elids and shut out that hateful light; but the instant
I removed my fingers the eyes opened upon me again. This time it seemed
the expression was more life-like--there was _eagerness_ in it. Again I
pressed down the eyelids, but now there was resistance to my touch. I
could feel it. The hands, which had lain quiet on her breast, were
convulsively raised. I stepped back from the bed, and Miriam sat
upright! Incredible as it may appear, the frenzy of my terror was gone.
Miriam looked like herself. The ghastly pallor of death, the sunken
cheek, the pinched features were all there; but there was something in
the face which made me think of the Miriam of olden days--the Miriam I
had known before this last terrible sickness came upon her. I was not
entirely free from fear, but it was a charmed fear. I never thought of
calling any one. I could do nothing but watch Miriam.

After a few convulsive efforts she got off the bed, and stood erect for
a moment. I remember thinking that all this was very strange, and
wondering what she would do next. She moved slowly to the door. I
followed her with my eyes. At the door she turned, and looked at me. And
then there rushed upon my mind the whole weight and responsibility of
the promise I had made her, that I would never leave her body until it
was consigned to the tomb! I comprehended that I must follow her, and
mechanically I obeyed the impulse. She took her way through the dining
room. Mrs. Grove was sitting in an easy-chair, fast asleep. I wondered
how she could sleep with this awful presence in the room. Miriam did not
glance at her, but passed out of the front door, into the street. My
mind was in a constant state of activity. My will was under the guidance
of Miriam. I had no control over it. My thoughts were my own, and
wandered from object to object. As we were passing down the steps I
thought how beautifully the river would look in the moonlight; but
Miriam turned in an opposite direction from the river, and I was
disappointed. How fearfully quiet was everything! I would have given
worlds, had I possessed them, if I could have seen a familiar face. I
even had a half-formed thought to scream loudly for help, but I could
not do it. My will was utterly powerless. We approached the house where
Ackermann resided, and I was seized with horror, thinking it possible
that she might murder him while I witnessed the bloody deed, powerless
to prevent it. But she never once looked at the hous