Footsteps--young steps, they
seemed--were heard to come tearing down on the outside gravel, from the
direction of the cathedral, and descend the steps. Then there was a
startling cry and a plunge into the river.
The old woman echoed the cry; but there were none to hear it, and she
was powerless to aid. That a human soul was struggling in the water was
certain; and she called and called, but called in vain. She was shut up
in the house, unable to move; and there were none outside to hear her.
In her grief and distress she at length pulled the bed-clothes over her
ears, that she might hear no more (if more was to be heard) of the
death agony.
Twenty minutes or so, and then the girl came in. The old woman brought
her head from under the clothes, and stated what had occurred, and the
girl went and looked at the river. But it was flowing along peacefully,
showing no signs that anything of the sort had happened. Not a creature
was on the path on either side, so far as her eyes could see in the
moonlight; and she came to the conclusion that her grandmother must
have been mistaken. "She has odd fancies," said the child to herself,
"and thinks she hears things that nobody else never hears."
At ten o'clock Diggs came home. Now, this man had a propensity for
yielding to an infirmity to which many others also yield--that of
drinking too freely. It is true that this did not often occur; but when
it did happen, it was usually at a time when his services were
especially required.
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