and heard the sound of the clock striking the hour. I counted the strokes, from one to twelve. It was midnight.
"I was such a good sleeper--seldom waking till the morning, when it was time to get up--that I wondered to myself what it was that awoke me. The striking of the clock? Hardly--for that was no new sound. What, then? Gusts of wind were sweeping round the walls of the villa. 'Ah,' I thought, 'it was the wind that disturbed me;' and I settled myself for sleep again, when suddenly another sound--an unusual one this time--made me jump up in bed. The sound was like that of a heavy object jumping, or falling, from a height within the grounds.
"'Can it be robbers,' I thought, 'who have climbed the gates, and missed their footing?'
"The thought alarmed me, and I woke my husband, and told him what I had heard. He rose, and looked out of the window.
"'Mr. Almer is up and awake,' said he. 'If there were any cause for alarm he would not be sitting quietly in his study, poring over his books. What you heard is the wind. Robbers, indeed! I pity the thief who tries to pass our dogs; he would be torn to pieces. There! let me get to sleep, and don't disturb me again with your foolish fancies; and get to sleep yourself as quick as you can. Now your head is stirring, you'll be imagining all sorts of things.'
"That was all the satisfaction I could get out of him; the next moment he was fast asleep again.
"It was no easy thing for me to follow his example. I lay thinking and thinking for an hour or more. I was glad my husband had mentioned the dogs; in my alarm I had forgotten them. Martin was quite right. Any stranger who attempted to pass them would have been torn to pieces.
"Well, but there was somebody walking on the gravelpaths! I heard soft footsteps crunching the stones, stepping cautiously, as though fearful of disturbing the people in the house. These sounds came to my ears between the gusts of wind, which were growing stronger and stronger.
"I was on the point of rousing my husband again when it occurred to me that it might be my master, who, restless as usual, was walking about the grounds.