She has seldom occasion to exert it, but, nevertheless, I have sometimes heard her call with force and eagerness.
If my ear was not deceived, it was her voice which I heard.
"Stop, go no further.

There is danger in your path." The suddenness and unexpectedness of this warning, the tone of alarm with which it was given, and, above all, the persuasion that it was my wife who spoke, were enough to disconcert and make me pause.

I turned and listened to assure myself that I was not mistaken.

The deepest silence succeeded.

At length, I spoke in my turn.