She listened: the gliding feet were approaching. They walked in darkness as she stood in darkness. Now they were here. Now they must ... they must go past.... But they did not go. They stood quite still. Before the opening to the passage in which she stood, the feet stopped still and seemed to wait. For what...? For her...? In the complete silence the girl suddenly heard her own heart.... She heard her own heart, like pump-works, beating more and more quickly, throbbing more and more loudly. These loud throbbing heartbeats must also be heard by the man who kept the opening to the passage. And suppose he did not stay there any longer ... suppose he came inside ... she could not hear his coming, her heart throbbed so. She groped, with fumbling hand, along the stone wall. Without breathing, she set her feet, one before the other.... Only to get away from the entrance.... Away from the place where the other was standing.... Was she wrong? Or were the feet really coming after her? Soft, slinking shoes on rough stones? Now the agonised, heavy breathing, heavier still, and nearer ... cold breath on her neck.... Then— Nothing more. Silence. And waiting. And watching—keeping on the look-out.... Was it not as if a creature, such as the world had never seen: trunkless, nothing but arms, legs and head ... but what a head! God—God in heaven! ... was crouching on the floor before her, knees drawn up to chin, the damp arms supported right and left, against the walls, near her hips, so that she stood defenceless, caught? Did she not see the passage lighted by a pale shimmer—and did not the shimmer come from the being’s jelly-fish head? “Freder!” she thought. She bit the name tightly between her jaws, yet heard the scream with which her heart screamed it. She threw herself forwards and felt—she was free—she was still free—and ran and stumbled, and pulled herself up again and staggered from wall to wall, knocking herself bloody, suddenly clutched into space, stumbled, fell to the ground, felt.... Something lay there ... what? No—No—No—! The lamp had long since fallen from her hand. She raised herself to her knees and clapped her fists to her ears, in order not to hear the feet, the slinking feet coming nearer. She knew herself to be imprisoned in darkness and yet opened her eyes because she could no longer bear the circles of fire, the wheels of flame behind her closed lids— And saw her own shadow thrown, gigantic, on the wall before her, and behind her was light, and before her lay a man— A 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 purple-red....