ht quietly filled the lamps--or was it that I had
opened my eyes? I gripped the arms of my chair, waiting. For what? I did
not know. Only, all the horror I ever had felt in the presence of the
Thing was slight compared to the fear that presently began to flow upon
me as an icy current. There in the pleasantly lighted room, alone, I
sank through depths of dread, down into an abyss of despair, down----

A long sigh of rising wind passed through the house like a sucked breath
of triumph. Windows and doors drew in and out against their frames with
a rattling crash, then hung still with unnatural abruptness. Absolute
stillness succeeded. I felt a very slight shock, as if the ground at my
feet was struck.

I fled from the terror for the first time. Yes, coward at last, deserter
from that unseen Frontier's defense, I found myself in the hall outside
my room, leaning sick and faint against the wall. Behind me the door
shut violently, yet I felt no current of air to move it.

From the other side of the house there sounded the click of latch, then
a patter of soft-shod feet. Phillida came hurrying down the hall toward
me. She was wrapped in some silky pink-flowered garment. Her short hair
stood out around her head like a little girl's well-brushed crop. She
presented as endearingly natural a figure, I thought, as any man could
seek or imagine. The wisdom of Ethan Vere who had garnered his love
here!

"Cousin?" she exclaimed. "The hall light is so dim! You almost
frightened me when I glimpsed you standing there. Did the wind wake you,
too? I think we are going to have a thunder storm, it is so hot and
gusty. I heard poor Bagheera mewing and scratching at the door, so I was
just going down to let him in before the rain comes."

"Yes," I achieved. Then, finding my voice secure: "I will let in the
cat. Where is Vere?"

"He did not wake up, so I tiptoed out. Why?"

"I do not like to have you going about the house alone at this hour."

Her eyes widened and she laughed outright.

"Why, Cousin Roger! What a funny idea to have about our very own house!
I have one of the electric flashlights you bought for us all; see?"

What could I tell her of my vision of her womanly softness and timidity
brought to bay by the Thing of horror, down in those empty lower rooms?
How did I know It stalked no prey but me? Its clutch was upon Desire
Michell. These were Its hours, between midnight and dawn.

"Tramps," I explained evasively. "Give m