Page:Thea von Harbou Metropolis eng 1927.pdf/69

 METROPOLIS her eyes because she could no long~r bear the circles of fire. the wheels of Bame behind her closed lidsAnd saw her own shadow thrown, gigantic, on the wall before her. and behind her was light, and hefore her lay a manA man?-That was not a man. . . . That was the remains of a man, with his back half leaning against the wall, half slipped down. and on his skeleton feet, which almost touched the girl's knees. were the slender shoes, pointed and purplered.... With a shriek which tore her throat, the girl threw herself Up. backwards-and then on and on, without looking round, pursued by the light which lashed her own shadow in springs before her feet-pursued by long, soft, feathery feet-by feet which walked in red shoes. by the icy breath which blew at her back. She ran, screamed and ran"Freder.... 1Freder... I" Her throat rattled, she fell. There were some stairs. . . . Crumbling stairs... .. She pressed her bleeding hands, right and left•. against the stone wall, by the stone steps. She dragged herself up. She staggered up, step by step.... There was the top. The stairs ended in a stone trap-door. The girl groaned, "Frede•... I" She stretched both fists above her. She pushed head and shoulders against the trap·door. And one more groan: "Freder... :' The door rose and fell back with a crash. Below-deep down-laughter.... The girl swung herself over the edge of the trapdoor. She ran hither and thither, with out-stretched hands. She ran along walls, Bnding no door. She saw the lustre which welled up from the depths. By this light she saw a door, which was latchless. It had neither bolt nor lock. In the gloomy wood glowed, copper-red, the seal of Solomon, the pentagram. The girl turned around.

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