Yet I hoped by grouting at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one side, and I was left in darkness.

The settlers were attacked early next morning by a scouting party.

On a square of grey silk lay several objects with a direct relationship to our brimming thoughts – the great hatpin with its ugly blue stone head, and the eburnine ring of my lover which I could not see even now without a pang.

A flock of ravens rose from inside the walls when they climbed through the broken gate, and the caged ravens in their wagons called out to them with quorks and raucous shrieks.