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The blue flames

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.