Outlander

Updated: 2024-4-18

Status: Completed

Outlander Novel Chapters

List of most recent chapters published for the Outlander novel. A total of 245 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024

Latest Release: Chapter 1 : PART ONE Inverness, 1945 1 A NEW BEGINNING It wasn’t a very likely place for disappearan
PART ONE Inverness, 1945 1 A NEW BEGINNING It wasn’t a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance. Mrs. Baird’s was like a thousand other Highland bed-and-breakfast establishments in 1945; clean and quiet, with fading floral wallpaper,

1 PART ONE Inverness, 1945 1 A NEW BEGINNING It wasn’t a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance. Mrs. Baird’s was like a thousand other Highland bed-and-breakfast establishments in 1945; clean and quiet, with fading floral wallpaper, 2024-4-23
2 “Old Days?” “The ancient feasts,” he explained, still lost in his mental notes. “Hogmanay, that’s New Year’s, Midsummer Day, Beltane and All Hallows’. Druids, Beaker Folk, early Picts, everybody kept the sun feasts and the fire feasts, so far as we know. 2024-4-23
3 “We had one—rather a crusty old thing really, a piper from the Third Seaforths—who couldn’t stand being stuck, especially not in the hip. He’d go for hours in the most awful discomfort before he’d let anyone near him with a needle, and even then he’d try 2024-4-23
4 “Mmm,” I said, setting the cup down. “It’s been a long time since I tasted Oolong.” Mrs. Graham nodded, beaming at my pleasure in her refreshments. She had clearly gone to some trouble, laying out handmade lace mats beneath the eggsh.e.l.l cups and provid 2024-4-23
5 I shuddered, and Frank put an arm around me. “There’s a bit of one of his poems left,” he said quietly. “Donald Donn’s. It goes: “Tomorrow I shall be on a hill, without a head. Have you no compa.s.sion for my sorrowful maiden, My Mary, the fair and tender 2024-4-23
6 There was a deep humming noise coming from somewhere near at hand. I thought there might be a beehive lodged in some crevice of the rock, and placed a hand on the stone in order to lean into the cleft. The stone screamed. I backed away as fast as I could, 2024-4-23
7 “C’mere, la.s.s.” A large, dark-bearded man remained seated at the table by the window as he beckoned me. By his air of command, he seemed to be the leader of this pack. The men parted reluctantly as Murtagh pulled me forward, apparently respecting his ri 2024-4-23
8 With no more than a faint c.h.i.n.king of bridles, we moved off into the starlit night. There was no conversation among the men, only a general wary watchfulness. The horses broke into a trot as soon as we reached the road, and I was jostled too uncomfort 2024-4-23
9 “Perhaps we should send her to Ste. Anne, Dougal,” offered one of the blank-faced figures squatting by the road. “I’ve not heard Jamie swear once since we left the coast, and he used to have a mouth on him would put a sailor to shame. Four months in a mon 2024-4-23
10 I laid down my cloth. The nasty part was done; now all we needed was a poultice of some kind—lacking iodine or penicillin, it was the best I could do for infection—and a good tight dressing. Eyes still closed, the young man did not appear to notice. “I ca 2024-4-23
11 “Ah?” he said. “Tell me more.” So, G.o.d help me, I told him more. I gave him in great detail the story of the confrontation between the Scots and Randall’s men, since he would be able to check that with Dougal. I told him the basic facts of my conversati 2024-4-23
12 I didn’t miss the emphasis laid on “English,” and neither did anyone else in the hall, I was sure. So, I was to be tolerated, but held under suspicion. Had he said French, I would have been considered a friendly, or at worst, neutral intrusion. It might b 2024-4-23
13 Numerous marigolds were scattered throughout the garden, bursting into golden flower. Just then the small lad she had sent in search of Jamie came up, out of breath from the run. He reported that the patient refused to leave his work. “He says,” panted th 2024-4-23
14 I now realized that I did recall some things about the actual trip through the stone. Very minor things. I remembered a sensation of physical struggle, as though I were caught in a current of some kind. Yes, I had deliberately fought against it, whatever 2024-4-23
15 There was a large brown gla.s.s jar in the front containing several suspicious-looking b.a.l.l.s, and in view of Beaton’s recipes, I had a good idea what it might be. Turning it around, I triumphantly read the hand-lettered label: DUNGE OF HORSES. Reflect 2024-4-23
