AND HER CAT. 21

him, and hastened down stairs, with haggard looks and hair
on end, like a man who knows he is committing a crime.
It was a fine night in February: the sky was calm and
clear, the weather cold and dry; the moon was shining in
all its splendour, but at intervals was overshadowed by a
few thick clouds which completely darkened its light.
Daddy Sharpphiz had to cross the garden and go through
a small door, the key of which he had borrowed: he stole
along from shrub to shrub, taking care to avoid the paths
except when darkness hid him from view. He had partly

   

Yaone

‘opened the door, when he heard on the outside a great noise
of people running and shouting; he shuddered in spite of
himself, stood stockstill, and listened.

“ What a fool I am,” said he, after a short and silent
examination; “I had forgotten this was the night of the
masqueiade: it is nothing but a few maskers !”

B2