I began to rub my eyes and pinch myself to see if I was awake. It all seemed like a horrible nightmare to me. I expected that I would suddenly wake up, and I would be at home, with the light of dawn just starting to come in through the windows. This sometimes happened to me in the morning if I had worked too hard the day before. But my skin felt the pinch, and my eyes were playing tricks on me. I really was awake and among the Carpathian mountains. All I could do now was to be patient, and to wait for the coming of morning.

Just as I decided I would be outside all night, I heard footsteps coming toward me from behind the door. Through the cracks in the door I saw an approaching light. Then there was the sound of rattling chains and the sound of the door being unlocked. A key was turned with a noise which told me that it had not been used for a long time. Then slowly the huge door swung open.

A tall old man stood in the doorway. He had a long white moustache, and was completely dressed in black. In his hand he held a silver lamp which looked extremely old, which threw long shivering shadows across the ground as it flickered in the air which blew in from the open door. The old man signalled me to come in with a movement of his right hand. He spoke excellent English, but with a strange accent.