The Cruise of the Gyro Car by Herbert Strang

OLD Giulika, laughing with a childish delight in the discomfiture of the enemy, closed the door, and, since the bolts had been broken, had it barricaded with balks of timber that were kept on the ground floor. Then he returned with his guests to the living apartments at the top of the house. He was quite cheerful. He joked with the men of his family on their victory, and ordered the women, who showed no alarm, to prepare a sumptuous supper to celebrate it. The larder, which consisted of two large dug-out troughs, did not contain anything very dainty; but a fowl and a young pig were soon simmering in a huge pot of beans, and on these, served in wooden ladles, and hard maize bread, the men feasted; the women would eat when their lords had finished.

The guests had little appetite. They were very weary, but too anxious and troubled to sleep. The air of the room was hot and oppressive, and by-and-by the old man, perceiving how pale they were, asked if he could serve them in any way, and, at their request, immediately removed the millstones from the two unglazed windows, and let in a current of cool air. He chuckled as he returned to the company. The enemy, he said, had encamped some little distance away, around a large fire; evidently they wished to be out of reach of stones from the roof. They, too, appeared to be cheerful. Strains of song rose from the encampment-fierce songs of war, of struggles with the Turks, and the heroic deeds of Scanderbeg.