English for Everybody - Elementary reading comprehension

Dracula

Page 17

The sound of wolves

After a while I started to wonder how time was passing. I struck a match and looked at my watch in the light from the flame. It was a few minutes to midnight. This gave me a sort of shock. Many people believe that midnight is an evil time, and after what had recently happened to me, I rather felt the same way. I waited, feeling sick, not knowing what would happen next. Then a dog somewhere far down the road began to howl. It was a long, horrible sound, as if the dog was very scared. Another dog started to make the same noise, and then another and another. The wind, which was blowing softly through the Pass, suddenly carried the wild howling of wolves. In my imagination I imagined the sound coming to me through the darkness of the night from all over the country.

The horses became frightened and excited by the sound, and the driver was forced to leave his seat and stand by them. He patted and stroked them, and whispered something in their ears. I have heard of horse-tamers doing this, and it worked very well. Under his hands the horses became much calmer again, though they still trembled. The driver got back into his seat, and we started off again very quickly. This time we went to the far side of the Pass, then suddenly turned right down a narrow road. Soon trees we were among trees which bent right over the road until it seemed as though we were driving through a tunnel. The wolves sounded nearer and nearer, as though they were getting closer to us from every side.

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