Letty's stomach heaved; the thing was
beastly, indecent, vile, it ought not to live! And the idea of killing
flashed through her mind. Boiling over with indignation and absurdly
forgetful of her surroundings, she turned round and groped for a stone
to smash it. The moonlight on her naked toes brought her to her
senses--the thing in the bed was a devil! Though brought up a member
of the Free Church, with an abhorrence of anything that could in any
way be contorted into Papist practices, Letty crossed herself. As she
did so, a noise in the passage outside augmented her terror. She
strained her ears painfully, and the sound developed into a footstep,
soft, light, and surreptitious. It came gently towards the door; it
paused outside, and Letty intuitively felt that it was listening. Her
suspense was now so intolerable, that it was almost with a feeling of
relief that she beheld the door slowly--very slowly--begin to open. A
little wider--a little wider--and yet a little wider; but still
nothing came. Ah! Letty's heart turned to ice. Another inch, and a
shadowy something slipped through and began to wriggle itself
stealthily over the floor. Letty tried to divert her gaze, but could
not--an irresistible, magnetic attraction kept her eyes glued to the
gradually approaching horror. When within a few feet of her it halted;
and again Letty felt it was listening--listening to the breathing on
the bed, which was heavy and bestial. Then it twisted round, and Letty
watched it crawl into the wardrobe.
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