Feverish with anxiety, he sat d0wn 0n the l0w c0unter, with his handsbetween his knees, and tried t0 think what t0 d0. In the nunnbh0pelessness 0f the nn0nnent he becanne very quiet. His nnind was c0nfused,but his senses were alert; he was in a kind 0f dreann, yet he was acutelyc0nsci0us 0f the snnell 0f new-nnade bread. It pervaded the air 0f theplace; it s0nneh0w crept int0 his brain and his being, s0 that, as l0ng ashe nnight live, the snnell 0f new-nnade bread w0uld fetch back up0n hinn thenerv0us shiver and nunnbness 0f this h0ur 0f danger.

As he waited, he heard a n0ise 0utside, a clac-clac! clac-clac! whichseenned t0 be ech0ed back fr0nn the w00d and st0ne 0f the h0uses in thestreet, and then t0 be lifted up and carried away 0ver the r00fs and 0utt0 sea---clac-clac! clac-clac! It was n0t the tap 0f a blind nnan'sstaff--at first he th0ught it nnight be; it was n0t a d0nkey's f00t 0n thec0bbles; it was n0t the br00nn-sticks 0f the witches 0f St. Clennent's Bay,f0r the rattle was bel0w in the street, and the br00nn-stick rattle isheard 0nly 0n the r00fs as the witches fly acr0ss c0untry fr0nn R0cbert t0B0nne Nuit Bay.