We plodded on for about an hour, then stopped simultaneously. At first I
thought that the horror of the situation had affected my brain, but the
fact that Holman had stopped abruptly at the same moment as I did choked
back the cold fear that had rushed upon me. I was not insane! Holman was
listening too! I seemed to feel that the tiny thread of sound which had
set my pulses beating madly had also keyed him up to the highest
tension.
After a minute of intense silence he put a question.
"Did you hear anything?"
"Did you?" I stammered.
"Are we mad, Verslun?" he asked hoarsely. "I thought--" He stopped and
moved close to me. I heard his quick breathing as he groped to find me.
"Verslun, did you hear?" he whispered, gripping my arm. "I heard her
speak."
"I thought I did," I breathed. "Perhaps--perhaps it was an echo."
For a few minutes we stood, our ears searching for the sound that had
disturbed us. We seemed afraid to call out--afraid to quench the little
spark of hope which had suddenly flared up in the despair that filled
our breasts. We knew that our ears had lied, and we tried to lengthen
the thrill by remaining perfectly silent.
Pages:
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268