No one is to come near her; no one is to be sent for.
Bashe is pushed away, and whenever she tries to open the door, grandmother hears and screams "No!"
Bashe stands by the bed and cannot make it out. Her heart beats wildly. God only knows what they have written from home. Perhaps—perhaps....
She cannot think what has happened. She drops on to her knees and clutches convulsively at grandmother's hand:
"Granny, granny, what is it? Speak to me! Tell me—what is it? Granny, I think I shall die of fright!" She spoke involuntarily.
Grandmother has turned toward her; she moves her lips, opens her eyes, gives her one look, and
"Die!" she says in a hard voice, and turns her face once more to the wall. "And there wasn't his like!" she adds. "Die, Bashe, die!"
Bashe is silent. A blackness passes before her eyes, and her head falls on grandmother's feet. Within her all is dark and cold. She has ceased to puzzle herself, she is nearly unconscious.
And in this way another half-hour goes by.
She hears her grandmother's voice: