Page:Taylor - In the Dwellings of the Wilderness.djvu/157

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The Other Who Returned


started in. The fear that all unconsciously I would get to walking in a circle, and so keep on until my strength gave out; the feeling of appalling helplessness, of not knowing whether I was headed right or whether I might as well sit down where I was and wait for the finish … I tell you, Merritt, it was a journey to Hell and back again." His voice shook, ever so slightly. Merritt, in the doorway, turned his head away.

"What I'm about to tell you now you may say is nothing but the recollection of a delirium," the monotonous, controlled voice went on. "I don't know how long I had been travelling. It was slow work, as you may guess. Suddenly I tripped over something. I felt around on the ground and my hands struck what had

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