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The grandfather clock struck twelve. From afar, Susan could hear
the loud and majestic chiming of the antique clock. It was ___1___
and Susan could not even see her fingers. The streetlights in
her area had not been switched on. She watched her every step
and walked quickly towards the house. She opened the wooden door
very carefully and slowly. She muttered a word of thanks to her
father for repairing the creaky door. The house was so quiet
that a falling pin
___2___. So many things
ran across her mind. "Would her mother be ___3___
waiting to scold her for being so late ?" "Would she be punished
and grounded that whole week ?" As soon as she had closed the
door after her, she gasped a ___4___
on seeing no sign of activity at all in the house which meant
that her parents had not returned from the wedding dinner. She
was exhausted. She ___5___
to a nice hot bath and a good night's sleep.
Then she heard voices. It came from her father's library. The
door of the study was ___6___.
She tiptoed towards the door and peeped. The library was in a ___7___.
A pale figure was going through the drawers of the table.
Another was trying to break open the locked drawer of the
cabinet. From their voices she guessed that they were men. She ___8___
that they were frustrated, impatient and angry because they had
begun to raise their voices.
Susan crawled to the nearest telephone. She kept herself calm
and dialled for the police. A few seconds later, a tall burly
man came out of the library. Susan held her breath.
Then another short, fat man came out and said, "Hey, what's
wrong ?" The other replied, "Someone's in the house."
"What makes you think so ?" asked his ___9___.
The burly man replied, "The light on the telephone in the
library blinked a while ago. That means someone was using the
extension line." Susan ___10___
when she realized that she had been found out. "How could I
have forgotten about the extension line in he library ?" she
whispered to herself. what was she to do now ? |
