"God have mercy!" cried Mrs. von Bredow and wanted to fold her hands again, but her head was still not quite balanced. Her round glasses had slipped down to her eyes, and the worn book that had sunk onto her lap while sleep brushed over her eyelashes with its velvet paws had now fallen to the ground. Perhaps that was what had awakened her. "Goodness, what was that?" The maids need not have answered; the wind was already responding on its own, and as it rushed by and howled through the forests, it hummed and buzzed ominously outside, as if a thousand soft cat paws were scratching at the oak shutters of the windows.