“A horse was off—­off—­offered me for sale this very day.”

“Good, very good; then you lingered in the vestibule to speak of that—­to ask the master about it before he should go out.  It must be daylight in a few hours.—­Now, come.”

Paula went down the stairs with a sure and rapid step.  At the bottom Hiram again took off his shoes, holding them in his hand, so as to lose no time in following his mistress.  They went on in silence through the darkness till they reached the kitchen.  Here Paula turned and said to the Syrian: 

“If there is any one here, I will say I came to fetch some water; if there is no one I will cough and you can follow.  At any rate I will leave the door open, and then you will hear what happens.  If I am obliged to return, do you hurry on before me back by the way we came.  In that case I will return to my room where you must wait outside till the side door is opened again, and if you are found there leave the explanation to me.—­Shrink back, quite into that corner.”

She softly opened the door into the kitchen; the roof was open to the light of the declining moon and myriad stars.  The room was quite empty:  only a cat lay on a bench by the wide hearth, and a few bats flitted to and fro on noiseless wings; a few live coals still glowed among the ashes under the spits, like the eyes of lurking beasts of prey.  Paula coughed gently, and immediately heard Hiram’s step behind her; then, with a beating heart and agonizing fears, she proceeded on her way.  First down a few steps, then through a dark passage, where the bats in their unswerving flight shot by close to her head.  At last they had to cross the large, open dining-hall.  This led into the viridarium, a spacious quadrangle, paved at the edges and planted in the middle, where a fountain played; round this square the Governor’s residence was built.  All was still and peaceful in this secluded space, vaulted over by the high heavens whose deep blue was thickly dotted with stars.  The moon would soon be hidden behind the top of the cornice which crowned the roof of the building.  The large-leaved plants in the middle of the quadrangle threw strange, ghostly shadows on the dewy grass-plot; the water in the fountain splashed more loudly than by day, but with a soothing, monotonous gurgle, broken now and then by a sudden short pause.  The marble pillars gleamed as white as snow, and filmy mists, which were beginning to rise from the damp lawn, floated languidly hither and thither on the soft night breeze, like ghosts veiled in flowing crape.  Moths flitted noiselessly round and over the clumps of bushes, and the whole quiet and restful enclosure was full of sweetness from the Lotos flowers in the marble basin, from the blossoms of the luxuriant shrubs and the succulent tropical herbs at their feet.  At any other time it would have been a joy to pause and look round, only to breathe and let the silent magic of the night exert its spell;