Watching covertly for the next development, Zizi was all unprepared for what really happened.
The man, with a sudden, swift gesture, took the girl’s chin in one strong hand, and opened her mouth, while with the other he thrust in a thick soft cloth, saturated with chloroform.
Not enough to make her lose her senses entirely, it partially stupefied her, and the choking cloth prevented all speech.
Whipping off the long dark cloak he wore, the man flung it round Zizi, as he lifted the slender form from the bed.
Vainly trying to emit a shriek, or utter a groan, Zizi fell, half-conscious, back in the arms that supported her.
After an unknown interval, a draught of cool air on her face brought her back to a dim consciousness, and she realized she was out of doors. A struggle of her arms and legs resulted in a firmer grasp of the strong arms that carried her, and she quit moving, to think. She had been kidnapped, taken from her bed, and had been carried out of doors, but she had no knowledge of who her captor was nor by what means they had left the house. Her brain was furiously wide awake, but she made no move, lest more chloroform be administered, and she lose her regained consciousness.
On the shore of the black lake the man stopped, and set her on her feet. Her mouth, still filled with the soft cloth, was strained and painful, but the first attempt to raise her hand resulted in its being clutched by the strong hand of the man who swayed her destiny.
So slender and light was she, that he handled her as one might a child, and in his strong grasp she was as powerless as an infant.
Working quickly and deftly, he tied a strong rope round her ankles and to it attached what was only too evidently a bag of stones or bricks.
Then, without a word, he flung her into the deep, dark waters of the lake, and with one backward glance, he walked away.