Oh, such a day!
So fought, so followed and so fairly won
Came not till now to dignify the times.
Since Cæsar's fortunes.
Shakespeare
Capitola lay upon the bed, with her face buried in the pillow, the
greater portion of the time from two o'clock until day. An
uncontrollable horror prevented her from turning lest she should see
the yawning mystery in the middle of the floor, or hear some awful
sound from its unknown depths. The very shadows on the walls thrown up
wildly by the expiring firelight were objects of grotesque terror.
Never--never--in her whole youth of strange vicissitude, had the nerves
of this brave girl been so tremendously shaken and prostrated.
It was late in the morning when at last nature succumbed, and she sank
into a deep sleep. She had not slept long when she was aroused from a
profound state of insensibility by a loud, impatient knocking at her
door.
She started up wildly and gazed around her. For a minute she could not
remember what were the circumstances under which she had laid down, or
what was that vague feeling of horror and alarm that possessed her.
Then the yawning trap-door, the remnants of the supper, and Black
Donald's coat, hat and boots upon the floor, drove in upon her reeling
brain the memory of the night of terror!
The knocking continued more loudly and impatiently, accompanied by the
voice of Mrs. Condiment, crying: "Miss Capitola--Miss Capitola--why, what can be the matter with her?
Miss Capitola!"
"Eh? What? Yes!" answered Capitola, pressing her hands to her feverish
forehead, and putting back her dishevelled hair.
"Why, how soundly you sleep, my dear! I've been calling and rapping
here for a quarter of an hour! Good gracious, child what made you
oversleep yourself so?"
"I--did not get to bed till very late," said Capitola, confusedly.
"Well, well, my dear, make haste now, your uncle is none of the
patientest, and he has been waiting breakfast for some time! Come, open
the door and I will help you to dress, so that you may be ready
sooner."
Capitola rose from the side of the bed, where she had been sitting, and
went cautiously around that gaping trap door to her chamber door, when
she missed the key, and suddenly remembered that it had been in Black
Donald's pocket when he fell. A shudder thrilled her frame at the
thought of that horrible fall.
"Well--well--Miss Capitola, why don't you open the door?" cried the old
lady, impatiently.
"Mrs. Condiment, I have lost the key--dropped it down the trap-door.
Please ask uncle to send for some one to take the lock off--and don't
wait breakfast for me."