CHAPTER XIII
Marlin regretted afterward that he had not attempted to offer Norma some antidote for her moody thoughts on her visit to his observation point. He might have tried to put in words his own fatalistic point of view. Possibly it would have helped to sustain her. If only he had been less preoccupied—
But it was useless to regret, when they found the girl stretched out on her sleeping pallet with eyes rigidly staring upward.
They gathered in silence around the inert form. Death had been their constant companion from the start, but this was the first time it had shown its grim face.
Maw Barstow began a low wailing. Sally also wept. McGruder moistened his lips and looked furtively around, cowering slightly as he saw the eerie features of Link peering from the shadows above. DuChane stood stricken but expressionless. Pearl alone, of those who looked down at the still face, was seemingly unmoved.
"I seen her pokin' around in the medicine cabinet," McGruder recalled. "She musta swallowed some kinda dope."
They searched through the cabinet, but there was no clue as to what the girl had taken. Several bottles contained drugs which could have caused death.
"Oughta be given a decent burial," McGruder commented.
No move was made at the time to carry out his suggestion. The only burial possible was through the locks provided for eliminating waste products. The thought was abhorrent.
"She talked kind of wild about ending it all," gulped Sally. "Said she could almost hate me for being the one to save her for this. Gosh! I even came back at her with a wisecrack—something about its being a good idea. To end it all, I mean."