Philip Van Doren Stern (ed) (75 page)

Pages
of
description
cannot
make
any
clearer
this
instant
flash that
overwhelmed
me
with
complete
conviction.
I
know
what
I
witnessed,
and
I
know
that
this
certainty
of
positive
knowledge
lay
in me.
No
surprise
accompanied
it,
no
touch
of
criticism,
as
in
a
dream I
accepted
it
merely
as
true
and
possible.
There
was
in
me,
perhaps, a
momentary
extension
of
consciousness,
a
change
of
consciousness, that
involved
some
sudden
awareness
of
a
changed,
extended
universe. It
went
as
quickly
as
it
came.
I
had,
in
any
case,
no
instant
for reflection.
The
figures
vanished.
Round
the
door
that
was
standing ajar,
peering
at
us,
fingers
gripping
the
edge,
I
saw
the
face
of
Sydney Mantravers.
Vronski
saw
it
too,
though
whether
he
had
seen
de Frasne
or
not
I
did
not
know,
and,
feeling
me
shrink
back
involuntarily,
he
pulled
me
sharply,
even
violently
forward,
so
that
together we
took
half
a
dozen
rapid
steps
in
the
direction
of
the
face.
I
saw the
hand
that
gripped
the
edge
of
the
door
advance;
it
pushed
out; an
arm
came
next;
the
face,
with
shoulders
behind
it,
followed;
the entire
figure
pushed
into
full
view.
There
was
a
blaze.

"Hold
out
your
hand,"
Vronski
whispered.
"Say
something.
A welcome."

As
in
a
nightmare,
I
made
the
effort.
My
own
hand
moved
out. My
voice
spoke,
made
a
sound
at
any
rate,
a
hoarse
whisper,
half choked
with
terror:
"Here
I
am,
Sydney.
Come
on—come
back
to me—back
to
us."

It
seemed
to
me
my
mind
and
senses
were
registering
only
certain things
of
limited
kind,
and
that
a
whole
world
of
other
occurrences going
on
at
the
same
time
about
me
now
passed
entirely
unrecognised. While
aware
of
their
existence,
I
could
not
perceive
them.

The
full-length
figure
then
drove
forward
at
what
seemed
terrific speed
through
the
now
wide-open
door.
There
was
a
rush,
a
roar
too, I
believe,
as
though
a
comet
swept
through
space,
and
I
felt
my
hand grasped
in
a
clutch
of
ice,
while
a
tremendous
blow
seemed
to
strike me,
not
in
the
face
and
chest
alone
and
not
outward
only,
but
over my
whole
body,
and
somehow
inside
as
well,
knocking
me
backwards
as
with
some
gigantic
energy
behind
it.
I
reeled
at
the
shock. I
lost
my
balance.
As
I
fell
against
the
wall
at
my
back,
I
saw
the
face and
figure
of
Mantravers
come
rushing
at
me
with
the
speed
and power
as
of
some
awful
projectile.
I
cannot
over-emphasise
this
impression
of
appalling
speed
and
power.
In
the
flash
of
a
second
it happened.
Memory
and
consciousness
then
collapsed
together
simultaneously,
but
before
the
darkness
swept
over
me,
I
caught
the laughter
of
both
men
on
the
tail
of
broken
sentences.