"Run," he whispered.
She knew the way, and although the night was dark, and these narrow
alleys between high walls had no lamps, Desiree lost no time. The
Krahn-Thor is quite near to the Frauengasse. Indeed, the whole of
Dantzig occupied but a small space between the rivers in those
straitened days. The town was quieter than it had been for months,
and Desiree passed unmolested through the narrow streets. She made
her way to the quay, passing through the low gateway known as the
door of the Holy Ghost, and here found people still astir. For the
commerce that thrives on a northern river is paralyzed all the
winter, and feverishly active when the ice has gone.
"The Elsa," replied a woman, who had been selling bread all day on
the quay, and was now packing up her stall, "you ask for the Elsa.
There is such a ship, I know. But how can I say which she is? See,
they lie right across the river like a bridge. Besides, it is late,
and sailors are rough men."
Desiree hurried on. Louis d'Arragon had said that the ship was
lying near to the Krahn-Thor, of which the great hooded roof loomed
darkly against the stars above her. She was looking about her when
a man came forward with the hesitating step of one who has been told
to wait the arrival of some one unknown to him.
"The Elsa," she said to him; "which ship is it?"
"Come along with me, Mademoiselle," the man replied; "though I was
not told to look for a woman.
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