"They were raw troops." "They'd marched all night." "They hadn't eaten all day." "They were under heavy fire and even though they were late... you won the battle." "It wasn't my fault they didn't arrive in time." "Only one company was late." "As soon as I could, I moved them up." "They didn't rest." "I made them move on." "That's all, gentlemen." "A little harsh, isn't it?" "To condemn a man to death... just because some other men happened to lag behind?" "They were his troops." "And I've been wondering why they call you "The Watchdog."" "It's my way." "The only way I know." "Well, heaven knows I'm only the sort of beagle that the Boston Star sends out... to track down a bit of news here and there." "I don't think I'd be very comfortable being a watchdog." "Do you think I wanted to send Col. Tolditis to his death?" "He and I were friends." "I think I understand patriotism as well as the next man, General." "I'm not sure I understand your brand." "I think you'd kill your wife or child for your country's sake, if you had a wife." "I had a wife." "I'm sorry." "It was only a figure of speech." " It's all right." "She is long dead." " I'm extremely sorry, sir." "You think I am a cold man." "Cold and brutal." "If you had asked her, she would never have said so." "She's buried near here." "You saw that island off the shore?" "It's a cemetery, her burial place." "I'd like to see the place." "I'll go there tomorrow." "I'd like to put some flowers on your wife's grave." "I will give you that chance." "I had planned to go there tonight." "I will take you with me." "Across the battlefield?" "Out there?" "You mean, it's dangerous for an old man?" "You forget, I am also an old soldier." "You take the lantern." "The soldiers are exhausted." "Why don't you use horses?" "Horses cannot understand... why they have to work beyond endurance for their country." "But the men understand." "But these men have been fighting all day, sir." "The dead have to be buried immediately." "Do you want to know why?" "He will tell you why." "Drossos." "Dr. Drossos, our American friend, would like to know... why we use the men as draft animals." "So tell him why we have to clear the field." "In the sixth division, we have two cases of septicemic plague." "35 miles away, the Athens Brigade reports every other man sick with typhus." "If it isn't stopped, our victories will mean nothing." "The horseman on the pale horse is pestilence." "He follows the wars." "I'll leave this here to guide us back." "There's another watchdog for you, General." "He only guards the dead." "I have to worry about the living." "I'll wait out here." "Someone has broken into the coffin." "It's empty." "Maybe you've got the wrong crypt." "After all, it's a long time since you were last here." "No, I'm sure this was the place." "Well, let's get back." "Why should anyone be here and singing?" "It's a nice moonlit night." "Someone might have crossed over." "But to a cemetery?" "It may be an ill omen to sing in a cemetery... but there's no law against it." "There is a law against despoiling graves." "Perhaps the singer can tell us who broke that law." "Come in." "General Pherides." "I am honored, sir." "Please, won't you come in?" "I came here to visit the last resting place of my wife." "I found the coffins broken, empty, all of them." "I'm extremely sorry, General." "It happened a long time ago." "The peasants were looking for antiquities to sell." "They broke into the coffins, and then they destroyed the bodies." "Has anyone been punished for this crime?" "In a way, I was punished." "You see, I am an archaeologist." "And this island was the great find of my life." "Such treasures." "Antiquities dating back to Homer." "But I paid for them with my uneasy conscience." "Unwittingly I have turned good, simple people into grave robbers." "The fault is mine." "The legal guilt is theirs and must be reported to the authorities." "But all this was in the past." "15 years ago, I saw the wrong and gave up selling these things." "It is enough now for me to live with them." "I bought this house from Madame Kyra." "She consented to stay on with me." "Thanks to her, the house remains Greek." "I might have turned it into a bit of Switzerland, where I come from." "But won't you please meet my other guests?" "It will be a great pleasure for them." "I'm Oliver Davis, correspondent for the Boston Star." "Master soldier..." "My guests are travelers, refugees from your battle." "They crossed over to the island to avoid the shelling." "We had to destroy the bodies." "In the fires we burned them all." "There was one among them, an evil one, wicked." "Go on with your nonsense, old woman." "These are new days for Greece." "We