"Yes, Beth, yes," he exclaimed hoarsely through dry lips, stepping
across the body toward her. "You need not fear me."
She drew hastily back from before him, holding forth her hands as
though pressing him away, upon her face that same look of unutterable
horror.
"You! You! Oh, my God!" she kept repeating. "See! see there!--he is
dead, dead, dead! I--I found him there; I--I found him there. Oh, my
God!--that face so white in the starlight! I--I heard the words,
and--and the shot." She pressed both hands across her eyes as though
seeking to blot it out. "I swear I heard it! I--I do not know why I
came here, but I--I found him there dead, dead! I--I was all alone in
the dark. I--I had to touch him to make sure, and--and then it was
you."
"Yes, yes," he said, realizing she was blindly endeavoring to clear
herself, yet thinking only how he might soothe her, inexpressibly
shocked by both words and manner. "I know, I understand--you found him
there in the dark, and it has terrified you.
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