hard to believe--but, when I declare that I was not
frightened, I am telling the truth. Whether the room was lighted by
awful light, or sunk in awful dark, I was equally interested in the
expectation of what might happen next. I listened calmly for what I
might hear: I waited calmly for what I might feel. A touch came first.
I feel it creeping on my face--like a little fluttering breeze. The
sensation pleased me for a while. Soon it grew colder, and colder, and
colder, till it froze me.

"Oh, no more!" I cried out. "You are killing me with an icy death!"

The dead-cold touches lingered a moment longer--and left me.

The first sound came.

It was the sound of a whisper on my pillow, close to my ear. My strange
insensibility to fear remained undisturbed. The whisper was welcome, it
kept me company in the dark room.

It said to me: "Do you know who I am?"

I answered: "No."

It said: "Who have you been thinking of this evening?"

I answered: "My mother."

The whisper said: "I am your mother."

"Oh, mother, command the light to come back! Show yourself to me!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"My face was hidden when I passed from life to death. My face no mortal
creature may see."

"Oh, mother, touch me! Kiss me!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"My touch is poison. My kiss is death."

The sense of fear began to come to me now. I moved my head away on the
pillow. The whisper followed my movement.

"Leave me," I said. "You are an Evil Spirit."

The whisper answered: "I am your mother."

"You come to tempt me."

"I come to harden your heart. Daughter of mine, whose blood is cool;
daughter of mine, who tamely submits--you have loved. Is it true?"

"It is true."

"The man you loved has deserted you. Is it true?"

"It is true."

"A woman has lured him away to herself. A woman has had no mercy on you,
or on him. Is it true?"

"It is true."

"If she lives, what crime toward you will she commit next?"

"If she lives, she will marry him."

"Will you let her live?"

"Never."

"Have I hardened your heart against her?"

"Yes."

"Will you kill her?"

"Show me how."

There was a sudden silence. I was still left in the darkness; feeling
nothing, hearing nothing. Even the consciousness that I was lying on
my bed deserted me. I had no idea that I was in the bedroom; I had no
knowledge of where I was.

The ghastly light that I had seen already dawned on me once more. I
was no longer in my bed, no longer in my ro