"'Only a mile from here in the Vale Capra.'
"Hem! It is impossible to get there on horseback, but I can reach him by
going on foot. Meanwhile you lock yourself in, put out the fire, and
whatever noise you hear, do not open the door till we come back.
"'Nay,' said Mariora, 'you must not go away. If Juon ought to come home,
there is a sign between us. I have here an Alpine horn; he has taught me
how to blow upon it, and has told me that if ever I should be in great
danger I must blow it, and however distant he may be, he will hear it
and hasten home.'
"'But it is night now; perhaps he is asleep.'
"'Juon never sleeps at night, he must be awake and protect his herds.'
"'And what then will become of his goats if he leaves them?'
"'Are not I and my child dearer to him than all his property?'
"Then I told Mariora that no time must be lost, and that she should blow
the horn at once. It is a long tube made out of the bark of trees, with
the end tilted upwards, and anyone who knows how to blow it can make its
voice heard for miles. Mariora was too feeble with it. Perhaps at
another time she would have been more up to it, but now she was upset,
there was something which weighed down her bosom and hampered her
breathing: the horn gave forth but a feeble and uncertain sound. We
listened for the echoes and they scarce resounded from the sides of the
adjacent hills.
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