FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42  
43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   >>   >|  
e the jewels are hidden," he said. "Tell me where?" Her lips quivered. She made no answer. She turned uneasily in her chair. "Tell me the place?" Quest persisted. There was still no response from the girl. There were drops of perspiration on her forehead. Quest shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Very good," he concluded. "You need not tell me. Only remember this! At nine o'clock to-morrow morning you will bring those jewels to this apartment.... Rest quietly now. I want you to go to sleep." She obeyed without hesitation. Quest watched, for a moment, her regular breathing. Then he touched a bell by his side. Laura entered almost at once. "Open the laboratory," Quest ordered. "Then come back." Without a word or a glance towards the sleeping figure, she obeyed him. It was a matter of seconds before she returned. Together they lifted and carried the sleeping girl out of the room, across the landing, into a larger apartment, the contents of which were wrapped in gloom and mystery. A single electric light was burning on the top of a square mirror fixed upon an easel. Towards this they carried the girl and laid her in an easy-chair almost opposite to it. "The battery is just on the left," Laura whispered. Quest nodded. "Give me the band." She turned away for a moment and disappeared in the shadows. When she returned, she carried a curved band of flexible steel. Quest took it from her, attached it by means of a coil of wire to the battery, and with firm, soft fingers slipped it on to Lenora's forehead. Then he stepped back. A rare emotion quivered in his tone. "She's a subject, Laura--I'm sure of it! Now for our great experiment!" They watched Lenora intently. Her face twitched uneasily, but she did not open her eyes and her breathing continued regular. Quest bent over her. "Lenora," he said, slowly and firmly, "your mind is full of one subject. You see your mistress in her chair by the fireside. She is toying with her diamonds. Look again. She lies there dead! Who was it entered the room, Lenora? Look! Look! Gaze into that mirror. What do you see there?" The girl's eyes had opened. They were fixed now upon the mirror--distended, full of unholy things. Quest wiped a drop of perspiration from his forehead. "Try harder, Lenora," he muttered, his own breath labouring. "It is there in your brain! Look!" Laura for the first time showed signs of emotion. She pointed towards the mirror. Quest was su
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42  
43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Lenora
 

mirror

 
forehead
 

carried

 
entered
 
regular
 
obeyed
 

watched

 

moment

 

breathing


emotion

 

subject

 

battery

 

returned

 

sleeping

 

quivered

 

jewels

 

turned

 

uneasily

 

perspiration


apartment

 

intently

 

continued

 

twitched

 
experiment
 
attached
 

curved

 

flexible

 

stepped

 

fingers


slipped

 
firmly
 
harder
 

muttered

 

things

 

opened

 

distended

 

unholy

 

breath

 
pointed

showed
 
labouring
 

mistress

 

fireside

 
hidden
 

slowly

 

shadows

 

toying

 

diamonds

 
Without