16 “Oh, aye.” And Jamie launched into what appeared to be a verbatim recitation of the song, translated into English. It was an old ballad, apparently, about a young man who loved a young woman (what else?), but feeling unworthy of her because he was poor, w 2024-4-23
17 “Nay, he needs a woman, not a girl. And Laoghaire will be a girl when she’s fifty.” The grim old mouth twisted in something like a smile. “Ye may think I’ve lived in a stable all my life, but I had a wife as was a woman, and I ken the difference verra wee 2024-4-23
18 The Duncans’ house stood on the square, as behooved the residence of the procurator fiscal. This was a matter of convenience as well as status; the square could be used for those judicial matters which, by reason of public interest or legal necessity, ove 2024-4-23
19 The villagers, so lately calling for the lad’s blood, were kindness itself to me. I was tenderly gathered up and carried back to the Duncans’ house, where I was plied with brandy, tea, warm blankets, and sympathy. I was only allowed to depart at last by J 2024-4-23
20 There was a short speech next, given in Gaelic. This was greeted with periodic roars of approval, and then the oath-taking proper commenced. Dougal MacKenzie was the first man to advance to Colum’s platform. The small rostrum gave Colum enough height that 2024-4-23
21 My gaze met Dougal’s as he also looked down at the hideous wound. His lips moved, mouthing soundlessly over the man’s head the words, “Can he live?” I shook my head mutely. He paused for a moment, holding Geordie, then reached forward and deliberately unt 2024-4-23
22 He surveyed me with a glance that took in every detail of my costume and appearance. “Ye should really be armed yourself, m’dear,” he said in a tone of mild reproof. “Though I suppose Dougal thought it would not be suitable…still. I’ll speak to him about 2024-4-23
23 I sat down near him and leaned back against a rock, watching him a little diffidently. Beyond a brief nod of acknowledgment, he ignored me, completely occupied with inward thoughts of no very pleasant form, to judge from the dark frown on his face. One fo 2024-4-23
24 It occurred to me, listening to the chorus, that men in a hospital ward seldom really snore. Breathe heavily, yes. They gasp, groan occasionally, and sometimes sob or cry out in sleep. But there was no comparison to this healthy racket. Perhaps it was tha 2024-4-23
25 “Oh, so that’s what they were doing!” I exclaimed. “I wondered,” I added lamely. Captain Randall breathed heavily, then decided against whatever he had been going to say, in favor of continuing his story. “In the midst of this lawful pursuit,” he went on, 2024-4-23
26 “That he has,” I said dryly. The dirk sc.r.a.ped rhythmically against the stone. Every so often, a faint spark leapt from the metal as it struck a rough patch in the rock. “Weel, in the course of this inquiry, it came out that Jamie’d had the heel of a lo 2024-4-23
27 I flapped my hand, dismissing the matter of outlawry as a minor consideration, compared to the whole monstrous idea. I had one last try. “Does it bother you that I’m not a virgin?” He hesitated a moment before answering. “Well, no,” he said slowly, “so lo 2024-4-23
28 “ ’Til death us do part.” The words rang out in the quiet chapel with a startling finality. Everything was still, as though in suspended animation. Then the minister asked for the ring. There was a sudden stir of agitation and I caught a glimpse of Murtag 2024-4-23
29 “Well, now, where shall I start?” He put his rather large feet up on the stool and crossed them at the ankles. With some amus.e.m.e.nt, I recognized the Highlander settling back for a leisurely dissection of that tangle of family and clan relations.h.i.+p 2024-4-23
30 “That sounds terribly uncomfortable for the female snake,” I said, giggling. “Well, she appeared to be enjoying herself,” said Jamie. “Near as I could tell; snakes havena got much expression on their faces.” I buried my face in his chest, snorting with mi 2024-4-23
32 Eyes closed against the sun, Jamie laughed. “I suppose I could add a line for myself—‘I will leap into pools for thy sake.’ ” We both laughed, and then were quiet for a time, basking in the warm sun of the early summer. It was very peaceful there, with no 2024-4-23
33 “Rather a dull color, brown, I’ve always thought,” I said practically, trying to delay things a bit. I kept having the feeling of being whirled along much faster than I intended. Jamie shook his head, still smiling. “No, I’d not say that, Sa.s.senach. Not 2024-4-23
