Part 8 (1/2)

The darkness of the night and the iloohts, which at first quite Overcahts ca character His mind once more reverted to the idea that he was held for ransom, and that for the present, at least, he was in safety; and not only so, but well cared for These people certainly had given him of their best They had h this bed of straas not very elegant, it was at least comfortable, and was no worse than they the himself down upon the straw, and found that it was a soft and a refreshi+ng couch Far better was this fresh straw than any formal bed could have been, for in such a house as that, a , as dirty, as greasy, and as squalid as the people of the house On the whole, Bob was pleased with his bed of straw, and with its clean, fresh s thus cut off for the present, Bob's fra as he entertained the idea of iht, his mind was constantly on the strain; but nohen that idea had been disht over his circumstances with ands had already gone away, and, as he supposed, to Salerno If so, he would, no doubt, either see his friends, or at least hear fro day

The more he considered his situation, the er did it seem, and the er hope, to the following day That would, without doubt, bring him news of his friends, or, perhaps, restore hihts like these, his rew more calm and cheerful every moment, and passed into a state of tranquil contentht on drowsiness As long as his excitement lasted, he could not feel the drowsiness; but now, as caler, and by degrees overpowered hiled with the fancies of dreas at a distance All was still, outside and inside No sound whatever arose from below The family seemed all asleep At last Bob dozed off also, and passed into the land of dreas conspired to keep his senses somewhat on the alert even in that slumber of his, and he was in that condition which is called sleeping with one eye open The fact is, the extraordinary excitement of his donkey ride, and especially of his last adventure in thus falling into captivity, had so roused his faculties, so affected his nerves, and so sharpened his senses, that even in his sleep there still predo hours

In this state he re rest and refreshainst danger

How long this sleep continued, whether minutes or hours, Bob could never afterwards reh all his nerves, he opened his eyes He was lying, as he had flung hiainst a bundle of straw, in such a way that he could see the length of the room

It was a noise that he heard He listened breathlessly, and looked with all his eyes

Around hiht be early night; he could not tell All was still, outside and inside--the blackness of darkness and the stillness of death

Yet now, in the midst of that black darkness and that deathly stillness, he beca sound, which was repeated at short intervals, acco noise It sounded in the direction of the opening by which the ladder led up froht, faint and flickering, yet visible enough in that deep darkness; and as the grating, shuffling sounds succeeded one another at regular intervals, even so did the faint, flickering ray of light grow brighter and brighter

As Bob looked at this and took it all in, one thought ca up the ladder!_

The thought went through hi up the ladder!

Who?

What for?

Thatslowly and stealthily It was the tread of one ished to co out of sleep suddenly, the mind is often confused; but when, after such a sudden awakening, it is confronted by soreat to be endured

So was it with Bob at this ti had been sudden; and the horror that he found in the object that now presented itself was, that the shuffling sound that arose from the ladder was the step of Doo towards him to make him its prey There arose within him an awful anticipation His eyes fixed the; all his soul awaited, in dreadful expectation, the appearance of the mysterious visitor, and as the stealthy step drew nearer and nearer, the excite

At length the figure began to e

Bob's eyes were fixed upon the place

He saw first the light It erisly, skinny hand Then followed an arm

Bob's excitement was now terrible His heart beat ild throbs