Page:German Stories (Volumes 1–2).djvu/26

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Introduction.
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4, MADEMOISELLE DE SCUDERI.

tend his sister's wedding, and thus it happened that de Scuderi's waiting maid, la Martiniére, was alone, and the only person who now kept watch in the mansion. She heard the knocking repeated after a short silence, and suddenly the painful reflection came on her mind, that Baptiste was absent, and that she and her lady were left quite defenceless against any wicked intruder. All the stories of house-breaking, theft, and above all of murder, which were then so frequen in paris, crowded at once on her remembrance, and she became almost convinced, that some band of assassins, aware of their lonely situation, were the cause of this disturbance. If rashly admitted, they would doubtless perpetrate some horrible outrage; so she staid in her room, terrified and trembling; at the same time wishing in her heart Baptiste (or rather his sister and her wedding party) au diable

Meanwhile, the knocking continued to thunder on; and it seemed as if she distinguished a voice at intervals, crying out--"Open the door, pour l'amour de Dieu,--open the door!"--At last, in great agitation, Martiniére seized the candle and ran out into the corridor, where she plainly

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