I went back to the car and got in at once. It was done–the woman had become a thing of horror to me–a living corpse from which all life had been beaten out. I felt the same feeling I had upon finding the body of my poor mother all those years ago. I put my head on the steering wheel and sobbed aloud.

I sat up with a start, When did that happen? Last night–I fainted. How long have I been sitting here waiting?

It was now eleven o'clock at night. My watch said so. I must have been sitting here an hour or more. The woman hadn't moved a muscle. She looks just as she did when I got in the car–lifeless and white, with dreadful eyes that seem to follow me.

God! Can it be possible? Is this woman alive after all?

She can't be! She must not be! But she is–she is alive! Alive and waiting for me to touch her.

"No, no," I said with a sudden revulsion of feeling. "You have been mistaken from the first. The woman is most assuredly dead."

'Very likely she is," answered a voice; "but you did not know this would happen when you first saw her. You would not have invited her into your car as you did. What would you do if she were yet alive?"

"Do?" I stammered, turning to find a thin man kneeling beside my car.

"Yes," he said, watching me narrowly; "what would you do if she were still alive?"

"I–I don't know," replied at last.

"Try," he said.

I hesitated again. I was thinking.

"If she–if she were alive," I began, "what would you advise me to do?"

"To touch her," he replied, with his eyes fixed on my face and a wicked smile upon his lips.

"No!" I exclaimed involuntarily. "Never! That's horrible! I would rather die."

I buried my face in my hands and shuddered from head to foot.

"You are a brave man," he remarked, rising. "Your pulse is quickening. You are beginning to fear–ha! ha! Let me feel your wrist."

He placed his hand on my wrist and held it there. I made an effort to withdraw it.

"Not so fast," he said, with a frown; "you and I are old friends. Did you never tell your wife that you had seen me before?"

I felt as if I were falling into the pit again. His hand was like a band of iron.

"No," I replied, struggling to free myself; "but she–she–"

"She's starting to suspect something, isn't she?" He grinned.

"You're not real," I declared. "There's nothing for her to know."

I stepped out of the car and pushed past the man, shouting, "Just leave me alone!"

I went over to the passenger side of my car and grabbed her lifeless body. She was lighter than I expected and I cradled her carefully in my arms as I ran up the steps of the gray building.

"I'm never far away," called the thin man, chuckling under his breath.

I kicked open the heavy oak door and ran up the stairs, two steps at a time. I found my way to the second floor by following a lighted corridor. I pounded on one of the doors.

"Who's there?" called a sleepy voice from inside.

"It's me, Evan," I answered.

"Well–" said the voice sleepily, "we're all asleep here."

"Come on," I said, catching hold of the handle and turning it. "This woman has fainted."

"Oh," said the voice, "is she dead?"

"I don't know–we must see."

They opened the door and allowed me to enter. It was a large bare room with a single window at one end looking out on an air shaft. I set the woman down on a sofa as the resident disappeared into another room. I assumed that was the bedroom back there.

At first, I had thought this woman in my arms was dead; but she stirred slightly, and half lifted herself up.

"Is–is it this room?" she asked faintly.

"Yes," I answered, catching hold of her hand. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she said in a tone between wonder and despair.

"Then what's the matter?" I demanded. "Speak out."

"I don't know," she said, and tears started to appear in her eyes. "I don't know. I can't think."

She let herself fall back on the sofa again and burst into tears.

"What's the matter?" I repeated in bewilderment.

"Oh, what does it all mean?" she said, wringing her hands. "How am I ever to stand living here!"

"Don't be silly," I said sharply. "Do you think I can leave you here by yourself at such a time?"

She looked at me with a piteous appeal in her large eyes. Then suddenly buried her face in the sofa again and burst into tears.

"I don't understand," she sobbed. "I'm afraid to live. I'm afraid to die. I don't understand."

I did not try to soothe her, but in my heart, there was an inexplicable sense of helplessness. It was more incomprehensible because I could see nothing threatening in the room. Everything about her had a pathetic charm. No one who saw her without that terror would have failed to recognize it.

Her slender graceful figure, the rich tints of her hair and skin, the beautiful curves of her head, neck, and arms. Even as she sobbed there came to me a curious sense of having seen her before under similar circumstances, but I could not fix my mind upon where or when. There seemed to be something familiar in her sobbing which I did not understand. The sound continued, and I began to feel strangely moved. Strange thoughts came into my brain.

I found myself wondering whether this beautiful creature–with her dainty feet and hands–was married or single. She must be rich; I could see that she was by the splendor of her dress. At length, after sobbing for some minutes, she raised her head and looked at me with a shuddering cry. The wonder and horror in her countenance struck me with awe.

"God! how you frightened me!" she exclaimed, and then suddenly burst out into a storm of sobs again.

I continued to gaze upon her in silence, waiting for her to control herself. She made an effort to rise but fell back immediately.

