As a last resource, he sank
passively towards the form which still lay prone on the couch. How he
was again to join soul and body he could not guess. But, apparently,
there was no difficulty. The spirit which had called him out of himself,
for a little while, had departed, and, with her, both the power and the
desire of separation. He joined his sensuous existence with ease and
pleasure, and with no perceptible lapse of consciousness. No sooner had
he obtained the use of his tongue, than he made an inarticulate noise.
The door, which had been all that time swinging, opened again, and the
velvet-footed Martin appeared.
"Who went out, Martin?"
"Out of here, Sir? No one, Sir."
"Who opened the door, then?--What's that in your hand?"
"The chloroform, Sir, you just handed me."
"Just handed you?"
"Yes, Sir;--you gave it back to me not a quarter of a minute ago."
"Have I been asleep, Martin?"
"I should judge not, Sir. You didn't take more than two sniffs at the
bottle.
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