"Now I drew a deep breath as I stepped out into the courtyard. The evening air refreshed me like a cooling bath. The last gleam of daylight was vanishing, and veiled in bluish vapours the autumn night sank down upon the earth.
"The two hunting dogs sprang towards me, and then raced off towards the old castle ruins.
"Unconsciously I followed in their track, walking half in my sleep, for the atmosphere of the sick room was still acting upon my senses.
"A mouldering scent of fading weeds and weather-beaten stones wafted towards me from the brickwork. An old porch spread its arch over me. I stepped into the interior. The walls towered up black all round me, the dark sky looked down upon them with its bluish lights.
"Then not far from me I saw a dark figure, the outlines of which I recognised at once, crouching among the loose stones.
"'Robert!' I call out, astonished.
"He jumped up. 'Olga?' he cried in answer. 'Do you bring bad news?'
"'Not so.' say I, 'your uncle, the doctor, sent me out, and----' then suddenly I feel as if the ground were giving way beneath my feet.
"'Take care!' I hear his warning voice, but already I am sinking, together with the crumbling stones, about a man's length down into the darkness.
"'For Heaven's sake, do not stir!' he shouts after me, 'else you will fall still further down.'