Arthur stood immobile as a rock. The flames died away, and
they saw one another only by the glow of the ashes, dimly, like persons
in a vision of death. There was silence. Then the necromancer spoke
again, and now his voice was louder. He seemed to utter weird
invocations, but they were in a tongue that the others knew not. And
while he spoke the light from the burning cinders on a sudden went out.
It did not die, but was sharply extinguished, as though by invisible
hands. And now the darkness was more sombre than that of the blackest
night. The trees that surrounded them were hidden from their eyes, and
the whiteness of the stone bench was seen no longer. They stood but a
little way one from the other, but each might have stood alone. Susie
strained her eyes, but she could see nothing. She looked up quickly;
the stars were gone out, and she could see no further over her head than
round about. The darkness was terrifying. And from it, Dr Porhoet's voice
had a ghastly effect. It seemed to come, wonderfully changed, from the
void of bottomless chaos.
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