Several times Fatima put the same question and each time she received the same answer.
Meanwhile Bluebeard was waiting with a scimitar in one hand and his watch in the other. At length he shouted in a fierce voice: “The ten minutes are almost gone! Make an end to your prayers!”
“Anne, Sister Anne!” Fatima called softly, “look again. Is there no one on the road?”
“I see a cloud of dust rising in the distance,” Anne answered.
“Perchance it is made by our brothers,” Fatima said.
“Alas! no, my dear sister,” Anne responded. “The dust has been raised by a flock of sheep.”
“Fatima!” Bluebeard roared, “I command you to come down.”
“One moment—just one moment more!” the wretched wife sobbed.
Then she called, “Anne, Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?”
“I see two horsemen riding in this direction,” Anne replied, “but they are a great way off.”