"
"A noose!" I ejaculated, interrupting Hely Browne for the first time
since he began.
"Yes, a noose!" he repeated, "suspended in mid-air. As you can
imagine, I was greatly astonished, for I knew there had been nothing
that I could be now mistaking for a noose in the room overnight. I
stretched out my arms to feel to what it was fastened, but, to add to
my surprise, the cord terminated in thin air. Then I grew frightened,
and, dropping my arms, tried to move away from the spot; I could
not--my feet were glued to the floor. With a gentle, purring sound
the noose commenced fawning--I use that word because the action was
so intensely bestial, so like that of a cat or snake--round my neck
and face. It then rose above me, and, after circling furiously round
and round and creating a miniature maelstrom in the air, descended
gradually over my head. Lower and lower it stole, like some sleek,
caressing slug. Now past the tips of my ears, now my nose, now my
chin, until with a tiny thud it landed on my shoulders, when, with a
fierce snap, it suddenly tightened. I endeavoured to tear it off, but
every time I raised my hands, a strong, magnetic force drew them to
my side again; I opened my mouth to shriek for help, and an icy
current of air froze the breath in my lungs. I was helpless,
O'Donnell, utterly, wholly helpless. Cold, clammy hands tore my feet
from the floor; I was hoisted bodily up, and then let drop. A
frightful pain shot through me.
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