Arkansas State press., 1944-04-07

again, Anne saw him look at a
suffered balcony over an arched
entrance that must have been for a
carriage or coach in the old days
Then he was gone almost at once,
and she saw the dark oblong close
behind him. The man who had
passed her came out on the side.
walk again. He was standing there,
looking at her, She realized with a
little shock that in spite OF every
thing Mr., Taussig's presence in
the street had been an unconscious
protection. A sudden panic OF terror
gripped her. constructing her throat,
making her body taut and as cold
as ice, The eerie spell of the ancient
streets Vas gone. an acute sense OF
physical danger had taken its place.
She had an almost overwhelming
impulse to turn and run as fast as
she could, and controlled il sharply.
II was the most dangerous thing she
could do. She elenehed her fists
tightly to make her hands stop trem-
bling, and forced herself to move
quietly and at a reasonable pace
toward the corner. Perhaps il she
crossed the street out Of the shad-
ows She took a step toward
the curb and stopped.
A man she hadn't noticed before
was moving along the other side Of
the street, going quickly in the di-
rection Taussig had gone, He had
come out of no door she'd seen or
heard open. But it wasn't that SO
much as a vague sense Of familiari-
ty She caught her breath
sharply and moved back into the
shadow again. all her terror forgot
ten, aware only at a sudden nause-
ating sinking of her heart. 1t was
Miguel. He was going to the same
place that Taussig had gone to. She
knew that even before he stopped at
the arched entrance.
She went forward a little, hesitat-
Ing, aware that the impulse she'd
had to follow Mr.. Taussig had not
come In relation to Miguel. She
didn't want to know any more now
all she wanted to do was get away
as quickly as she could. She took
two more unsteady steps, and be-
came aware then, with a shock of
AFFECT fright, that the mar who'd
been watching her was beside her.
saying something, she didn't know
what. All she knew was that the
shadows were suddenly alive and
horrible and then she was run
ming, breathless. her heart pound
ing, running toward Miguel, into
what 1t didn't matter, so terrified
that she could not hear her own
footsteps or those behind her, over
taking her before she could reach
the door and Miguel. and safe
ty. She put her hand out, fumbling
for the knob. There was none
nothing but a blank painted wall, a
narrow rectangle set in one of the
leaves. 1t gave as she pushed
against it, and she stumbled in and
thrust it to behind her, pressing the
weight of her body against it.
She closed her eyes, listening des-
p%erately. There was no sound, moth.
ing, either inside or out . only
the pounding Of her heart in her
ears. She opened her eyes and
looked ahead Of her. The faint sill
yer light from the sky sifted down
into a shadowy inner courtyard be-
yond the dark tunnel Of the arch
way. The only sign of life was a
cat walking slowly across the cob
bled yard, its eyes like red Goals as
1t passed into the dark. She could
see another arched passage on the
other side Of the court, with an iron
grille in front of it. Perhaps the two
men had gone through there. She
hesitated, not daring to 60 forward,
not knowing.
A faint fresh odor of cigar smoke
seeped through the heavy musty
darkness of the tunnel. Her heart
skipped a beat. There was no mis-
taking 1t and they were there,
then. Instantly everything changed
again. She took a step forward, her
hand touching the cool, smooth pa
tina Of the stone wall, and crept
along beside II, slowly and sound.
lessly. until she got almost to the
end. She could see the stone stair.
way leading up to the frst-1oor gal.
lery. The cat came silently out
from the dark recesses and went I'D
the steps. The fragrance of the ci.
gar smoke was palmer now, but as
far as Anne could see there was no
light anywhere.
Her body went suddenly tense as
she heard q sound somewhere above
her as II somebody had moved a
chair across the floor. She slipped
to the other side Of the tunnel, meas.
ured the distance between her and
the stone stairway, and crept silent.
ly along the wall under the shadow
OF the o~verhanging caves. She pu,
her foot out gingerly to be sure,
The cnhh1nc nndnr A.. . 49,