"'Hush!—ah, hush!' whispered Vinckers.
" 'Why shall I hush!' said I, and my voice was shaking. 'Waken her, MacFarlane.'
"The Scotchman thrust out his great arm slowly, and in the faint yellow light I saw him snatch it quickly away; heard the choking rattle in his throat; felt my own heart flickering like a candle burned low.
"'Ou—ou—ou'
"'Hush—hush—s'h'hh!' whispered Vinckers.
"And then, Doctor" Leyden's voice had sunk until one scarce caught the bitter mockery—"I did the bravest act of my life. I slid out of my hammock." Leyden laughed in a way that sent a chill through me.
"Can you understand, Doctor? Do you know what fear is? Did you ever awake suddenly from a dreamless sleep with a devitalizing fear crushing the very blood out of your heart? No dream no recollection only the fear sometimes hung like a black mantle over the nearest object, no matter how familiar.
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