don't believe the old foolish tales anymore." "You do not believe?" "Look there." "There is one who is pale and weak." "And upstairs, there is one who is rosy and red and full of blood." "Get on with you." "Find younger ears to listen to your nonsense." "General Pherides, this is Mr. St. Aubyn, British Consul from Adrianople." "My congratulations, General." "A fine fight, sir." "But a little inconvenient for travel." "There will be no more fighting here." "The enemy is in retreat." " Good." " And Mrs. St. Aubyn." "Robbins, Henry Robbins, tinware." "Best grade." "Lowest prices." "Robbins is no robber." " Aren't you a little out of your territory?" " That I am." "I'd give all the blooming statues in Greece for one whiff of fish and chips." " For one peek at Whitechapel." " Each to his own taste." "I'm going back on the first boat to England." "I'm for the sound of Bow Bells, I am." "I'm not well." "Something's wrong with me." "An odd way to explain plain drunkenness." "Quite." "He fell." "Horrible stairs." "I'm quite sure Mr. Robbins will be all right in the morning." " Thea, this is Mr. Davis." " How do you do?" "Thea, would you give our friends wine?" " Will you have wine, sir?" " Thank you." "Were you singing when we arrived?" " Thea has a lovely voice." " She has indeed." "And now, General Pherides." "Why, Thea..." "What's the matter?" "Don't you like the General?" "The General is a cruel man." "He has a bad name." " Mr. Davis." " Excuse me." "I do hope, sir, you won't feel offended at Thea." "I'm afraid we rather spoil her." "You see, Mrs. St. Aubyn is so fond of her." "I've been asking the General to spend the night." "He'll have none of it." "What?" "Pass up an opportunity to sleep in a soft bed, maybe have a hot bath?" "General, you must be out of your mind." "If you won't think of yourself, will you please think of me?" "I haven't slept in a bed for two months." "The last bath I took was a bucket of cold water I stole from your horse." "No, really?" "General, I feel for this young man." "He can stay." "But I have to get back to the troops." "That battery near the beach, you planned to inspect it in the morning." "What?" "You could do it on the way back and save time." "I could do that before the troops break camp." "Fine." "I'm honored to have you, and we'll try to make you comfortable." "But we must be off first thing in the morning." "I'll see about the room." " Good night." " Good night." " Good night, gentlemen." " Good night." "Our house welcomes you, master soldier." "You stay to guard us." "Good night, my dear." "Sleep well." "Take good care of her, Thea." "Come, I will get you to bed before that old woman gets up here." "She is always prying, peering, trying to find out something." "She is just an old woman." "Odd, perhaps, but harmless." "Mr. Albrecht, for this I will never be able to thank you enough." " Good night." " Good night." "This is wonderful." "What's the matter?" "Only General Pherides, the old watchdog of his country... would turn a bedroom into a barracks." "What's the matter?" "Have you forgotten how to sleep on a mattress?" "I've learned to live without comfort." "I can stand a hard bed and a hard thought without worrying too much." "The girl?" "The one who wouldn't serve you the wine?" "That got under your skin, didn't it?" "She would just as soon not have a watchdog around." "I don't know what she thinks." "And I don't care." "It is not so bad." "Not so bad." "You will be all right." "Perhaps you'd better get my medicine." "The bottle isn't here." "It must be in Mr. St. Aubyn's room." "I will get it for you." "Come in." "What is it, Thea?" " I came for Mrs. St. Aubyn's medicine." " It's in my bag over there." "If you'll bring it to me, I'll mix it for you." "Why, you're frightened." "You were very bold downstairs when you refused to pour me wine." "But alone with the old watchdog, you are not so brave." " I am not afraid of you." " The old one in there is frightened of you." "She made me come up here." "Said you were moving around, restless." " Planning evil things." " I went to get medicine for my mistress." "So I see." "Wait." "Tell me, about the wine... why did you refuse to serve me?" " Why do you kill your own countrymen?" " And when have I done that?" "In my district, they still speak of how you collected taxes... in the little villages with field artillery." " They were in rebellion against the taxes." " But they were Greeks." "Who is against the law of Greece is not a Greek." "Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel, and the people who live only by the law... are both wrong and cruel." "When I went up there, she wasn't quite so impudent." "She was frightened." "Did she tell you why