ee, stood a silent man.
Only one was to be seen at a time.
These men watched me pass.
"I left the town and began to ramble about the fields.
"After the lapse of some time I turned back and saw a great crowd coming up behind me.
I recognized all the men whom I had seen in that town. They had strange heads.
They did not seem to be in a hurry, yet they walked faster than I did.
They made no noise as they walked. In an instant this crowd had overtaken and surrounded me. The faces of these men were earthen in hue.
"Then the first one whom I had seen and questioned on entering the town said to me:--
"`Whither are you going!
Do you not know that you have been dead this long time?''
"I opened my mouth to reply, and I perceived that there was no one near me."
He woke.
He was icy cold.
A wind which was chill like the breeze of dawn was rattling the leaves of the window, which had been left open on their hinges.
The fire was out.
The candle was nearing its end.
It was still black night.
He rose, he went to the window.
There were no stars in the sky even yet.
From his window the yard of the house and the street were visible. A sharp, harsh noise, which made him drop his eyes, resounded from the earth.
Below him he perceived two red stars, whose rays lengthened and shortened in a singular manner through the darkness.