“How do you feel?” the old German asked in his brusque manner.
“I am very thirsty,” she answered.
He took the decanter, and, mixing a little brandy and water, gave it to her.
Then just at that moment her ladyship re-entered, and, falling on her knees, clasped her cousin around the neck and shed wild tears of joy.
Liquid beef and other restoratives having been administered, the woman whose appearance had been identical in every respect with that of the dead was, ere long, able to sit up and talk with us. Her recovery had been almost as rapid as her attack.
We questioned her regarding her symptoms, and found them exactly similar to those we had ourselves experienced.
“I felt as though my whole body were frozen stiff and rigid,” she explained. “At first I heard a strange voice about me—the voice of Doctor Colkirk, I suppose it must have been—speaking with Nora; but I was unable to make any sign. It was just as though I were in a kind of trance, yet half-conscious of things about me. My muscles were paralysed, and I knew that you believed me to be dead. The one horrible thought that possessed me was that I might, perhaps, be buried alive.”
“But you were not conscious the whole time?” Hoefer asked.
“No; I think I slept during the latter part of the seizure. How long have I been lying here?”
“About two hours and a half,” answered her cousin. “Do you feel able to talk any more now?” I inquired.