The wind came through the tree fiercer and fiercer.

All the chords of the great harp hummed, whistled, and shrieked.

And then came the horror of the sudden silence, silence everywhere, outside and downstairs.

What was it?
Was it a silence of blood?
What had he done?
The children lay and breathed the darkness.

And then, at last, they heard their father throw down his boots and tramp upstairs in his stockinged feet.