me back into the wood…white hands with long fingers…and each of the long white fingers a living thing.
The hands of the doll-maker!
Closer came the eyes, and closer writhed the hands. From the sky came peal upon peal of laughter…The
laughter of the doll-maker!
That laughter still ringing in my ears, I awakened-or seemed to awaken. I was in my room sitting bolt
upright in my bed. I was dripping with sweat, and my heart was pumping with a pulse that shook my
body. I could see the chandelier glimmering in the light from the windows like a small nebulous cloud. I
could see the windows faintly outlined. It was very still…
There was a movement at one of the windows. I would get up from the bed and see what it was-I could
not move!