Then her thoughts returned to the blow which had awakened her, and the
conclusion followed that it must have been the result of the half-blind
flight of one of those great winged beetles.
She closed the window abruptly. She closed the second one. Then,
having drawn the curtains, she fumbled for the matches and lit the
candles upon her dressing bureau. It was her intention to search for
the intruding beetle, and then retire.
But her search terminated abruptly. It terminated even as it began.
That which had struck her was lying almost at her feet upon the soft
rug on which she stood, and within a yard of where she had been
sitting. It was a piece of paper tied about a small ball of soil.
She stared down at it for some startled moments. The effects of her
dread were still upon her, and they set up a sort of panic which made
her fearful of touching the missile. But it could not remain there
uninspected. There could be no thought of retiring without learning
the meaning of what lay there on the floor.
Gingerly she stooped with a candle in her hand.
Pages:
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382