34 I froze, afraid even to look around, and tried to press myself still flatter against the ground. Jamie was motionless at my side, so still that he might have been a stone himself. Even the birds and insects seemed to have paused in their song, and the air 2024-4-23
35 Niece. I felt a small s.h.i.+ver run down my spine, in spite of the warm weather. Niece to the MacKenzie chieftain. Not to mention to the war chieftain of clan MacKenzie, riding so nonchalantly by my side. And on the other side, I was now presumably linke 2024-4-23
36 “Will they come back, do you think?” I asked, but he shook his head. “Nay, it was Malcolm Grant and his two boys—it was the oldest I stuck in the leg. They’ll be home in their own beds by now,” he replied. He stroked my hair and said, in softer tones, “Ye 2024-4-23
37 “It’s all right,” I said, as I came up to him. “It’s gone.” Instead of finding this statement rea.s.suring, it seemed occasion for fresh alarm. He dropped the bucket, fell to his knees before me and crossed himself. “Ha-have mercy, lady,” he stammered. To 2024-4-23
38 He stopped in his tirade to stare incredulously at me, rolling on the gra.s.s in hysterics. Jamie, red as a beetroot, led Dougal to the other side of the aspen screen, explaining in a subdued voice. I continued to whoop and giggle uncontrollably, finally 2024-4-23
39 He looked me over disapprovingly, taking in every detail of my waterlogged costume, unkempt hair, and generally disheveled appearance. “d.a.m.ned if I know what they want you for,” he observed. “Or, if you’re so valuable to them, why the devil they let yo 2024-4-23
40 I looked back over the camp. The men were cl.u.s.tering at the small building, milling and shouting. Off to one side, I spotted a small wooden platform, set three or four feet high, with steps leading up. A heavy wooden post rose out of the center, cross- 2024-4-23
41 “The other reason,” he went on, “is because of the other men. Ye’ll have noticed how they were tonight?” I had; it had been so uncomfortable at dinner that I was glad to escape to the room. “There’s such a thing as justice, Claire. You’ve done wrong to th 2024-4-23
42 “One I remember especially, because he’d make ye stand out in the front of the schoolroom with your hand out, and then he’d lecture ye at great length about your faults before he started, and again in between strokes. I’d stand there wi’ my hand out, smar 2024-4-23
43 He had risked his life for me. That much he might do for the sake of his marriage vow; he would, he said, protect me to the last drop of his blood, and I believed he meant it. I was more touched by the events of the last twenty-four hours, when he had sud 2024-4-23
44 Jamie lay back on the bed beside me, staring up at the ceiling. “No,” he said. “No, he told me all right. And at a reasonable price.” I rolled up onto an elbow in order to look down at his face. “Well, then?” I demanded. “Who did shoot the sergeant-major? 2024-4-23
45 “Claire,” he said evenly, “I shall tell ye in my own time why I’ve wed ye—or I won’t. I asked honesty of you, and I’ve given ye the same. And I give it to you now. The girl has no claim on me beyond that of courtesy.” He squeezed my chin lightly. “But tha 2024-4-23
46 He felt me wake, and drew me close, as though to preserve a moment longer the union we had reached in those last seconds of our perilous joining. I curled beside him, putting my arms around him. He opened his eyes then and sighed, the long mouth curling i 2024-4-23
47 Jamie stayed motionless, knowing that the stallion couldn’t reach him. Hamish jumped back with a squeak, clearly scared speechless by the sudden appearance of that monstrous s.h.i.+mmering head, with its rolling, bloodshot eyes and flaring nostrils. “I di 2024-4-23
48 “I don’t suppose,” I asked hopefully, “that you could tell Alec you’re sick, and come back to bed?” He laughed and bent to kiss me before groping under the bed for his stockings. “Would that I could, Sa.s.senach. I doubt much short of pox, plague, or grie 2024-4-23
49 The priest did not respond, but hunched his round shoulders and hitched his way up the garden stair a step at a time, like a penguin hopping up an ice floe. “That man doesn’t care overmuch for women, does he?” I remarked to Jamie. “Considering his occupat 2024-4-23
50 There was a m.u.f.fled thump from the far side of the landing, and I risked peeping out. It was the girl Laoghaire, pale as the plastered wall behind her. She was holding a tray with a decanter; a pewter cup had fallen from the tray to the carpeted floor, 2024-4-23