she wouldn't pour the wine for you?" "Some silly grudge against me, for collecting taxes in her district." "That was before the war." "About time you got back to the army, General, where there's no back talk." " I'll be glad to get back." " Cheer up." "You won't see her again." "General Pherides..." "I'd like your advice about something, a grave matter." " What's wrong?" " Mr. Robbins." "We thought him drunk." " Well?" " I'd like the General to see him." "He was going back to hear the sound of Bow Bells." "I'm afraid he'll never hear them again." " He complained of not feeling well." " He staggered." "That staggering, his dying so quickly." "In your campaigns, have you never seen men... who staggered before they died, who talked incoherently, walked blindly?" "I've seen men die drunk, and I've seen men die of the plague." "There's no possibility of that here, is there?" "I'll send for Dr. Drossos." "He'll know." "And until he comes, everyone must stay on the island." "We are faced with a very serious form of the plague, septicemic plague." "The symptoms are wavering gait... convulsions, weakness, sometimes blindness... and then death, always death." "Always death, and very quickly." "The illness is highly infectious." "Because there is a grave danger of it spreading to the army... crippling our efforts against the enemy... it has been decided that we all remain here... until the disease has run its course." "I have to cross over to the village." "Today is market day." "No one may leave the island." "I must safeguard the health of my troops." "I'm afraid you'll have to make an exception in my case, General." "In my case and my wife's." "I'm traveling on urgent business for my government." "No one may leave." "But, my dear sir, His Majesty's government..." "No one may leave the island." "General Pherides, I respect your concern and authority... but I must leave the island." " There are personal reasons..." " I will be glad to explain my wife's plight." "No one may leave the island." "But you must have observed that my wife is an invalid." "What about yourself, General?" "What about the army?" "It's better to have no General than one carrying the plague." "The doctor will tell you what to do and I will see that you do it." "We will fight the plague." "Well, if I have to be quarantined, I couldn't pick prettier company." "I'm sorry." "Actually, I wish you weren't here at all, that you were safe away." "That's what I really mean." "That's what I should have said." "Wash all you want to." "You cannot wash away evil." "There is one among us who brings punishment on us all." "If you'd forget about the evil spirits just long enough to pass us the towels..." "I'd be greatly obliged to you." "What nonsense the old woman talks." "It sounds no stranger to me than some of the things you've been saying." "Good winds and bad winds." "I've explained that to you." "The disease is transmitted by fleas." "Their bodies have an 80% moisture content." "The hot wind from the south literally burns them away." "If the sirocco blows, all danger will be over in 24 hours." "Kyra sounds just as logical to me." "That the gods send plague to punish men for harboring the Vorvolaka." " Vorvolaka?" "What's that?" " Some old peasant superstition." "An elemental wolf-spirit." "Some such thing in human form." "They say it drains people of their strength and vitality until they die." "Kyra will tell you that there's more to it." "That the Vorvolaka is an evil for which the gods punish us mortals." "I suppose the next thing you know she'll be telling us that the Vorvolaka... walks among us." "What nonsense." "The doctor is the doctor, and we'll do as he says." "Certainly." "But one might as well go out on the cliff... and build a votive fire to Hermes." " Not that I believe in Hermes, either." " You had better believe in the doctor." " He's the only one who can save us." " We'll make a wager." "The doctor can use his science, I'll pray to Hermes." " We'll see who dies and who is saved." " You can't mean that seriously." "I'll take your wager." "You broke the doctor's first order." "No contact." "I'll break no more of his orders." "Nor will you, or any of the others." "But now that I find we are to remain here, I must insist that you stop." "Your suspicions of her, your hints, your vague little threats... they all make Thea dreadfully unhappy." "Madame Kyra, let me remind you that evil breeds evil." "And in the end, it will be you yourself who will suffer." " I warn you..." " We die when we must." "Come in." "It's Mrs. St. Aubyn." "She has her illness again." "She hardly breathes." "Will you come to her?" " Mr. St. Aubyn?" " The others." "Mustn't rouse the others." " Let me