VI
I sprang up, struck a light and relit the candle, and soon reached
the coffin resting on a stone table. I found, on examining it, that
although it had been screwed down after the discovery of the
violation, the work had been so loosely done that a few turns of the
screwdriver were sufficient to set the lid free. Then I paused; for
to raise the loosened lid (knowing as I did that it was only the
blood's inherited follies that had conquered my rationalism and
induced me to disturb the tomb) seemed to require the strength of a
giant. Moreover, the fantastic terror of old Lantoff's story, which
at another time would have made me smile, also took bodily shape, and
the picture of a dreadful struggle at the edge of the cliff between
Winnie's father and mine seemed to hang in the air--a fascinating
mirage of ghastly horror.
* * * * *
At last, by an immense effort of will, I closed my eyes and pushed
the lid violently on one side.
* * * * *
The 'sweet odours and divers kinds of spices' of the Jewish embalmer
rose like a gust of incense--rose and spread through the crypt like
the sweet breath of a new-born blessing, till the air of the
charnel-house seemed laden with a mingled odour of indescribable
sweetness.
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