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- Герберт Уеллс
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- Стр. 5/7
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Even
with
that
,
however
,
the
brooding
expectation
of
the
vigil
weighed
heavily
enough
upon
me
.
I
stood
watching
the
minute
hand
of
my
watch
creep
towards
midnight
.
Then
something
happened
in
the
alcove
.
I
did
not
see
the
candle
go
out
,
I
simply
turned
and
saw
that
the
darkness
was
there
,
as
one
might
start
and
see
the
unexpected
presence
of
a
stranger
.
The
black
shadow
had
sprung
back
to
its
place
.
"
By
Jove
,
"
said
I
aloud
,
recovering
from
my
surprise
,
"
that
draft
's
a
strong
one
;
"
and
taking
the
matchbox
from
the
table
,
I
walked
across
the
room
in
a
leisurely
manner
to
relight
the
corner
again
.
My
first
match
would
not
strike
,
and
as
I
succeeded
with
the
second
,
something
seemed
to
blink
on
the
wall
before
me
.
I
turned
my
head
involuntarily
and
saw
that
the
two
candles
on
the
little
table
by
the
fireplace
were
extinguished
.
I
rose
at
once
to
my
feet
.
"
Odd
,
"
I
said
.
"
Did
I
do
that
myself
in
a
flash
of
absent-mindedness
?
"
I
walked
back
,
relit
one
,
and
as
I
did
so
I
saw
the
candle
in
the
right
sconce
of
one
of
the
mirrors
wink
and
go
right
out
,
and
almost
immediately
its
companion
followed
it
.
The
flames
vanished
as
if
the
wick
had
been
suddenly
nipped
between
a
finger
and
thumb
,
leaving
the
wick
neither
glowing
nor
smoking
,
but
black
.
While
I
stood
gaping
the
candle
at
the
foot
of
the
bed
went
out
,
and
the
shadows
seemed
to
take
another
step
toward
me
.
"
This
wo
n't
do
!
"
said
I
,
and
first
one
and
then
another
candle
on
the
mantelshelf
followed
.
"
What
's
up
?
"
I
cried
,
with
a
queer
high
note
getting
into
my
voice
somehow
.
At
that
the
candle
on
the
corner
of
the
wardrobe
went
out
,
and
the
one
I
had
relit
in
the
alcove
followed
.
"
Steady
on
!
"
I
said
,
"
those
candles
are
wanted
,
"
speaking
with
a
half-hysterical
facetiousness
,
and
scratching
away
at
a
match
the
while
,
"
for
the
mantel
candlesticks
.
"
My
hands
trembled
so
much
that
twice
I
missed
the
rough
paper
of
the
matchbox
.
As
the
mantel
emerged
from
darkness
again
,
two
candles
in
the
remoter
end
of
the
room
were
eclipsed
.
But
with
the
same
match
I
also
relit
the
larger
mirror
candles
,
and
those
on
the
floor
near
the
doorway
,
so
that
for
the
moment
I
seemed
to
gain
on
the
extinctions
.
But
then
in
a
noiseless
volley
there
vanished
four
lights
at
once
in
different
corners
of
the
room
,
and
I
struck
another
match
in
quivering
haste
,
and
stood
hesitating
whither
to
take
it
.
As
I
stood
undecided
,
an
invisible
hand
seemed
to
sweep
out
the
two
candles
on
the
table
.
With
a
cry
of
terror
I
dashed
at
the
alcove
,
then
into
the
corner
and
then
into
the
window
,
relighting
three
as
two
more
vanished
by
the
fireplace
,
and
then
,
perceiving
a
better
way
,
I
dropped
matches
on
the
iron-bound
deedbox
in
the
corner
,
and
caught
up
the
bedroom
candlestick
.
With
this
I
avoided
the
delay
of
striking
matches
,
but
for
all
that
the
steady
process
of
extinction
went
on
,
and
the
shadows
I
feared
and
fought
against
returned
,
and
crept
in
upon
me
,
first
a
step
gained
on
this
side
of
me
,
then
on
that
.
I
was
now
almost
frantic
with
the
horror
of
the
coming
darkness
,
and
my
self-possession
deserted
me
.
I
leaped
panting
from
candle
to
candle
in
a
vain
struggle
against
that
remorseless
advance
.
I
bruised
myself
in
the
thigh
against
the
table
,
I
sent
a
chair
headlong
,
I
stumbled
and
fell
and
whisked
the
cloth
from
the
table
in
my
fall
.
My
candle
rolled
away
from
me
and
I
snatched
another
as
I
rose
.
Abruptly
this
was
blown
out
as
I
swung
it
off
the
table
by
the
wind
of
my
sudden
movement
,
and
immediately
the
two
remaining
candles
followed
.
But
there
was
light
still
in
the
room
,
a
red
light
,
that
streamed
across
the
ceiling
and
staved
off
the
shadows
from
me
.
The
fire
!
Of
course
I
could
still
thrust
my
candle
between
the
bars
and
relight
it
.
