The
eddying and unequal pressure of the wind heaped a huge sand-drift
against the walls, which probably screened them from the full force of
the blast, acting at the same time as a support to their feeble
consistency; sand and earthy matter were driven about and tossed against
the casement, insomuch that I almost anticipated a living inhumation.
The next gust, however, generally swept off the greater portion of the
deposit, making way for a fresh torrent, that poured upon the quaking
roof like the rush of a heavy sea over a ship's bulwarks.
I was not destined to be left companionless in the midst of my alarms.
The old woman and her daughter, too much terrified to remain quiet, came
down from their resting-place, which, being close within the thatch, was
most exposed to the tempest. A light was struck, and the dying embers
once more kindled into a blaze. The old woman, whom I could not but
observe with emotions of awe and curiosity, sat cowering over the flame,
her withered hands half-covering her furrowed and haggard cheeks; a
starting gleam occasionally lighted up her grey and wasted locks, which,
matted in wild elf-knots, hung about her temples.
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