The girl screamed, agonized:
"She sees me! She has found me! Her hands are reaching out to me!"
"Sleep! Sleep deeper still! She cannot hurt you. Again she has lost you!"
The girl did not answer, but a faint moaning was audible, deep in her throat.
McCann swore, huskily: "Christ! Can't you help her?"
Ricori, eyes unnaturally bright in a chalky face, said: "Let her die! It will save us trouble!"
I said to the girl, sternly:
"Listen to me and obey. I am going to count five. When I come to five-awaken! Awaken at once! You
will come up from sleep so swiftly that she cannot catch you! Obey!"
I counted, slowly, since to have awakened her at once would, in all likelihood, have brought her to the