51 Jamie pushed back the bench and rose from the table, handing me out. He put an arm around my shoulders and smiled back at Rupert. “Well, then, I suppose the two of us will just have to fight it out back-to-back.” Rupert’s eyes flew open in horrified disma 2024-4-23
52 She caught me from behind and pushed me flat on my face into the shallow water. Floundering and gasping, I managed to rise to my knees, slos.h.i.+ng water in all directions. Geilie stood calf-deep in the stream, skirts soaked, glaring down at me. “You b.l 2024-4-23
53 Or it might have been the smell of lavender water. Geilie’s loose, flowing gowns smelled always of the essences she distilled: marigold, chamomile, bay leaf, spikenard, mint, marjoram. Today, though, it was lavender that drifted from the folds of the whit 2024-4-23
54 The Duncans’ house when I arrived had an air of neglected abandon, a sense of disorder that extended through the house itself. There was no answer to my knock, and when I pushed the door open, I found the entry hall and parlor scattered with books and dir 2024-4-23
55 “And how much longer will you live?” I asked. The irony turned inward, but the silver voice stayed steady. “A bit less than that, I expect. No great matter. I’ve managed a good deal in the time I had; ten thousand pounds diverted to France, and the distri 2024-4-23
56 It was a n.o.ble performance. He talked. And he talked. And he talked some more, seeming occasionally to pause respectfully for instruction from the bench, but in fact only drawing breath for another onslaught of verbiage. With my life hanging in the bala 2024-4-23
57 The mood of the crowd now swayed to and fro, uncertain. The bloodl.u.s.t that had driven it earlier was dissipating, but it might still tilt like a cresting wave and crush us. Mutt and Jeff glanced at each other, undecided; taken aback by this last develo 2024-4-23
58 The question seemed so preposterous that it took me a minute to think. “I’m twenty-seven…or maybe twenty-eight,” I added. That rattled him for a moment. At twenty-eight, women in this time were usually on the verge of middle-age. “Oh,” he said. He took a 2024-4-23
59 As the evening star began to glow among the black pines’ branches, I concluded that in this situation reason was of little use. I would have to rely on something else; just what, I wasn’t sure. I turned toward the split rock and took a step, then another, 2024-4-23
60 As we drew near, there was a sudden terrible racket from the direction of the outbuildings, and Donas s.h.i.+ed and reared. No horseman, I promptly fell off, landing ignominiously in the dusty road. With an eye for the relative importance of things, Jamie 2024-4-23
61 “Oh, I expect you’ve something to do with it. But she’d take it out of him whether you were here or not. She loves Jamie something fierce, ye know, and she worried a lot while he was gone, especially with her father goin’ so sudden. Ye’ll know about that? 2024-4-23
62 I had the nurturing and the loving of him as a boy. What will you do with the man I helped make? “Jamie says as you’re a rare fine healer.” “I mended his shoulder for him when we first met.” Yes, I am capable, and kind. I will care for him. “I hear ye mar 2024-4-23
63 Ian and I exchanged smiles. If there was any regret that such feats were now beyond him, it was hidden beneath his pleasure in seeing Jamie’s exuberance. “It’s good to have him back,” he said. “I only wish we could stay,” I said, with regret. The soft bro 2024-4-23
64 “Good morrow to you, ladies,” said the leader. He was a corporal, but not, I was pleased to see, Corporal Hawkins. A quick glance showed me that none of the men were among those I had seen at Fort William, and I relaxed my grip on the handle of my basket 2024-4-23
65 Jenny suddenly started to laugh. “I just remembered,” she said, “Da used to tell that story about you, Jamie, about thras.h.i.+ng you, and what he said to you. He said when he sent ye back to the house after, you came halfway down, then all of a sudden st 2024-4-23
66 “Oh, I could tell ye that.” He promptly doubled up, clasping himself, and rolled his eyes back in his head with a hideous gurgling groan. “Is that not right, Ian?” he asked, turning his head toward the stool where Ian sat laughing, wooden leg propped on t 2024-4-23
67 “I’ll tell ye this, mo duinne. One day Jack Randall will die at my hands. And when he is dead, I shall send back that book to the mother of Alex MacGregor, with word that her son is avenged.” The air of tension was broken by the sudden reappearance of Jen 2024-4-23
