"A lady wants it open."
"A lady! what lady?"
"Down yonder, in the carriage."
"What lady? who is she?"
"I don't know who she is: she wanted to come to Mr. Rossitur's place. Will you open the door for her?"
Barby and Fleda both now saw a carriage standing in the road.
"We must see who it is first," whispered Fleda.
"When the lady comes, I'll open the door," was Barby's ultimatum.
The man withdrew to the carriage, and, after a few moments of intense watching, Fleda and Barby certainly saw something in female apparel enter the little gate of the court-yard, and come up over the bright, moonlit snow towards the house, accompanied by a child; while the man with whom they had had the interview came behind, transformed into an unmistakable baggage-carrier.