Page:The woman, the man, and the monster (IA womanmanmonster00dawe).pdf/305

 “Oh! Just hold on to the line for a minute.”

He hung on to it in an agony of despera- tion, fearing lest he should be cut off. Other voices reached him mumbling along the line; indistinct sounds which seemed like the mut- tering of ghosts. Was she there? Was she in? He suffered anguish unspeakable in those few moments. Then a low voice came to him, but low as it was he recognised it, and he glared into the receiver as though he were star-" ing into her eyes.

“Who is it?”

“Andromeda!”

“Perseus!”

He heard her gasp with joy, and something like a little ery came to him over the wire.

“My dear, I have been looking for you every- where. Why did you not communicate be- fore?”

“T have been wandering. . . and so frightened. Have you seen him?”

“No. You are not ill?’

“Not ill as the word is understood. Only desperate—and very lonely.”

The voice seemed to die away in a melan- choly wail.

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