Tommy was soon sound asleep, but Will lay awake listening. Again he heard the window sash rattle, but this time he did not move.
Then he dozed off into slumberland, dreamed that he was on a tropical island where the perfume of the roses was so heavy on the air that breathing almost became a task. He opened his eyes dreamily, saw the fire blazing cheerily, heard the wind roaring around the corners of the cabin, and closed them to dream the same dream over and over.
At last he awoke with a start and sensed a peculiar odor in the room. He lay perfectly still for a moment wondering what it could all mean, when a voice as smooth and as evil as the hissing of a snake, cut through the air. He listened but did not move.
"You have hidden it!" the voice said.
There was a long pause and then the voice broke the silence again.
"Arise and come to me."
The next moment the boy heard Thede moving in the bunk above. The lad first threw his legs over the rail, and Will heard him drawing away the blankets. Then the boy slipped softly to the floor and moved, as one who walks in his sleep, toward the north window.
"Come to me, come to me, come to me!" the voice repeated insistently.
"I'll come to you, all right, in about a minute," Will mused, "if you try any of that magic business here."
Thede continued to move toward the window, walking with his hands outstretched, as the somnambulist frequently walks.