Suddenly, away on the left of the carriage I saw a faint flickering blue flame. The driver saw it at the same moment. He immediately stopped the horses, jumped to the ground, and disappeared into the darkness. I did not know what to do, especially because the howling of the wolves was getting closer. But the driver suddenly appeared again, and got back into his seat without a word, and we resumed our journey. I think I must have fallen asleep, for in my dream the same thing seemed to happen again and again. Now when I think of it, it is like a sort of awful nightmare. Once the flame appeared so near the road, that even in the darkness around us I could watch the driver. He went rapidly to where the blue flame was. The flame must have been very faint, for it did not seem to illuminate the place around it at all. The driver gathered a few stones and made a pattern under the flame.

Once something strange seemed to happen. When the driver stood between me and the flame I could still see the flame burning even though the driver was in the way. This startled me, but because it happened so quickly, I thought that my eyes had deceived me because of the effort of looking through the darkness. Then for a time there were no blue flames, and we sped through the night. The howling of the wolves was still around us, as though the wolves were following in a moving circle. Then there came a time when the driver went further away than he had done before. While he was away, the horses began to tremble worse than ever and to scream with fright. I could not see any reason for it, since the howling of the wolves had ceased completely.

Vocabulary:

Faint: Very weak
Flicker: Getting brighter and dimmer
Resume: Start again
Rapidly: Quickly
Gather: Collect
Startle: Surprise and shock
Cease: Stop