Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 5.djvu/157

Rh officers. Surely the Englishman, like a wise man, had locked himself in, specially knowing the rogue was about. . .. He evidently mistrusted him, since he had not wished to accost him bag in hand. . .. But why allow such hideous thoughts when one is so happy?

Thus did Léon cogitate to himself. In the midst of his thoughts, which I will refrain from analysing at greater length, and which passed in his mind like so many confused dreams, he fixed his eyes mechanically on the door of communication between the Blue Chamber and the Englishman's room.

In France, doors fit badly. Between this one and the floor there was a space of nearly an inch. Suddenly, from this space, which was hardly lighted by the reflection from the polished floor, there appeared something blackish and flat, like a knife blade, for the edge which the candlelight caught showed a thin line which shone brightly. It moved slowly in the direction of a little blue satin slipper, which had been carelessly thrown close to this door. Was it some insect like a centipede? . .. No, it was no insect. It had no definite shape. . .. Two or three brown streams, each with its line of light on its edges, had come through into the room. Their pace quickened, for the floor was a