The Cat pretended to be anxious, while secretly rejoicing:
"This may be the end of it," she said, curling her whiskers. "They won't dare to go on after this."
Dear Tylô made superhuman efforts to help his little master, while Mytyl stood crying in a corner.
At last, our hero gave a shout of triumph:
"Hurrah! They're giving way! Victory! Victory! The door is shut!"
At the same time, he dropped on the steps, utterly exhausted, dabbing his forehead with his poor little hands which shook with terror.
"Well?" asked Night, harshly. "Have you had enough? Did you see them?"
"Yes, yes!" replied the little fellow, sobbing. "They are hideous and awful.... I don't think they have the Blue Bird...."
"You may be sure they haven't," answered Night, angrily. "If they had, they would eat him at once.... You see there is nothing to be done...."
"I must see everything," he declared. "Light said so...."
"It's an easy thing to say," retorted Night, "when one's afraid and stays at home!"
"Let us go to the next door," said Tyltyl, resolutely. "What's in here?"
"This is where I keep the Shades and the Terrors!"
"As far as Shades go," he thought, "Mrs. Night is poking fun at me. It's more than an hour since I've seen anything but shade in this house of hers; and I shall be very glad to see daylight again. As for the Terrors, if they are anything like the Ghosts, we shall have another good joke."
Our friend went to the door and opened it, before his companions had time to protest. For that matter, they were all sitting on the floor, exhausted with the last fright; and they looked at one another in astonishment, glad to find themselves alive after such a scare. Meanwhile, Tyltyl threw back the door and nothing came out:
"Yes, there is! Yes, there is! Look out!" said Night, who was still shamming fright.
She was simply furious. She had hoped to make a great impression with her Terrors; and, lo and behold, the wretches, who had so long been snubbed by Man, were afraid of him! She encouraged them with kind words and succeeded in coaxing out a few tall figures covered with grey veils. They began to run all around the hall until, hearing the Children laugh, they were seized with fear and rushed indoors again. The attempt had failed, as far as Night was concerned, and the dread hour was about to strike. Already, Tyltyl was moving towards the big door at the end of the hall. A few last words took place between them: