The Hound of Florence Read Online Free Page A

imperious and unquestioned authority, filled him with astonishment and fascinated him as an altogether new phenomenon.
    By way of comparison he cast a swift glance at the man on the seat opposite. He had a round, contented face, of a type sufficiently common, somewhat somnolent and at the same time alert, ever on the qui vive for a sudden word of command. Quickly Lucas turned to look at the Archduke again.
    â€œWhat do you want now, Cambyses?”
    Lucas felt his body quiver at the sound of this voice. But he continued to study his master’s face with passionate, searching curiosity.
    For a moment or two the pair of them, the man and the dog, remained looking into each other’s eyes. Then suddenly the smile that touched the Archduke’s lips vanished, his face clouded over, and a faint trace of embarrassment suffused his pale cheeks.
    â€œStop that, Cambyses! Don’t stare like that!” Heaving a sigh he fell back in his seat. “Strange,” he observed to the gentleman-in-waiting opposite him, who leaned forward eagerly to catch his words, “strange how a dog like that sometimes has a look that is quite human . . . as if he wanted to say something. . . . I don’t mean to be rude, Waltersburg, but just then Cambyses looked more intelligent than you do.”
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    At midnight Lucas woke up with a start. Gradually he became aware that he was lying on the ground, covered in straw. A moist heat, soft as a blanket, enveloped him and with every breath he inhaled the pungent smell of sweating horses. He could hear the jangling of chains, and snorting and bellowing; the occasional stamp of hooves fell vaguely on his ears. Timidly he raised his head. Close beside him stood an animal which, seen from below in the dim ruddy glow of a lantern, seemed to loom up like a giant. Lucas sprang to his feet in horror. He was in a stable! Close beside him the magnifi­cent white horse at whose feet he had been sleeping began to stir, and then he saw all the six great white horses that had drawn the Archduke’s coach on the previous day. There they stood side by side, separated only by low partitions. He recognized them at once, their white backs gleaming brightly above the dark boards at their sides. Their gorgeous harness was hanging on pegs high up on the wall.
    Utterly dumbfounded, Lucas staggered forward, rubbing his eyes and trying to remember what had happened. But his mind was a blank and, overcome by terror that increased every moment, he let his hand drop to his side, and stared about him, wondering whether he could not possibly escape from his strange surroundings. His anxious eyes suddenly caught sight of the stable door. Trembling all over, he crept breathless, step by step, toward it. Gently he raised the latch and paused for a moment, in case one of the grooms who might be sleeping in the stables should wake up. Then, cautiously opening the heavy door which creaked discordantly on its hinges, he slipped like lightning through the opening. He was free.
    Not until he felt the cold night wind on his face did he really wake up. Then fear clutched at his heart with redoubled intensity, and he trembled so violently that he could hardly breathe. Pulling himself together, he began to run. His terror seemed to hang like a weight about his limbs, his feet felt like lead, and yet his fear lashed him on. In the dim light of the waning moon he could see the straggling houses of a small town. His footsteps rang like iron on the dry ground. Now and again a dog made a dash at him from behind a fence, a gate or a garden wall, and at the first sound of a bark, Lucas jumped as though shot. The bark echoed deep down into his heart, tearing away the veil which sleep had drawn across his memory, suddenly revealing ghostlike pictures of experiences which, at once confused yet terribly distinct, merged into one another.
    On gaining the open highway, he ran without heeding his