There was the faintest quivering of the eyelids, and he
called again in frenzy: "Ona! Ona!"

Then suddenly her eyes opened -- one instant. One
instant she looked at him -- there was a flash of recog~
nition between them, he saw her afar off, as through
a dim vista, standing forlorn. He stretched out his
arms to her, he called her in wild despair; a fearful
yearning surged up in him, hunger for her that was
agony, desire that was a new being born within him, tear~
ing his heartstrings, torturing him. But it was all in
vain -- she faded from him, she slipped back and was gone.
And a wail of anguish burst from him, great sobs shook
all his frame, and hot tears ran down his cheeks and fell
upon her. He clutched her hands, he shook her, he caught
her in his arms and pressed her to him; but she lay cold
and still -- she was gone -- she was gone!

The word rang through him like the sound of a bell,
echoing in the far depths of him, making forgotten chords
to vibrate, old shadowy fears to stir -- fears of the dark,
fears of the void, fears of annihilation. She was dead!
She was dead! He would never see her again, never hear
her again! An icy horror of loneliness seized him; he
saw himself standing apart and watching all the world
fade away from him -- a world of shadows, of fickle
dreams. He was like a little child, in his fright and
grief; he called and called, and got no answer, and his
cries of despair echoed through the house, making the
women downstairs draw nearer to each other in fear. He
was inconsolable, beside himself -- the priest came and laid
his hand upon his shoulder and whispered to him, but he
heard not a sound. He was gone away himself, stum~
bling through the shadows, and groping after the soul
that had fled.

So he lay. The gray dawn came up and crept into the
attic. The priest left, the women left, and he was alone
with the still, white figure -- quieter now, but moaning
and shuddering, wrestling with the grisly fiend. Now
and then he would raise himself and stare at the white

[[227]]

p226 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p227w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p228

v?