She prayed as she had
never prayed before, and so praying, sank into a torpor or a swoon.
It seemed to Benita that this sleep of hers suddenly became alive; in it
she saw many things. For instance, she saw herself seated in a state of
trance upon that very step where now she knelt, while before her stood
her father and Jacob Meyer. Moreover, something spoke in her; she could
not hear a voice, but she seemed to see the words written in the air
before her. These were the words:--
"_Clasp the feet of the Christ and draw them to the left. The passage
beneath leads to the chamber where the gold is hid, and thence to the
river bank. That is the secret which ere I depart, I the dead Benita,
pass on to you, the living Benita, as I am commanded. In life and death
peace be to your soul._"
Thrice did this message appear to repeat itself in the consciousness
of Benita. Then, suddenly as she had slept, she woke again with every
letter of it imprinted on her mind. Doubtless it was a dream, nothing
but a dream bred by the fact that her arms were clasping the feet of the
crucifix. What did it say? "Draw them to the left."
She did so, but nothing stirred. Again she tried, and still nothing
stirred. Of course it was a dream. Why had such been sent to mock her?
In a kind of mad irritation she put out all her remaining strength and
wrestled with those stony feet.
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