call the doctor." "It may not be..." " It is the plague." "There is nothing he can do." "If I could only see Mary." " I will get her." " No." "If she's ill, it might be dangerous." "And what are you doing here?" "The sickness came to him last night." "He is dead." " Where is his wife?" " She sleeps." "And does the doctor know?" "Did I not give orders that the doctor should be told?" "Get your mistress here at once." "Don't you understand?" "The body has to be taken away." "She has to be told." " No." " No?" "No?" "Get her." "Bring her to me at once." "Wait." "Why don't you want to call Mrs. St. Aubyn?" " What are you afraid of?" " The shock, when she awakens." "You're hiding something." "I want to know what it is." "It's Mrs. St. Aubyn's affair, and of no concern to you." "Please listen to me." "I've got to make you understand." " He's not dead." " But, Mrs. St. Aubyn..." "No." "I won't believe it." "He's not dead." " But Dr. Drossos is a Medical Officer." " I don't care who he is." " He doesn't know." "He can't tell." " I'll make any tests you want." " Look." " He's not dead!" "If there is the faintest breath of life, it will cloud the mirror." " You see?" " The breath can stop." "The heart can stop." "It still doesn't mean death." " Men have lived..." " Quite right." "In cataleptic trance, a man may live for days with no visible sign of life." "The breath suspended, the heartbeat stilled." "But this man is dead." "What difference does it make?" "Uncovered or covered, the eyes see no more." "Looks all right." "It'll give us all something to do." "Better to watch the wind and hope that it changes... than to watch each other and have no hope at all." "The wind is our only hope." "A change in the wind." "Is that it, Doctor?" "Of course, we can take certain simple sanitary precautions." "The General is putting all his hopes on you, Doctor." "Yes, I know." "That frightens me more than the plague." " Good morning." " Good morning." "I wonder if I could have a word with you alone, Doctor?" "I have an explanation and apology to make to you." " Certainly." " Oh, don't go, I'm leaving." "The ledge is getting too populous." "Remember the General's instructions about gathering in groups." "Doctor, I'm extremely sorry for what happened yesterday." " I would like to explain." " Of course, Mrs. St. Aubyn." "All my life, I've had a dreadful fear of premature burial." "I awaken sometimes screaming with nightmares... in which I see myself buried alive... waking to find myself entombed, without air..." " stifling, and no escape." " I know." "It's not an uncommon fear." "Perhaps I have more reason for my fear than most." "You see, since childhood I've been ill." "I have fainting spells." "Trances." "Was it I who mentioned catalepsy yesterday?" "Yes." "I couldn't tell you then." "I've had trances lasting more than a day... with almost complete suspension of heartbeat and respiration." "I should have known." "I'm terribly sorry." "I would never have spoken as I did." "But you need not fear." "I will take every precaution, make every known test." " If you are unlucky..." " Thank you." "Now that you understand, I'm no longer afraid." "I suppose you want to hear my prayer to Hermes?" "I just came to see if your prayer would entertain me... as much as my medicine seems to amuse you." "O, God of physicians, God of healing, protect us." "Watch over us, thou swift-footed one, son of Zeus." "What?" "Did my prayer move you to join with me in worship?" "It was my way of saying amen..." " and my surrender." " To the gods?" "To the gods." "They are more powerful than my science." "You feel the symptoms?" "My friend, what can one say?" "What is there to say?" "I'll meet my old familiar enemy, death." "I have fought him before." "I've won often." "Now he wins." "Let him come for me." " This is for Dr. Drossos." " You can't go in there." " Let me by, please." " Aren't you afraid?" "I am not afraid of dying." "There is nothing you can do here." "Get out." "I have no patience with martyrs." "How long can one live with catalepsy, Doctor?" "An opiate." "At least you need not suffer." "I have watched so many times." "I will watch this time, too." "You should be spared." "Your knowledge, your courage..." "A fool's courage." "Fight death all your days... then die, knowing you know nothing." "That's the last of our friend." "Where are you going?" "Never mind that." "It does no good." "It will serve our purpose a great deal more if we were to join in prayer..." "To Hermes?" "I've been mocking prayer, making a joke of it out there in the ruins." "I said that I believed in nothing." "But there was a little boy in Switzerland... who used to feel the peace and quiet of the church... and