. . .
Near his feet was an ashen glow that gave no light.
His first perplexity gave way to dismay at finding no Amanda by his
side. "Amanda!" he cried. . . .
Her voice floated down through a chink in the floor above. "What
can it be, Cheetah?"
Then: "It's coming nearer."
The screaming continued, heart-rending, eviscerating shrieks.
Benham, still confused, lit a match. All the men about him were
stirring or sitting up and listening, their faces showing distorted
and ugly in the flicker of his light. "CHE E?" he tried. No one
answered. Then one by one they stood up and went softly to the
ladder that led to the stable-room below. Benham struck a second
match and a third.
"Giorgio!" he called.
The cavasse made an arresting gesture and followed discreetly and
noiselessly after the others, leaving Benham alone in the dark.
Benham heard their shuffling patter, one after the other, down the
ladder, the sounds of a door being unbarred softly, and then no
other sound but that incessant shrieking in the darkness.
Had they gone out? Were they standing at the door looking out into
the night and listening?
Amanda had found the chink and her voice sounded nearer.
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