THE OLD MAN.
And yet they can see nothing….
THE STRANGER.
They seem happy; and yet nobody knows what may be—….
THE OLD MAN.
They think themselves in safety…. They have shut the doors; and the windows have iron bars…. They have mended the walls of the old house; they have put bolts upon the oaken doors…. They have foreseen all that could be foreseen….
THE STRANGER.
We must end by telling them…. Some one might come and let them know abruptly…. There was a crowd of peasants in the meadow where the dead girl was found…. If one of them knocked at the door…
THE OLD MAN.
Martha and Mary are beside the poor dead child. The peasants were to make a litter of leaves; and I told the elder to come warn us in all haste, the moment they began their march. Let us wait till she comes; she will go in with me…. We should not have looked on them so…. I thought it would be only to knock upon the door; to go in simply, find a phrase or two, and tell…. But I have seen them live too long under their lamp….