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At sight of the girl the woman rose and came forward, her gait so feeble and
unsteady that she was forced to support herself with a long staff which she
grasped in both her hands. One of the guards spoke a few words to her and then
the men turned and left the apartment. The girl stood just within the door waiting
in silence for what might next befall her.
The old woman crossed the room and stopped before her, raising her weak and
watery eyes to the fresh young face of the newcomer. Then she scanned her from
head to foot and once again the old eyes returned to the girl's face. Bertha Kircher
on her part was not less frank in her survey of the little old woman. It was the
latter who spoke first. In a thin, cracked voice she spoke, hesitatingly, falteringly,
as though she were using unfamiliar words and speaking a strange tongue.
"You are from the outer world?" she asked in English. "God grant that you may
speak and understand this tongue."
"English?" the girl exclaimed, "Yes, of course, I speak English."
"
Thank God!" cried the little old woman. "I did not know whether I myself might
speak it so that another could understand. For sixty years I have spoken only
their accursed gibberish. For sixty years I have not heard a word in my native
language. Poor creature! Poor creature!" she mumbled. "What accursed
misfortune threw you into their hands?"
"You are an English woman?" asked Bertha Kircher. "Did I understand you aright
that you are an English woman and have been here for sixty years?"
The old woman nodded her head affirmatively. "For sixty years I have never been
outside of this palace. Come," she said, stretching forth a bony hand. "I am very
old and cannot stand long. Come and sit with me on my couch."
The girl took the proffered hand and assisted the old lady back to the opposite
side of the room and when she was seated the girl sat down beside her.
"Poor child! Poor child!" moaned the old woman. "Far better to have died than to
have let them bring you here. At first I might have destroyed myself but there was
always the hope that someone would come who would take me away, but none
ever comes. Tell me how they got you."
Very briefly the girl narrated the principal incidents which led up to her capture
by some of the creatures of the city.
"
Then there is a man with you in the city?" asked the old woman.
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