A bulky object fell with a heavy squelch in the middle of the street,a few yards from us.I ran to it,and found a pulpy mass,with just form enough left to show it the body of a woman.It must have been thrown from some neighbouring window!I looked around me:the Shadow was walking along the other side of the way,with the white leopardess again at his heel!
I followed and gained upon them,urging in my heart for the leopardess that probably she was not a free agent.When I got near them,however,she turned and flew at me with such a hideous snarl,that instinctively I drew back:instantly she resumed her place behind the Shadow.Again I drew near;again she flew at me,her eyes flaming like live emeralds.Once more I made the experiment:she snapped at me like a dog,and bit me.My heart gave way,and Iuttered a cry;whereupon the creature looked round with a glance that plainly meant--"Why WOULD you make me do it?"I turned away angry with myself:I had been losing my time ever since I entered the place!night as it was I would go straight to the palace!From the square I had seen it--high above the heart of the city,compassed with many defences,more a fortress than a palace!
But I found its fortifications,like those of the city,much neglected,and partly ruinous.For centuries,clearly,they had been of no account!It had great and strong gates,with something like a drawbridge to them over a rocky chasm;but they stood open,and it was hard to believe that water had ever occupied the hollow before them.All was so still that sleep seemed to interpenetrate the structure,causing the very moonlight to look discordantly awake.
I must either enter like a thief,or break a silence that rendered frightful the mere thought of a sound!
Like an outcast dog I was walking about the walls,when I came to a little recess with a stone bench:I took refuge in it from the wind,lay down,and in spite of the cold fell fast asleep.
I was wakened by something leaping upon me,and licking my face with the rough tongue of a feline animal."It is the white leopardess!"I thought."She is come to suck my blood!--and why should she not have it?--it would cost me more to defend than to yield it!"So Ilay still,expecting a shoot of pain.But the pang did not arrive;a pleasant warmth instead began to diffuse itself through me.
Stretched at my back,she lay as close to me as she could lie,the heat of her body slowly penetrating mine,and her breath,which had nothing of the wild beast in it,swathing my head and face in a genial atmosphere.A full conviction that her intention toward me was good,gained possession of me.I turned like a sleepy boy,threw my arm over her,and sank into profound unconsciousness.
When I began to come to myself,I fancied I lay warm and soft in my own bed."Is it possible I am at home?"I thought.The well-known scents of the garden seemed to come crowding in.I rubbed my eyes,and looked out:I lay on a bare stone,in the heart of a hateful city!
I sprang from the bench.Had I indeed had a leopardess for my bedfellow,or had I but dreamed it?She had but just left me,for the warmth of her body was with me yet!
I left the recess with a new hope,as strong as it was shapeless.
One thing only was clear to me:I must find the princess!Surely I had some power with her,if not over her!Had I not saved her life,and had she not prolonged it at the expense of my vitality?
The reflection gave me courage to encounter her,be she what she might.