The only sign she saw was in the horses, which showed an increasing
uneasiness. Her own mare now shared the restlessness of the tall bay,
and the two were footing it nervously here and there, tugging at the
tethers, and tossing up their heads, with many a start, as if they
feared and sought to flee from some approaching catastrophe--some vast
and preternatural change--some forest fire which came galloping faster
than even their fleet limbs could carry them.
Yet all beyond the pale of her camp-fire's light was silence, utter
and complete silence. It seemed as if a muscular energy went into the
intensity of her listening, but not a sound reached her except a faint
whispering of the wind in the dark trees above her.
But at last she knew that the thing was upon her. The horses ceased
their prancing and stared in a fixed direction through the thicket of
shrubbery; the very wind grew hushed above her; she could feel the new
presence as one feels the silence when a door closes and shuts away
the sound of the street below.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301