"Where's the thing got to?" he asked. "Is it gone? . . ."
"No, you'll get your strength back all right. . . . It doesn't take long, once you're well again."
"Oh, it doesn't take long?"
"No, you'd be surprised. . . ."
"I say, Alsma, can't I see my children . . . just for once? . . ."
"No, it would tire you a bit. . . . Later on, later on. . . ."
"I say, do you know what's so rotten? I don't know . . . all sorts of things . . . whether I've been dreaming . . . or not. . . ."
"Don't worry about it. That'll all come right . . . bit by bit, bit by bit. . . ."
"A lake full of white-faced mermaids: that's rot, eh? . . . An express-train: was I away, shortly before my illness? I wasn't, was I? . . . The body . . . of a girl: did I see that? . . . A snake-thing, a great wriggling snake-thing: yes, that snake-thing was there all right; I fought the thing. . . . I believe it was all rot . . . except the great snake-thing, which licked me up . . . with its tongue. . . ."
"You mustn't talk so much."
". . . Because I always used to feel that snake-thing inside me . . . always. . . ."
"Come, Van Lowe . . . keep very quiet now . . . and rest . . . rest. . . ."
