.. a woman's head!
Soames convulsively clenched his jaws, for his teeth were beginning to
chatter.
A whistle, an eerie, minor whistle, subscribed the ultimate touch
of terror to the night. The silhouette disappeared, and, shortly
afterwards, the gray luminance. A faint click told of some shutter being
fastened; complete silence reigned.
Soames groped his way to the bed and fell weakly upon it, half lying
down and burying his face in the pillow. For how long, he had no idea,
but for some considerable time, he remained so, fighting to regain
sufficient self-possession to lie to Ho-Pin, who sooner or later must
learn of his return.
At last he managed to sit up. He was not trembling quite so wildly, but
he still suffered from a deathly sickness. A faint streak of light from
the corridor outside shone under his door. As he noted it, it was joined
by a second streak, forming a triangle.
There was a very soft rasping of metal. Someone was opening the door!
Soames lay back upon the bed. This time he was past further panic and
come to a stage of sickly apathy. He lay, now, because he could not sit
upright, because stark horror had robbed him of physical strength, and
had drained the well of his emotions dry.
Gradually--so that the operation seemed to occupy an interminable time,
the door opened, and in the opening a figure appeared.
Pages:
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195