Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/150

 one that at first made him think that here was Oscar come home at last. He jumped up and ran eagerly to admit him, but stopped with his hand  almost upon the latch. It was not Oscar, it was no human being that was making that panting  sound outside, that pushing and shouldering of  some huge body against the door. His heart seemed to stand still as he waited for a second,  watching the rude boards shake and tremble  under the impact of that strange pressure. Something sniffed and snuffled along the crack at the threshold, something padded back and forth  out there in the dark, then the soft fumbling and  shouldering began again.

“If I push the table across the door—” thought Hugh, but the idea came a second too late.

The latch suddenly gave way, the door flew open, letting in a blast of wind and rain and  blowing out the lamp, so that the cabin was left  in inky darkness. A vast white form sprang into the room, knocking Hugh into a corner, striking  against a chair and upsetting it with a crash. Then there was utter silence, broken only by a