anything more ghastly than the appearance
of the room with the faint grey light of early morning coming in upon
it. As the windows faced north, any light that came was a fixed grey
light without any of the rosy possibility of dawn which comes in the
eastern quarter of heaven. The electric lights seemed dull and yet
glaring; and every shadow was of a hard intensity. There was nothing
of morning freshness; nothing of the softness of night. All was hard
and cold and inexpressibly dreary. The face of the senseless man on
the sofa seemed of a ghastly yellow; and the Nurse's face had taken a
suggestion of green from the shade of the lamp near her. Only Miss
Trelawny's face looked white; and it was of a pallor which made my
heart ache. It looked as if nothing on God's earth could ever again
bring back to it the colour of life and happiness.

It was a relief to us all when Doctor Winchester came in, breathless
with running. He only asked one question:

"Can anyone tell me anything of how this wound was gotten?" On seeing
the headshake which went round us under his glance, he said no more,
but applied himself to his surgical work. For an instant he looked up
at the Nurse sitting so still; but then bent himself to his task, a
grave frown contracting his brows. It was not till the arteries were
tied and the wounds completely dressed that he spoke again, except, of
course, when he had asked for anything to be handed to him or to be
done for him. When Mr. Trelawny's wounds had been thoroughly cared
for, he said to Miss Trelawny:

"What about Nurse Kennedy?" She answered at once:

"I really do not know. I found her when I came into the room at
half-past two o'clock, sitting exactly as she does now. We have not
moved her, or changed her position. She has not wakened since. Even
Sergeant Daw's pistol-shots did not disturb her."

"Pistol-shots? Have you then discovered any cause for this new
outrage?" The rest were silent, so I answered:

"We have discovered nothing. I was in the room watching with the
Nurse. Earlier in the evening I fancied that the mummy smells were
making me drowsy, so I went out and got a respirator. I had it on when
I came on duty; but it did not keep me from going to sleep. I awoke to
see the room full of people; that is, Miss Trelawny and Sergeant Daw,
being only half awake and still stupefied by the same scent or
influence which had affected us, fancied that he saw something moving
th