Then, dropping noiselessly on
to the lead, he fled beneath the sheltering parapet, a noiseless
shadow in the gloom; and his mate fled with him.
_Chapter IX_
I
Laurie turned slowly over in bed, drew a long breath, expelled it,
and, releasing his arms from the bed-clothes, sat up. He switched on
the light by his bed, glanced at his watch, switched off the light,
and sank down again into the sheets. He need not get up just yet.
Then he remembered.
When an event of an entirely new order comes into experience, it takes
a little time to be assimilated. It is as when a large piece of
furniture is brought into a room; all the rest of the furniture takes
upon itself a different value. A picture that did very well up to then
over the fire-place must perhaps be moved. Values, relations, and
balance all require readjustment.
Now up to last night Laurie had indeed been convinced, in one sense,
of spiritualistic phenomena; but they had not yet for him reached the
point of significance when they affected everything else. The new
sideboard, so to speak, had been brought into the room, but it had
been put temporarily against the wall in a vacant space to be looked
at; the owner of the room had not yet realized the necessity of
rearranging the whole.
Pages:
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196