He had no warranty to suppose that he should remain unmolested during
the remainder of the night. The strange words of the Eurasian he did not
construe literally; yet could he be certain that he was secure?... Nay!
he could be certain that he was NOT!
The shaded lamp was swung in such a position that most of the light was
directed upon him where he lay, whilst the walls of the room were bathed
in a purple shadow. Behind him and above him, directly over the head of
the bunk, a faint sound--a sound inaudible except in such a dead silence
as that prevailing--told of some shutter being raised or opened. He had
trained himself to watch beneath lowered lids without betraying that he
was doing so by the slightest nervous twitching. Now, as he watched the
purple shaded lamp above him, he observed that it was swaying and moving
very gently, whereas hitherto it had floated motionless in the still
air.
No other sound came to guide him, and to have glanced upward would have
been to betray all.
For the second time that night he became aware of one who watched him,
became conscious of observation without the guaranty of his physical
senses. And beneath this new surveillance, there grew up such a
revulsion of his inner being as he had rarely experienced.
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