68 Jamie stood leaning on the fence, exchanging pleasantries as other tenants wended their ways homeward, until the untidy figure of MacNab was out of sight over the crest of the hill. He straightened, gazing down the road, then turned and gave a whistle. A 2024-4-23
69 Outraged, I stamped over to the desk and gripped Ian by the shoulder, shaking him roughly and ignoring Jamie, who pushed himself upright, saying, “Sa.s.senach, wait…” Ian was not quite unconscious. His head came up reluctantly, and he looked at me with a 2024-4-23
70 I didn’t much care for the thought of having to hunt alone through the Scottish Highlands for a man who might be anywhere, either, but I put a bold face on it. “I’ll manage,” I said. “It could be worse. At least he’s alive.” “True.” She glanced at the sun 2024-4-23
71 Snow fell the next day. Only a light fall, enough to dust the ground with a white like the flour on the millhouse floor, but it worried me. I didn’t like to think of Jamie, alone and unsheltered in the heather, braving winter’s storms in nothing but the s 2024-4-23
72 He stood suddenly and took a step toward me. “Who knows?” he said again, very softly. “If I were to plow that pretty brown-haired furrow and seed it deep each day…” The shadows on the cavern wall s.h.i.+fted suddenly as he took another step toward me. “We 2024-4-23
73 “Do ye, then? Hmm.” He replaced the dirk and resumed his pacing, stopping to demand, “How much money have ye, la.s.s?” I fumbled in the pocket of my gown. I had Dougal’s purse, the money Jenny had forced me to take, and my string of pearls. Rupert rejecte 2024-4-23
74 I was puzzled by his condition. He was clearly dazed and every line of his body was eloquent with pain, but I could see no obvious damage. There was no blood and no wound visible. I dropped to my knees and began methodically to try the keys of my ring on 2024-4-23
76 Wearily I turned to see where the sound had come from. I was in the open away from the prison by this time; no wall to brace my back against, and no weapon to hand. It had been luck as much as anything that helped me with the first wolf; there was not a c 2024-4-23
77 Most worrying of all, of course, was the fear that everything might work, and might be still too late. Waiting hangsman or no, Randall might go too far. I knew too well, from stories told by returning soldiers from POW camps, that nothing is easier than f 2024-4-23
78 “What did he tell you?” I demanded fiercely. “Where are you going?” The dark stringy little man hesitated for a moment, but answered evenly, “I’m to go wi’ young Absalom toward Wentworth and keep watch in that direction. If any Redcoats are headin’ this w 2024-4-23
79 “Claire? Are you all right, love?” “Am I all right? My G.o.d, Jamie!” Tears stung my eyelids and I blinked hard, sniffing. He raised his good hand slowly, as though it were weighted with chains, and stroked my hair. He drew me toward him, but I pulled awa 2024-4-23
80 Murtagh, pretending vast stupidity, had succeeded in drawing the soldiers ahead to the crest of the hill, so that they could point out that the road to Dingwall was the only road in sight, which ran down the other side of the hill. It ran through Ballagh, 2024-4-23
81 “Thank you,” I said. “I’m most grateful for your help.” The monk waved a graceful hand, dismissing my thanks. “I was pleased to be able to a.s.sist you,” he said, and I noticed that he spoke excellent English, though with a faint French accent. “I was pa. 2024-4-23
82 Unable to rest, I had not bothered to undress, and so was ready when a tap at my door announced Anselm’s presence. The monastery was quiet, in the way that all large inst.i.tutions grow quiet at night; the rapid pulse of the day’s activities has dropped, 2024-4-23
83 At the hour when time began to slow, I genuflected in the aisle of the chapel of St. Giles. Anselm was there, elegant shoulders straight beneath his habit, but no other. He neither moved nor looked around, but the living silence of the chapel embraced me. 2024-4-23
84 Indifferently rendered as it was, the tapestry was of heavy silk and wool, and excluded all but the strongest drafts. I lifted the lower edge and flapped it, urging the charcoal smoke out through the stone arch. The cold, damp air that streamed in was ref 2024-4-23
85 And I told him. Everything. Who I was and how I came there. About Frank, and about Jamie. And about the young English dragoon with the pale, spotty face, dying against the snow. He showed no change of expression while I spoke, except that the round brown 2024-4-23
