as sinking, falling, that she was rolling down,
down, into the depths of a bottomless abyss....

When she opened her eyes, tried to move, sat up, she knew she was not
dreaming.... She knew she had lost consciousness and was coming back
to life.... She asked herself could she possibly be alive? Fantomas
had threatened her with death, and yet she lived.... Where was she?...
Bobinette felt so weak and giddy that she remained in a sitting
posture.... What exactly had happened?... Ah!--yes!--when Fantomas had
announced she was to die, she had fallen down on the road: her skirt
was still wet and muddy, her testing fingers told her that! She was
cold! What had happened since?... Bobinette heard the wind blowing
rain as still falling, but she noticed none fell on her face.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud. Clear came the mental answer:

"Fantomas has shut me up in this van! I am imprisoned in this van!"...
She felt about her with her fingers. She was certainly sitting on
rough boards.... She knelt, she stretched out her arms: she touched
rough boards.... Yes, this was the van she was in!... Was Fantomas
quite near? He might appear again! She was not saved!... But in
Bobinette who, terrified at being confronted with Fantomas
self-confessed, had tasted the bitterness of death, a powerful
reaction had set in: she was becoming mistress of herself once more.

Fantomas had said to her: "Thou shalt die!" She now decided that she
would live, would save herself!... She must escape!

"If Fantomas were there I should hear him," she thought. "He must have
gone.... I must at all costs escape from this prison before he
returns."

Bobinette got up.... The van must have a door, a window. She would
force her way out somehow. She was strong, and she was fighting for
her life!... She would make a tour of the van!... She felt her way by
fingering the wooden side of her prison.... The van must be empty, she
thought, for she had not encountered any furniture--when, suddenly,
she felt her hand come into contact with something soft and warm,
which moved. What was it?...

Bobinette jumped back.... She must be mad to imagine!... She waited a
few moments--she stepped forward--anew her fingers touched
something.... She could not say what!... But while she tried to define
the strange object her fingers touched, she felt the unknown thing was
drawing back--was avoiding her caress!...

The van was now filled with a formidable growling. She recognised