As before, the courtyard was dark and
solitary, but the outer gate was open, and a sound of hasty footsteps
in the house could be heard, and of the opening and shutting of
drawers.
"Olga has come back," said Sina.
"Oh! Sina, is that you?" asked Dubova from within, and the tone of her
voice suggested some sinister occurrence. Pale and agitated, she
appeared in the doorway.
"Where were you? I have been looking for you. Semenoff is dying!" she
said breathlessly.
"What!" exclaimed Sina, horror-struck.
"Yes, he is dying. He broke a blood-vessel. Anatole Pavlovitch says
that he's done for. They have taken him to the hospital. It was
dreadfully sudden. There We were, at the Raton's', having tea, and he
was so merry, arguing with Novikoff about something or other. Then he
suddenly began to cough, stood up, and staggered, and the blood spurted
out, on to the table-cloth, and into a little saucer of jam ... all
black, and clotted...."
"Does he know it himself?" asked Yourii with grim interest. He
instantly remembered the moonlit night, the sombre shadow, and the
weak, broken voice, saying, "You will be alive, and you'll pass my
grave, and stop, whilst I .
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