Page:Emma Speed Sampson--The shorn lamb.djvu/123

Rh fine as blond hair," he decided, bending over her cautiously.

The moon was high when Rebecca at last opened her eyes. She thought she was back in the studio on West Tenth Street. There the moon used to shine through the skylight and make bars on the floor. She closed her eyes again and snuggled down comfortably on her pillow. She remembered the happenings of the last days as in a dream. It was all a dream surely, her stepfather's illness, her leaving the studio and everything. At any rate, now she was back in the studio, she was sure.

But what was that strange noise? Not the roar of New York, not a late party breaking up, not like any noise she had ever heard before! It seemed to the child like the deeply taken breath of some huge creature, a breath coming in waves and at intervals prolonged into a long drawn sigh. But more regular than this breathing was a steady beat, beat. It must be the creature's heart!

Rebecca was terrified. She sat up in bed and suddenly realized she was not in the studio. Before she could collect her scattered wits the night was cut by a shrill, blood-curdling screech.

"The giant has caught somebody," was her thought. "Now he is going to catch me!" She