"Hem! It is impossible to get there on horseback, but I can reach him by going on foot. Meanwhile you lock yourself in, put out the fire, and whatever noise you hear, do not open the door till we come back.
"'Nay,' said Mariora, 'you must not go away. If Juon ought to come home, there is a sign between us. I have here an Alpine horn; he has taught me how to blow upon it, and has told me that if ever I should be in great danger I must blow it, and however distant he may be, he will hear it and hasten home.'
"'But it is night now; perhaps he is asleep.'
"'Juon never sleeps at night, he must be awake and protect his herds.'
"'And what then will become of his goats if he leaves them?'
"'Are not I and my child dearer to him than all his property?'
"Then I told Mariora that no time must be lost, and that she should blow the horn at once. It is a long tube made out of the bark of trees, with the end tilted upwards, and anyone who knows how to blow it can make its voice heard for miles. Mariora was too feeble with it. Perhaps at another time she would have been more up to it, but now she was upset, there was something which weighed down her bosom and hampered her breathing: the horn gave forth but a feeble and uncertain sound. We listened for the echoes and they scarce resounded from the sides of the adjacent hills. Juon would never hear that. 'Give it to me,' I said. 'I shall throw more force into it.' A moment after I had blown the horn, the woody heights repeated the sound just as if there was another horn-blower there. Presently, from afar, right away among the hills, another horn replied, just as if there was another echo there. That was Juon's answer. He had heard the summons; we could now rest content. In half an hour he would have bounded across the mountains and through the glens and would be here. In the meantime we would barricade ourselves inside the hut. Mariora anxiously asked me what we should do if her husband were the last to arrive, for the robber had firearms. Acting on my advice, we closed the door with a heavy beam and put out the fire. The child began to cry, but Mariora took it in her arms and soothed it to sleep. A heavy groan sounded from a corner of the room: it was the faithful beast breathing forth his last breath. We exchanged not another word in order not to betray the fact that Mariora was not alone. Half an hour had nearly elapsed when we heard footsteps in the distance approaching. We listened. Who was coming? Which of us would recognize those footsteps first? I did. It was he! he for whose sake I had brought down a curse upon my head.
"For about as long a time as it would take one to repeat a Paternoster, he remained standing there before the door. Then he rapped lightly with his fingers and I heard the voice I knew so well: 'Mariora, are you asleep?'
"'I am awake. What do you want?' she replied.
"'Let me in, Mariora; open the door!'