Suddenly a gust of wind beat violently against the casement of the window, from which the double frame had been removed (by order of the prince, one window frame was removed in each room as soon as the larks returned), and, forcing open a loosely closed latch, set the damask curtain flapping and blew out the
candle with its chill, snowy draft.
I did not attempt to follow him, but remained seated in the arm-chair, speechless, tearless, and almost motionless, till he returned about half-an-hour after, and walking up to me, held the
candle in my face and peered into my eyes with looks and laughter too insulting to be borne.
At the end of twenty steps the corridor ended in a "jumping- off place." Tom got down on his knees and felt below, and then as far around the corner as he could reach with his hands conveniently; he made an effort to stretch yet a little farther to the right, and at that moment, not twenty yards away, a human hand, holding a
candle, appeared from behind a rock!
To make matters worse, the
candle went out and father and son were left in the dark.
He saw that a sigh was held back in her throat, and the little hand in the long glove shook as it held the
candle.
Without another word of explanation, she hurriedly lit a
candle and withdrew into the bedroom to put on her bonnet and shawl.
The dumbly-tortured figure in the chair; the broad window opposite the foot of the bed, with the black night beyond it; the
candle burning on the table-- these, and all other objects in the room, remained unaltered.
The wax
candles, which have to be stuck in bottle necks because there is nothing else to stick them in.
For many minutes he lay trembling and broken; but finally he drew himself to a sitting posture, and taking a match from his pocket, lighted the stump of the
candle which remained to him.
"Gentlemen," said the man holding the
candle and keys, "I believe everything is right.
Maren had provided himself with matches and a
candle. With some difficulty, begotten of his excitement, he made a light, and they proceeded to explore the place, passing from room to room.
With slowly dawning remembrance, Mr Venus rises, and holds his
candle over the little counter, and holds it down towards the legs, natural and artificial, of Mr Wegg.