"Hold on——"
"Leave go, man! I'm going, I say. You won't hold me. Let go, I tell you, let go—Now come out, come out, whoever you are—Ah!"
It was a woman.
"Ha!" I cried, "I told you so, brother; a woman. I think I know her, too. Here, let me see—I thought so."
I had clutched her, pulled her to the light. It was Berna.
Her face was white as chalk, her eyes dilated with terror. She trembled. She seemed near fainting.
"I thought so."
Now that it seemed the worst was betrayed to me, I was strangely calm.
"Berna, you're faint. Let me lead you to a chair."
I made her sit down. She said no word, but looked at me with a wild pleading in her eyes. No one spoke.