"I thought the scratching came from rats, and I simply made a noise to frighten them away. Then, the sound having ceased, I fell asleep again."
"And afterwards?"
"I was waked again by the sound of stealthy footsteps on the landing of the first floor."
"This time you went to see?"
"I meant to do so, I was about to get up. I had put out my arm to get my matches and revolver, when suddenly I felt a weight on my bed and then I was corded, bound like a sausage, my arms tight to my body! For ten minutes I struggled with all the power of my muscles against a frightful and mysterious grip which continually grew tighter."
"A lasso!" suggested Doctor Plassin in a low voice.
"Were you able to determine the nature of the thing that was gripping you?" asked Juve.
"I don't know. I remember feeling at the touch of the thing a marked sensation of dampness and cold."
"A wetted lasso, exactly. A rope dipped in water tautens of itself," remarked the doctor.
"You had to make a great effort to prevent being crushed or broken?"