Page 778 of 896

"Twice, he put his hand to the wound in his breast, and with his

forefinger drew a cross in the air. He stood for an instant with

the finger yet raised, and as it dropped, he dropped with it, and

I laid him down dead.

*****

"When I returned to the bedside of the young woman, I found her

raving in precisely the same order of continuity. I knew that

this might last for many hours, and that it would probably end in

the silence of the grave.

"I repeated the medicines I had given her, and I sat at the side

of the bed until the night was far advanced. She never abated the

piercing quality of her shrieks, never stumbled in the

distinctness or the order of her words. They were always 'My

husband, my father, and my brother! One, two, three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Hush!'