The daughter was startled by the expression on her mother's face; the dark eyes stared wide....
"Mamma, Mamma, what's the matter?"
"Is he ill ... or is he ... also...."
"Ill? Yes, he's ill too, Mamma...."
She did not finish....
Her mother was staring in front of her, staring at the empty chair opposite, in the shadow against the wall. Ottilie grew frightened; for her mother, stiffly and laboriously, now lifted a trembling arm from her lap and pointed with a slender, wand-like finger....
"Mamma, Mamma, what is it?..."
The old woman stared and pointed, stared and pointed at the empty chair.
"There ... the-there!" she stammered. "There!"
And she continued to stare and point. She said nothing, but she saw. She did not speak, but she saw. Slowly she stood up, still staring, still pointing, and shrank back, slowly, very slowly.... Ottilie rang the bell, twice; the companion rushed into the room at once; from below came sounds of confusion, faint exclamations, Anna's "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" and whispering voices. Ina, Daan and Stefanie came upstairs. But they did not enter the room; the companion made a sign that it was not necessary....