Page:The Novels of Ivan Turgenev (volume X).djvu/93

Rh breathing. He turned round hastily and opened his eyes. . . . But what could be seen in impenetrable darkness? He began to feel for a match on his little bedside table. . . and suddenly it seemed to him that a sort of soft, noiseless hurricane was passing over the whole room, over him, through him, and the word 'I!' sounded distinctly in his ears. . ..

'I! .. . I!'. ..

Some instants passed before he succeeded in getting the candle alight. Again there was no one in the room; and he now heard nothing, except the uneven throbbing of his own heart. He drank a glass of water, and stayed still, his head resting on his hand. He was waiting. He thought: 'I will wait. Either it 's all nonsense. .. . or she is here. She is not going to play cat and mouse with me like this!' He waited, waited long. . . so long that the hand on which he was resting his head went numb. . . but not one of his previous sensations was repeated. Twice his eyes closed. . . . He opened them promptly. . . at least he believed that he opened them. Gradually they turned towards the door and rested on it. The candle burned dim, and it was once more dark in the room. . . but the door made a long streak of white in the half darkness. And now this