All had
occurred within the space of half a second. I quickly but cautiously
opened my bedroom door, extinguishing my light before doing so, and
began to creep downstairs, fearing to wake my mother. My shoes
creaked, so I took them off and carried them. Crossing the hall, I
softly drew the bolts of the front door; then I passed into the
moonlight. The gravel of the carriage-drive cut through my stockings,
and a pebble bruised one of my heels so that I nearly fell. When I
got safely under the shadow of the large cedar of Lebanon in the
middle of the lawn, I stopped and looked up at my mother's window to
see if she were a watcher. The blinds were down, there was no
movement, no noise. Evidently she was asleep. I put on my shoes and
hurried across the lawn towards the high road. I walked at a sharp
pace towards the old church. The bark of a distant dog or the baa of
a waking sheep was the only sound. When I reached the churchyard, I
peered in dread over the lich-gate before I opened it. Neither Wynne
nor any living creature was to be seen in the churchyard.
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