through the night-gowns lady Mara had put on them, but they could
not; and in the morning not one of them had a scratch. Through
the dark suddenly, came the only sound they heard the night long--the
far-off howl of the huge great-grandmother-cat in the desert: she
must have been calling her little ones, they thought, for that
instant the cats stopped, and all was still. Once more they fell
fast asleep, and did not wake till the sun was rising.

Such was the account the children gave of their experiences. But
I was with the veiled woman and the princess all through the night:
something of what took place I saw; much I only felt; and there was
more which eye could not see, and heart only could in a measure
understand.

As soon as Mara left the room with the children, my eyes fell on
the white leopardess: I thought we had left her behind us, but there
she was, cowering in a corner. Apparently she was in mortal terror
of what she might see. A lamp stood on the high chimney-piece, and
sometimes the room seemed full of lamp-shadows, sometimes of cloudy
forms. The princess lay on the settle by the wall, and seemed never
to have moved hand or foot. It was a fearsome waiting.

When Mara returned, she drew the settle with Lilith upon it to the
middle of the room, then sat down opposite me, at the other side of
the hearth. Between us burned a small fire.

Something terrible was on its way! The cloudy presences flickered
and shook. A silvery creature like a slowworm came crawling out
from among them, slowly crossed the clay floor, and crept into the
fire. We sat motionless. The something came nearer.