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"It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled

about looking for matches and muttering under his breath.

Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a

long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew

broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she

held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us.

I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which

the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich

material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as

though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a

gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly

fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered

something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room

from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the

lamp in his hand.