it. I heard him groan. The doll-maker laughed again.
"Enough, Ricori-you cannot!"
Ricori's body straightened with a snap, as though a hand had clutched his chin and thrust him up…
There was a rustling behind me, the patter of little feet, the scurrying of small bodies past me.
At the feet of the woman were four mannikins…the four who had marched upon me in the green
glow…banker-doll, spinster-doll, the acrobat, the trapeze performer.
They stood, the four of them, ranged in front of her, glaring at us. In the hand of each was a dagger-pin,
points thrust at us like tiny swords. And once more the laughter of the woman filled the room. She spoke,
caressingly:
"No, no, my little ones. I do not need you!"