d down without undressing, determined that I would only rest; I
would not even close my eyes to sleep. I had laid thus as I supposed an
hour, listening to the voices of the old people and their sons, as in
subdued tones they talked together below. At the end of that time the
door opened, and I heard stealthy steps ascending the ladder. My heart,
as the saying is, was in my throat, and I could hear its every throb.
The steps came nearer and nearer, and as the first foot-fall sounded on
the floor of the little passage, which led to my room, I shrieked, 'Who
is there? what do you want?'"

"'Bless your soul it's only me; you need not scream so,' said the old
woman. 'I'm only going to the bin for some corn-meal to make mush for
your breakfast.'"

"'I do believe the gal thinks we are going to murder her in her bed,' I
heard her say with a loud laugh as she descended the ladder; 'you ought
to see the _chist_, and the things she's got piled on top of it, all
standing in the door-way.'"

"At this the men's voices joined in the laugh, and they sounded horribly
to me. 'Yes,' I thought to myself, 'how easy it would be for them to
murder us in our beds, and there would be no one to tell the tale.' Soon
after this, in spite of my resolution to keep awake, sleep must have
overpowered me, for I was awakened by a tremendous crash, as if the
house was falling, and I opened my eyes to find myself in total
darkness, and to hear soft footsteps in my room."

"Oh, how I shrieked this time! I believe I cried 'help! help! murder!'
and I soon heard footsteps approaching, and saw a light gleaming up the
ladder way, and soon the old woman's night-cap appeared over the chest.
'What _is_ the matter now?' she cried with some impatience, 'you
certainly are the most _narvous_ lodger I've ever had yet.'"

"'Matter enough,' said I, 'there is some one in my room. Didn't you hear
that awful crash?'"

"'Pshaw! it's only our old black cat!' said the old woman; 'he always
comes up to this room to sleep, but we thought we had shut him out.'"

"'Can he climb the ladder?' I asked."

"'Just like a _human_,' said the old woman; and, pushing aside the
chest, she seized the cat, and raising the only window in the room,
threw him out."

"Again weariness overpowered me, and I slept; only to awake to new
horrors; for now I heard cautious footsteps and whispered voices, and
outside the grindstone was at work making something very sharp. Then the
door opened,