listened to the minister pray." "You may have heard other words in Switzerland... but there is a prayer for all of us." "O, God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers... mercifully accept our prayers... and grant to thy servants the help of thy power... that our sickness may be turned into health... and our sorrow into joy." " Amen." " Amen." "Thank you." "To believe, to pray, even if only to some pagan god... so long as belief is there, it brings comfort." "That's true, isn't it, General?" " I did not pray." " But certainly you believe in God." "When I was a boy, I was taught by the village priest, and old women like Kyra." "My belief had many sides, good sides and bad sides." "As a man, I put all that away from me." "I put my faith in what I can feel and see and know about." "Like Dr. Drossos?" "Like Dr. Drossos." "I'm going out to see if there has been a change in the wind." "There goes The Watchdog." "He was so proud of that." "The guardian of his country, of the law." "Do you mean the General felt that he could guard us from death?" "I don't know." "I do think he had some such notion in his mind." "With Drossos as his weapon, he thought he could beat it away from us... keep it away from the army." "So, master soldier, so you pretend not to believe... and yet you feed the fires that burn for the old gods." " I don't know what you're talking about." " You know." "Your friend is dead." "He could not save us." "So you're trying to tell me again that it's the Vorvolaka... that we have the plague here... because a young girl is healthy and her mistress is sick." "Wait, I have already told you about that." "I have another warning." "It's a warning that does not ask for your belief." "We are dark people, out of an old soil with old blood... that moves to ancient sorceries, magic... good spirits and bad spirits." "What are you trying to tell me?" "Speak plainly." " We face death here." " Do you suppose I don't know that?" "And worse than death, evil things that I know... and that you know and Thea knows." "Things that we cannot tell in words, but which we feel." "Feel and fear." "You are an old fool." "Let me pass." "Wait, I'm trying to save you." "I don't ask you to believe me." "I ask you to think on the hours when one sleeps." "Do you know what happens then?" "The body may lie still in bed... but what happens to the thoughts, the spirit?" "With what ancient demons does it spend its time... and in what deeds?" "And Thea, does she know?" "Oliver..." "Would you say, Oliver, that I am different from other men?" "Different?" "No." " Are my thoughts different?" " Every man has his own thoughts." "You don't understand." "Are Greeks different?" "I mean, old fellows like myself who were brought up in the mountain villages?" "Sure." "Greeks are different from Bavarians, Bavarians are different from Irish." "Sure, you're different." "I still don't seem to make you understand." "Let me try again." "This trouble, this sickness we have... the fact that we may all die, toward that am I different?" "Yeah, I suppose you are." "How?" "Well, Albrecht and I, and St. Aubyn, too, before he died... we sort of take it, accept it, but you're fighting it." "It seems to me you're fighting something bigger than the plague... wrestling with something you can't see, and Kyra, too." "I get that feeling from Kyra." " And Thea?" " She's young." "You're going out to meet her." "I wouldn't go." "What are you going to do, General?" "Give me a paternal lecture on bringing Thea home early?" "That's hardly the way to talk to a man and woman... who may be dead tomorrow." " Where are you going?" " I'm not sleepy." "I'm going out." "You're going back to your room." "You know what my troops call me?" " They call you "The Watchdog."" " Yes." "We have the plague here." "I said I'd stand watch against the plague." "But St. Aubyn died, the doctor died." "I tried everything, every human remedy." "And now that you've failed, you think it's some of Kyra's nonsense..." " the evil spirit, the Vorvolaka." " I don't know, perhaps." "That is stupidity." "That is superstition." "Let me by, please." "No." "I'm just as unsure as you are." "I don't know... that this is a contagion of the soul that you carry... a contagion bred of evil, nameless, unearthly." "But until I do know, I must keep you away from the others... and if necessary..." "I'll make an end in the only way that we know that a Vorvolaka can be killed." "It's impossible." "I'm flesh and blood." "I remember my mother and father." "Yes, but when you awaken in the morning... what do you remember of the night before?" "Of your visits to the Englishwoman?" "Sometimes at night, I tend her." "I help her when she feels