She put her hand on Arthur's arm to call his attention to
it, and with strained ears they listened. There was something alive on
the other side of the door. They heard its curious sound: it was not that
of a human voice, it was not the crying of an animal, it was
extraordinary.
It was the sort of gibber, hoarse and rapid, and it filled them with an
icy terror because it was so weird and so unnatural.
'Come away, Arthur,' said Susie. 'Come away.'
'There's some living thing in there,' he answered.
He did not know why the sound horrified him. The sweat broke out on his
forehead.
'Something awful will happen to us,' whispered Susie, shaking with
uncontrollable fear.
'The only thing is to break the door down.'
The horrid gibbering was drowned by the noise he made. Quickly, without
pausing, he began to hack at the oak door with all his might. In rapid
succession his heavy blows rained down, and the sound echoed through the
empty house. There was a crash, and the door swung back. They had been so
long in almost total darkness that they were blinded for an instant by
the dazzling light.
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