Micah Clarke by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — Read

At the base of the mill there stood a shed which was evidently used to / stall the horses which brought the farmers' grain. Some grass was heaped / up inside it, so I loosened Covenant's girths and left him to have a / hearty meal. The mill itself appeared to be silent and empty. I climbed / the steep wood ladder, and pushing the door open, walked into a round / stone-flagged room, from which a second ladder led to the loft above. On / one side of this chamber was a long wooden box, and all round the walls / were ranged rows of sacks full of flour. In the fireplace stood a pile / of faggots ready for lighting, so with the aid of my tinder-box I soon / had a cheerful blaze. Taking a large handful of flour from the nearest / bag I moistened it with water from a pitcher, and having rolled it out / into a flat cake, proceeded to bake it, smiling the while to think of / what my mother would say to such rough cookery. Very sure I am that / Patrick Lamb himself, whose book, the 'Complete Court Cook,' was ever in / the dear soul's left hand while she stirred and basted with her right, / could not have turned out a dish which was more to my taste at the / moment, for I had not even patience to wait for the browning of it, but / snapped it up and devoured it half hot. I then rolled a second one, and / having placed it before the fire, and drawn my pipe from my pocket, / I set myself to smoke, waiting with all the philosophy which I could / muster until it should be ready.

I was lost in thought, brooding sadly over the blow which the news would / be to my father, when I was startled by a loud sneeze, which sounded as / though it were delivered in my very ear. I started to my feet and gazed / all round me, but there was nothing save the solid wall behind and the / empty chamber before. I had almost come to persuade myself that I had / been the creature of some delusion, when again a crashing sneeze, louder / and more prolonged than the last, broke upon the silence. Could some one / be hid in one of the bags? Drawing my sword I walked round pricking the / great flour sacks, but without being able to find cause for the sound. I / was still marvelling over the matter when a most extraordinary chorus of / gasps, snorts, and whistles broke out, with cries of 'Oh, holy mother! ' / 'Blessed Redeemer! ' and other such exclamations. This time there could / be no doubt as to whence the uproar came. Rushing up to the great chest / upon which I had been seated, I threw back the heavy lid and gazed in.