86 “You have been gone from your place for nearly a year. Your first husband will have begun to reconcile himself to your loss. Much as he may have loved you, loss is common to all men, and we are given means of overcoming it for our good. He will have start 2024-4-23
87 France was the most likely. We both spoke French fluently. While Jamie could do as well in Spanish, German, or Italian, I was not so linguistically blessed. Also, the Fraser family was rich in connections here; perhaps we could find a place on an estate o 2024-4-23
88 Clutching the rough homespun around me, I followed Jamie down yet another flight of dark stairs. This was the third, and the narrowest yet; the lantern he held lit the stone blocks of walls no more than eighteen inches apart. It felt rather like being swa 2024-4-23
89 "Hoy!" I roared. Covered as they were by bars, I couldn't crank the cas.e.m.e.nts outward. I ran across the room to fetch one of the heavy silver candlesticks, dashed back, and smashed a pane of gla.s.s, heedless of the flying fragments. "Help! Ahoy, 2024-4-23
90 I didn't think she was going to consider an armed Highlander an adequate subst.i.tute for her absent lover. I could feel Jamie tense beside me, trying to overcome his scruples against striking a woman. Another instant, and she would turn, see him, and sc 2024-4-23
91 "I swear to thee, friend, and may G.o.d Almighty bear me witness. For the sake of your love to me, never shall those that are yours go wanting, while I have aught to give." He knelt unmoving for a long moment, and there was no sound in the cottage but t 2024-4-23
92 "It wasn't long, poor chap. It was as though he was only waiting to see her safely taken care of. I sent word to her aunt's house; the aunt and two cousins came to fetch her. They'll take care of…him." I sipped gratefully at the brandy. It burned my 2024-4-23
93 "If he were to die…now. Today. Or tonight. Jamie, without Charles, there's nothing to fight for. No one to order the men to Culloden. There wouldn't be a battle." The long muscles of his throat rippled briefly as he swallowed. He opened his eyes and s 2024-4-23
94 Practically breathless with the enormity of the responsibility entrusted to him, Fergus stood up straight, hands clasped over his middle. "I will not fail you, milord!" A faint smile crossed Jamie's lips, and he rested a hand briefly on the smooth cap 2024-4-23
95 I rolled to the side and lifted myself to watch him, to see the light touch the bold shape of his face, innocent in sleep, to see the dawning sun touch his hair with flame—for the last time. A wave of anguish broke through me, so acute that I must have ma 2024-4-23
96 "I never thought…it never occurred to me," she said, blowing her nose again. "I didn't know how much it would mean, to have someone believe me." "Even if it isn't Brianna?" She grimaced slightly at his words, brus.h.i.+ng back her hair with one ha 2024-4-23
97 "That's right." She gazed at him appraisingly, head c.o.c.ked to one side. "I knew it must be, when I saw you. The eyes, you know. They're hers." Roger sat down, feeling suddenly quite cold, in spite of the bookshelf blocking the draft, and the newl 2024-4-23
98 "No," said Roger, eyeing Dr. McEwan with some austerity. "That's why we're asking about her." "Is there anything…" Claire paused delicately, inviting, "that you think perhaps the committee should know, Dr. McEwan?" She leaned forward, opening he 2024-4-23
99 "Yeah," said Roger. "Thanks." He took a small sip of his drink. Brianna, offended, turned her back on Edgars and affected to be examining the contents of the china closet through the bevel-cut gla.s.s doors. There seemed no point in beating around the 2024-4-23
100 "This," said Brianna through her teeth, "is silly!" "No, it isn't," said Roger. He felt suddenly breathless, as though a constricting band had squeezed the air from his chest. "There's a light over there." It was barely there—no more than a flic 2024-4-23
101 Jamie smiled, seeing my pleasure. “Oh, aye. I expect they’ll have to knock him on the head wi’ an ax to kill him. He looks just the same as he always did, though he must be past seventy now.” “Does he still live at Castle Leoch?” He nodded, reaching to th 2024-4-23
102 I didn’t go upstairs to bed that night, either. We didn’t talk much, just lay close together in the narrow bed, scarcely moving, so as not to jar his injured arm. The rest of the house was quiet, everyone safely in bed, and there was no sound but the hiss 2024-4-23