Oh, those shrieks ringing through the empty house—shrieks which only that silent ghost behind the door could hear!
Suddenly another thrill ran through me; the electric bell had sounded. Some one was ringing at our door; some one was coming to save us. Tioka still screamed, and the bell continued to ring. I could also hear blows on the door and then a voice—Prilukoff's voice—calling: “It is I. Open the door!”
With a sob of mingled terror and joy I thrust back the curtain and flung open the dreaded door. Stumbling blindly through the passage I reached the hall door and drew back the latch. Prilukoff stood on the threshold; he was pale as death.
“What has happened?” he cried. “What is the matter?” And he gripped my arm.
I was sobbing with joy and relief. “Tioka, Tioka!” I called out. “Don't cry any more. Donat has come! We are here, we are near you!”
Tioka's cries ceased at once.
But Prilukoff still held me fast. “What has happened!” he asked, clenching his teeth.
“I was afraid, I was afraid—” I gasped.
“Of whom?”
A fresh outburst of tears shook me. “Of the dead,” I sobbed.