Knock, Knock, Knock and Other Stories eBook

act.  I had no plan of any kind; I only waited till everything should be quiet in the house.  I only took one step:  I did not remove my stockings.  My aunt’s room was on the second floor.  One had to pass through the dining-room and the hall, go up the stairs, pass along a little passage and there ... on the right was the door!  I must not on any account take with me a candle or a lantern; in the corner of my aunt’s room a little lamp was always burning before the ikon shrine; I knew that.  So I should be able to see.  I still lay with staring eyes and my mouth open and parched; the blood was throbbing in my temples, in my ears, in my throat, in my back, all over me!  I waited ... but it seemed as though some demon were mocking me; time passed and passed but still silence did not reign.

IX

Never, I thought, had David been so late getting to sleep....  David, the silent David, even began talking to me!  Never had they gone on so long banging, talking, walking about the house!  And what could they be talking about?  I wondered; as though they had not had the whole day to talk in!  Sounds outside persisted, too; first a dog barked on a shrill, obstinate note; then a drunken peasant was making an uproar somewhere and would not be pacified; then gates kept creaking; then a wretched cart on racketty wheels kept passing and passing and seeming as though it would never pass!  However, these sounds did not worry me:  on the contrary, I was glad of them; they seemed to distract my attention.  But now at last it seemed as though all were tranquil.  Only the pendulum of our old clock ticked gravely and drowsily in the dining-room and there was an even drawn-out sound like the hard breathing of people asleep.  I was on the point of getting up, then again something rustled ... then suddenly sighed, something soft fell down ... and a whisper glided along the walls.

Or was there nothing of the sort—­and was it only imagination mocking me?

At last all was still.  It was the very heart, the very dead of night.  The time had come!  Chill with anticipation, I threw off the bedclothes, let my feet down to the floor, stood up ... one step; a second....  I stole along, my feet, heavy as though they did not belong to me, trod feebly and uncertainly.  Stay! what was that sound?  Someone sawing, somewhere, or scraping ... or sighing?  I listened ...  I felt my cheeks twitching and cold watery tears came into my eyes.  Nothing! ...  I stole on again.  It was dark but I knew the way.  All at once I stumbled against a chair....  What a bang and how it hurt!  It hit me just on my leg....  I stood stock still.  Well, did that wake them?  Ah! here goes!  Suddenly I felt bold and even spiteful.  On!  On!  Now the dining-room was crossed, then the door was groped for and opened at one swing.  The cursed hinge squeaked, bother it!  Then I went up the stairs, one! two! one! two!  A step creaked under my foot; I looked at it spitefully, just as though I could see it.  Then I stretched for the handle of another door.  This one made not the slightest sound!  It flew open so easily, as though to say, “Pray walk in.” ...  And now I was in the corridor!