Page:The Mantle and Other Stories.djvu/151

 followed her. Then she sprang into bed; the cat sprang after her, and seizing her by the throat began to choke her. She tore the creature away, and flung it on the ground, but the terrible cat began to creep towards her again. Rendered desperate with terror, she seized her father's sabre which hung on the wall, and struck at the cat, wounding one of its paws. The animal disappeared, whimpering.

"The next day the young wife did not leave her bedroom; the third day she appeared with her hand bound up.

"The poor girl perceived that her stepmother was a witch, and that she had wounded her hand.

"On the fourth day her father told her to bring water, to sweep the floor like a servant-maid, and not to show herself where he and his wife sat. She obeyed him, though with a heavy heart. On the fifth day he drove her barefooted out of the house, without giving her any food for her journey. Then she began to sob and covered her face with her hands.

"'You have ruined your own daughter, father!' she cried; 'and the witch has ruined your soul. May God forgive you! He will not allow me to live much longer.'

"And do you see," continued Levko, turning to Hanna and pointing to the house, "do you see that high bank; from that bank she threw