ill." " I loosen the nightgown at her throat." " At her throat." "That you remember." "Can you remember dreams?" "Can a Vorvolaka in her human form remember the evil that she did at night?" "How can you be so sure?" "This much we know:" "You walk at night." "You arise in the morning refreshed and filled with life... and your friend, every day she goes paler, listless, weaker." "It is best that you stay away from the others." "I hope that I'm wrong." "I hope that everything that Kyra said is untrue... but until I know, I must watch you." "Mrs. St. Aubyn, were you ill before?" " Before?" " Before I came to work for you?" "Yes, I was ill for a long time before." "But since I came, you've been worse?" "Yes, that was to be expected." "Why do you ask, Thea?" "You're not thinking that you're at fault?" "It isn't that, is it?" "I thought I had given you something better to hold on to... than those silly stories of evil spirits and malignant forces... that you heard in your home village." "But you do grow worse, weaker." "But that's not your fault, child." "It couldn't be." "It's very simple." "My illness is incurable." "Naturally, it grows worse as time goes on." "Could it be my spirit?" "Something over which I myself have no force or will?" "You are good, Thea, kind and generous." "How can anything bad come from goodness?" "I try to be good." "I try to be kind." " But how can I know what my spirit..." " Your spirit is yourself, Thea." "You needn't worry about Vorvolakas." "When you left this room a few moments ago... there was an open, giving look on your face." "Where were you going?" "To that young man?" "And why didn't you go to him?" "You met the General and he talked to you of this nonsense." "That's it, isn't it?" "Thea... go to the young man... and wear the same happy look you had before." "What do you mean, spying on us like this?" "You must have known we were here." " That is why I came." " Bosh." "Come on, Thea." "You might as well stay here, Davis." "The island is small, and wherever you go, I'll go too." " It's for your own safety." " Wait a minute." "You really mean that, don't you?" "You're really concerned." "And you're going to tag along just to protect me." " I am concerned." " Let me get this straight." "You feel that Thea is some sort of evil influence... and can harm me and the other people here, too." "Is that it?" "What are you going to do about it?" "When I am sure, I will destroy her." "General, you're right." "There is something here more dangerous than septicemic plague." "More dangerous as far as Thea is concerned." "And that's your own crazy thoughts about her." "You can say whatever you like." "The only safe thing for Thea is to get her off the island." "We'll leave in the morning." "I'll row you over." "You can't go." "You'll spread the plague." "You might have thought about that before you threatened her." " Why can't you come with us?" " I've told you, Thea." "But even if it's true... even if there's no chance of your getting well... it would still be better if you were with us." "You and Oliver don't know where you'll be or what will happen." "You couldn't shield me against what I fear most." "I don't dare go with you." "Mr. Albrecht, will he know what to do?" "Yes, I'll explain everything to him." "You must be off." "Oliver will be waiting for you." "No, he's to meet me later." "God bless you." "Mr. Albrecht, the American, where are they?" "They are not in this room." "I cannot see through stone and mortar, like some I know." " Thea, darling, what happened?" " The General, he wrecked the boat." " He won't let me leave here alive." " It's all right." "He'll not harm you." "I'll see to that." "General Pherides... this self-appointed tyranny of yours cannot be tolerated." "What you have done before was bad enough." "Harassing everyone with your orders... forcing immediate burial without time for prayer or mourning." "But now this." "Preventing these young people from leaving... persecuting a dear and lovely girl like Thea... terrorizing her with your ugly, savage superstitions..." "I will not have it!" "There are other men here, sane men." "They will know how to deal with you." "I warn you, General." "Leave Thea alone." "What must be done, I will do." "Does that include smashing the only boat on the island?" "I told you that no one could leave." "And I told you, General... that your orders do not apply to me or any civilian." "You haven't any rights over us." "If you do anything else to threaten Thea, General..." "I'll forget that we've been friends." "Thea." "Thea, you must help me." "You did call them, didn't you, Kyra?" "I told you, I knocked." "The girl said her mistress wasn't well." "Maybe you can make up a