the bedside. She did not in any way make objection, but looked at me
gratefully whenever I caught her eye. After a long spell she seemed
sinking off to sleep, but with an effort seemed to pull herself together
and shook it off. This was repeated several times, with greater effort
and with shorter pauses as the time moved on. It was apparent that she
did not want to sleep, so I tackled the subject at once:--
You do not want to go to sleep?
No; I am afraid.
Afraid to go to sleep! Why so? It is the boon we all crave for.
Ah, not if you were like me--if sleep was to you a presage of horror!
A presage of horror! What on earth do you mean?
I don t know; oh, I don t know. And that is what is so terrible. All
this weakness comes to me in sleep; until I dread the very thought.
But, my dear girl, you may sleep to-night. I am here watching you, and
I can promise that nothing will happen.
Ah, I can trust you! I seized the opportunity, and said: I promise
you that if I see any evidence of bad dreams I will wake you at once.
You will? Oh, will you really? How good you are to me. Then I will
sleep! And almost at the word she gave a deep sigh of relief, and sank
back, asleep.
All night long I watched by her. She never stirred, but slept on and on
in a deep, tranquil, life-giving, health-giving sleep. Her lips were
slightly parted, and her breast rose and fell with the regularity of a
pendulum. There was a smile on her face, and it was evident that no bad
dreams had come to disturb her peace of mind.
In the early morning her maid came, and I left her in her care and took
myself back home, for I was anxious about many things. I sent a short
wire to Van Helsing and to Arthur, telling them of the excellent result
of the operation. My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all
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