Amid these thoughts, which did not enter her mind dimly and vaguely,
but with perfect clearness and distinctness, the hours passed with
magical swiftness and, ere she was aware of it, the springless waggon
rolled over the uneven pavement of a street in the suburbs. The noisy
rattle of the wheels, which followed their former comparatively
noiseless movement, and the jolts which the vehicle received in the
numerous holes of the roadway quickly roused Panna from her deep
reverie and brought her to a consciousness of external things.
It was about two o'clock in the morning. She asked the peasant to
drive to the corner of a certain street, where the doctor whom she
wanted, lived; when she reached the desired place she got out, gave her
driver another florin, and said:
"Neighbour, go into a tavern and let your horses rest. You can ride
home whenever you choose; I will ask the doctor to drive out in his own
carriage and to take me with him; we shall get there several hours
earlier with his fresh horses, than with your tired nags, which could
not turn back at once.
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