"And being who I am, I shall feel much better inside your doors than outside."
I opened the doors. The two men passed through with their burden, and after them Ricori and I. Once
within, I gave way to my professional instincts and stepped up to the man the two were carrying. They
shot a quick glance at Ricori. He nodded. I raised the man's head.
A little shock went through me. The man's eyes were wide open. He was neither dead nor unconscious.
But upon his face was the most extraordinary expression of terror I had ever seen in a long experience
with sane, insane and borderland cases. It was not undiluted fear. It was mixed with an equally disturbing
horror. The eyes, blue and with distended pupils, were like exclamation points to the emotions printed
upon that face. They stared up at me, through me and beyond me. And still they seemed to be looking
inward-as though whatever nightmare vision they were seeing was both behind and in front of them.