As he did so, he pressed the bladder which he had already placed under his coat. A dark red fluid, like blood, oozed out all over him and ran in a pool on the floor.
Elaine, too horror-stricken at what had happened even to scream, dropped the knife and bent over him. He did not move. She staggered back and ran through the now open door. As she did so, Long seemed suddenly to come to life. He raised himself and looked after her, then with a subtle smile sank back into his former assumed posture on the floor.
When Elaine reached the other room, she found Mary there with the
Chinese servant who was giving her a glass of water. At the sight of
her, the servant paused, then withdrew into another room further back.
Mary, now apparently recovering from her faintness, smiled wanly at
Elaine.
"It's all right," she murmured. "He is a Chinese prince who thought we were callers."
At the reassuring nod of Mary toward the front room, Elaine was overcome.
"I—I killed him!" she managed to gasp.
"What?" cried Mary, starting up and trembling violently. "You killed him?"
"Yes," sobbed Elaine, "he came at me—I had the knife—I struck at him—"
The two girls ran into the other room. There Mary looked at the motionless body on the floor and recoiled, horrified.
Elaine noticing some spots on her hands and seeing that they were stained by the blood of Long Sin, wiped the spots off on her hankerchief, dropping it on the floor.