Again the vacuous, imbecile smile took possession of her features,
and her voice, dropping its harshness, resumed the soft, well-modulated
tones with which she had first addressed him. Now she attempted by
signs to indicate her wishes, and motioning Smith-Oldwick to follow
her she went to the hangings and opening them disclosed the alcove.
It was rather more than an alcove, being a fair-sized room heavy
with rugs and hangings and soft, pillowed couches. Turning at the
entrance she pointed to the corpse upon the floor of the outer
room, and then crossing the alcove she raised some draperies which
covered a couch and fell to the floor upon all sides, disclosing
an opening beneath the furniture.
To this opening she pointed and then again to the corpse, indicating
plainly to the Englishman that it was her desire that the body be
hidden here. But if he had been in doubt, she essayed to dispel it
by grasping his sleeve and urging him in the direction of the body
which the two of them then lifted and half carried and half dragged
into the alcove. At first they encountered some difficulty when
they endeavored to force the body of the man into the small space
she had selected for it, but eventually they succeeded in doing
so. Smith-Oldwick was again impressed by the fiendish brutality of
the girl. In the center of the room lay a blood-stained rug which
the girl quickly gathered up and draped over a piece of furniture
in such a way that the stain was hidden.
Pages:
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391