tray after dinner." "Thea will probably be hungry." "I asked." "The girl said she wanted nothing." "It has been bright and warm today, hardly a breath of wind." "We can all take comfort in the thought that the wind may change tomorrow." "We always have these warm, still days before the sirocco begins to blow." "It hasn't changed yet." "What do you do, Vorvolaka?" "What do you do behind locked doors?" "Vorvolaka." "Vorvolaka." "Vorvolaka..." "I have twisted rose briar before your door." "The thorns that pierced His brow will tear your flesh, evil one." "I have put salt in the fire and a cross of ashes on the door." "Vorvolaka." "Vorvolaka." "Vorvolaka, born of evil... sinful and corrupt... your hands are bloody with violence... your mouth bitter with the taste of sin and corruption." "You are guilty and abhorred." "Vorvolaka." "Vorvolaka." "Please, I beg of you..." "My fault..." "Is it my fault?" "I've been waiting." "I did not want him to hear." "The girl, she is still in the Englishwoman's room." "Let her stay." "All night long I heard her moving, and sometimes someone crying." "Now everything is still." "The door is locked." "You knocked?" "No one answered." "It was quiet like a tomb." "Good morning." "Look." " She must have sickened last night." " No, she was not like the others." "She fell down and hasn't moved since." "She was not like the others." "Drossos told me the plague differs." "Some it strikes down almost like that." "She fainted often, but you can't stay in a faint all night." "Look into the eyes of that one." "You'll see how she died." "I don't know what's the matter with the General." "Something up here." "You'd better stay out of his way." "Get down to the ruins." " But Mrs. St. Aubyn?" " We'll see that everything's done." " It's best that you keep out of his way." " Please, I'd rather stay." "It's bad enough to have the plague." "I don't want a madman to contend with." "The General's almost rational when you're not around." "Stay out of his way." "Her heart has stopped." "There is no breath." "Here, try the mirror." "She would have wanted us to do that." "Nothing." "Help me get the box up here." "General, the wind." "Look, the wind has changed to the south." "It's the sirocco." "We'll be able to leave this place... and you can take command of your troops again." "I've had command for the last time." "Oh, come now, General." "You'll feel a lot better after we leave this accursed island." "I shall never leave the island." "I'm going to get Albrecht." "Watch the General for me." "Soldier, you stayed your hand." "Now the plague punishes you." "The Vorvolaka still lives, rose-cheeked and full of blood." "I am alone with her." "I am not dead yet." "She shall not harm you." "Alone with her in that dark room." "I am afraid." "And now there's that other one." "Who dies by a Vorvolaka becomes a Vorvolaka." "That other one, she's in her coffin... but she struggles to come out, to prey on us." "Hear her?" "Hear?" "The wood splintering." "I can hear it." "I hear it." "Shut me in." "In the dark." "Shut me in again." "Closed in." "Shut in." "It doesn't look much like the fish spears I knew back at Marblehead." "The great god of the sea, Poseidon, didn't use it for fishing." "He raked the wine-dark ocean with it and stirred the loud-sounding waves." "They still use spears like that in Corinth." "Vorvolaka, I hear her." "I hear her." "He seems to know you're out here." "It sets him off." "Why don't you get to bed?" "You need some sleep." "A little frightening up there?" "Well, I can't blame you." "Outside?" "It's windy, but it's warm." "Why don't you sit out there... and I'll join you when the General quiets down a bit?" "Napping?" "It's the warm wind." "It makes one sleepy." "The General's asleep." "I'll get Thea back." "Who's there?" "Is that you, Oliver?" " Kyra?" " Kyra!" "What's the matter?" "In the tunnel, something white." "Maybe..." "Maybe what?" "Albrecht, do you remember what Mrs. St. Aubyn said?" "That business about being in a trance?" "Well, she must have been." "She didn't even recognize Thea in the tunnel." "She's out of her mind." "Mad." " What are you talking about?" " We put her in that coffin alive." "The box has been broken." "She's out here somewhere." "You can't go with us." "We'll need your help after we find her." "Vorvolaka." "Mrs. St. Aubyn." "Mrs. St. Aubyn, wait." "Wait, Mrs. St. Aubyn." "Thea." "I saw the Vorvolaka." "I saw her." "The grave clothes, wings... the face... eyes of death and evil." "Yes, yes." "She came out of the darkness." "She must be destroyed." "It is done." "She has gone back to endless night." "Back of his madness, there was something simple, good." "He wanted to protect us." "English"