Page:Selected Czech tales - 1925.djvu/72

 and could not tell in which direction she had gone.

Old Martinka got up from her bed and lighted a candle. She started; it was nearly eleven o’clock. She ought to have been on her way through the forest by this time. But her rheumatism had kept her awake, and so she had ended by oversleeping herself. She would willingly have given a silver three-penny if she could have lain a little longer and slept to her heart’s content, but there was no help for it; she was expected, and must needs creep out of her feather-bed. What would old Matouš say if she did not come to fetch the contraband?

He had hinted at silks which would have to be hidden in the bushes and under trees, as it was impossible to convey them to their destination at once, and he could not do this without her help. The customs officers and the police of the whole neighbourhood knew him for a bad penny, and had their eyes. on him. Even with his cleverest moves he would not have succeeded in getting through.—Ah! things did not come as easily to her as they used to. Her old legs were longing for rest and comfort. Martinka was right