“In such a place!” she whispered to herself.
At the same moment she noted that the forest ahead of her had grown thin, that she could see patches of sky beyond.
Once more she had crossed a broad point and had come to a strange shore.
But what shore? And who were these people?
Again she paused. As before, she caught the sound of voices, this time much more distinct.
“But what a strange language!” she thought to herself.
She concluded that she must be entering some Finnish settlement.
“Safe enough,” she reassured herself.
For all that, she moved forward cautiously. Safety first. She was far from her own cabin.
She had just reached a point where, by parting the bushes, she thought she might be able to catch a glimpse of the strangers, when, with the suddenness of an eagle’s cry, a scream rent the air. And after that, another and yet another. They were a woman’s screams.