Suddenly, there was a crash at the window. One of the panes was smashed to pieces.
"What's that? What is it?" stammered the widow, drawing herself erect, in alarm.
Gabriel, who had turned even paler than usual, murmured:
"I don't know.... I can't think...."
"Who can have done it?" said the widow.
She dared not move, waiting for what would come next. And one thing above all terrified her, the fact that there was no missile on the floor around them, although the pane of glass, as was clearly visible, had given way before the crash of a heavy and fairly large object, a stone, probably.
After a while, she looked under the bed, under the chest of drawers:
"Nothing," she said.
"No," said her nephew, who was also looking. And, resuming her seat, she said:
"I feel frightened ... my arms fail me ... you finish him off...."