"You must not leave me!" she said, clinging to me convulsively. "For the love of Heaven, do not leave me! I am afraid of the dark. You must not go!"

"The night is fine," I replied. "The stars shine brilliantly."

She shuddered and turned her face away. For some time she lay there in a fit of uncontrollable shuddering which rendered her quite unable to utter a word. Gradually, however, she became calmer and again sought to rise. I permitted her to do so and then led her towards the window.

It was completely dark–the moon had not yet risen–and I proceeded to point out the constellations which I knew by heart.

"You are an American," said the lady as we looked together at the deep black canopy of heaven.

"Yes," I replied. "Most of my countrymen are very much in love with astronomy."

"And you are a very learned man," she observed, with perhaps a slight tinge of irony in her tone.

"Yes, considerably so."

"It is wonderful to see how beautifully everything is arranged in the heavens."

"Yes," I said, "the mathematical mind of man has been so much occupied with the stars, that he has given comparatively little attention to terrestrial objects."

"Ah, well," she rejoined, "there is nothing like looking up to find out how we are situated."

"That is true," I replied. "Still there are many other things which we can study with equal profit."

"Like what?" she asked.

"For instance, the position of the earth in its orbit around the sun," I answered.

"Yes–what of that?"

"It travels at an average rate of about sixty miles a minute," I continued. "That is, it makes one revolution on its axis every five minutes."

"Every five minutes?" she repeated incredulously.

"Yes," I said, "and in its orbit, it travels at a greater or less rate of speed, according to the distance it is from the sun."

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Because," I replied, "the nearer we are to the sun the faster we travel around it. That is, on account of there being more attraction."

"And can we stop?" she inquired.

"We cannot stop," I answered. "The rate of our motion is so great that we reach a speed of one hundred and eighty miles a minute when we are near the sun. And only sixty miles a minute when we are at the farthest part of our orbit."

She started back in unfeigned astonishment. "A hundred and eighty miles a minute!" she exclaimed. "Near the sun! Sixty miles a minute at the other end of our orbit! My dear Evan, you are an astronomer."

I bowed in acknowledgment of the compliment, and continued, "You must have observed that we cannot stop going around the earth. That is to say, our progress around the sun. Nor can we change the direction of our course."

"Indeed I have," she said. "Yet I never thought of it all until you explained it so incredibly well. Thank you, my dear Evan."

"It is my pleasure," I replied, "but if you will permit me to be so bold as to ask you a question. Where do you plan to stay for this evening? Would you be at all interested in staying at my residence?"

"Indeed I would," she replied. "I should like it very much."

"Then we will have to dispense with this foolish place, and I'll show you how a true gentleman lives."

"Thank you," she said, "I would like to see that above all things. Lead on, lead on!"

We stepped back out into the night only to discover my car was missing. Was it stolen? Towed away? I had no idea, but this was rather embarrassing. I had a beautiful young woman on my arm who required me to further impress upon her my masculinity and worth. And a man without a car is far from impressive.

"I'm sorry about your car," she said to me.

"It's just that, well, it's gone."

"And how will you take me back to your residence?" she asked, looking a little put-out.

I stroked my chin and furrowed my eyebrows with deep thought. For a moment, I realized how dumb this was. I was looking like quite an idiot! I really needed to get on the ball and find my car soon.

"This might not be the best idea," she said looking me in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry about your car, it's just that, well it's gone. I don't know if I can spend an evening with a man who can so easily lose a car."

"It's not a problem," I said, feeling my face redden. "I'll walk home."

She looked at me for a moment before finally nodding her head. "That's fine but you'll be walking alone. I have other places and more important people I can visit."

And with that, she turned and walked away leaving me alone and pitiful. My head fell into my hands and I tried to think of something else. I was pathetic. Maybe though, my car wasn't too far away and it would only take me a little while to find it again? I looked around the area but still couldn't find anything that resembled my car. A few moments later I heard a commotion going on nearby and looked up to see a woman being arrested by the police. I had no idea what was going on but quickly moved away from the scene not wanting to get involved.

I walked for another few minutes, looking around feverishly for my car. Finally, I gave up and started back in the direction of my apartment. I had no idea how long it would take me to get home but I had to try.

As I walked home, a man on a bicycle almost crashed into me and apologized profusely.

"I don't know what happened," he said as he pushed his bike into the side of the building. "I suddenly had this weird feeling that somebody was following me so I frantically tried to turn and go home."

My eyes widened slightly, wondering if he had seen something that I didn't. "You think you saw something?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said as he stepped forward and ran his hands through his hair anxiously.

"Do you think it was a spirit?" I asked.

He sighed deeply, shaking his head slowly back and forth. "I don't know," he said again before quickly turning and pushing his bike away from me.

I walked briskly the rest of the way to my apartment in a daze, pondering all I had experienced this evening. I thought I felt the presence of the thin man behind me but I dared not turn around. I certainly needed a good sleep after this night in the big city.