There was no answer.
'Mr. Meeker!'
The accent was one of sudden distress and alarm. There was a short pause, when the call was renewed.
'Mr. Meeker!'
'What is it? What is the matter? Is anything the matter?'
A slight groan.
Mr. Meeker sprang from his bed as if he were a young man, and made haste to light a candle.
'My dear, are you ill?'
'I don't know. It's something strange.'
Mrs. Meeker's voice sounded so unnatural that her husband hurried to the other side of the bed. He found his wife helpless, unable to change her position. Her articulation was very difficult, and her countenance presented a ghastly appearance, for one half of her appeared to be completely paralyzed.