"One minute more," replied his wife; and then she called softly, "Annie,
sister Annie, do you see any one coming?"

"I think I see a cloud of dust a little to the left."

"Do you think it is my brothers?" said the wife.

"Alas, no, dear sister, it is only a shepherd boy with his sheep."

"Will you come down now, madam, or shall I fetch you?" Bluebeard bawled
out.

"I am coming,--indeed I will come in just a minute."

Then she called out for the last time, "Annie, sister Annie, do you see
any one coming?"

"I see," replied her sister, "two horsemen coming, but they are still a
great way off."

"Thank God," cried the wife, "it is my brothers. Urge them to make
haste." Annie replied, "I am beckoning to them. They have seen my
signals. They are galloping towards us."

Now Bluebeard called out so loudly for his wife to come down that his
voice shook the whole house. His lady, not daring to keep him waiting
any longer, hurried down the stairs, her hair streaming about her
shoulders and her face bathed in tears. She threw herself on the floor
at his feet and begged for mercy.