It had been raining, and the water soon turned to ice.  I was a long way from my destination, and the trees and moonless night kept me from seeing anything in the way of a guidepost.  As I reached a crossroads, there on a hill above the forest I spied what looked like firelight through a window.  Maybe someone will give shelter to a hapless traveler, I thought, and made my way up an old stone pathway that apparently led to the building above.  It did, and when I stepped out of the trees I saw the place was a crumbling ruin of an old manor, but there was a fire seen through the one ground floor window that was intact.  I walked up some steps to a door and lifted the heavy, skull shaped knocker and hit the door with it three times.  Nothing.  I tried again, pulling my old coat around my shoulders and adjusting my tail to keep some of the rain off it.  Still no answer.  Well, shoot.  I pushed against the door in a gesture of futility and it...