Gila listened, fascinated, even up to the moment of the fire and the
tragedy when Stephen fell into the flames. She shuddered visibly several
times, but sat tense and still and listened. She even was unmoved when
Courtland went on to tell of finding himself on a ledge above the
burning mass, creeping somehow into a small haven, shut in by a wall of
smoke, and feeling that this was the end. But when he began to tell of
the Presence, the Light, the Voice, the girl gave a sudden start and
gripped her cold hands together. Almost imperceptibly she drew her tense
little body away from him, and turned slowly till she faced him, horror
and consternation in her eyes, utter unbelief and scorn on her lips. But
still she did not speak, still held her gaze on him and listened, while
he told of coming back to life, the hospital walls, the strange
emptiness, and the Presence; the recovery, and the Presence still with
him; the going here and there and finding the Presence always before him
and yet with him!
"He is here in this room with us, Gila!" he said, simply, as if he had
been telling her that he had brought her some flowers and he hoped she
would like them.
Then suddenly Gila gave a spring away from him to her feet, uttered a
wild scream of terror, and burst into angry tears!
Courtland sprang to his feet in dismay and instant contrition. He had
made the horror of the fire too dramatic. He had not realized how
dreadful it would be to a woman's delicate sensibilities.
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