; it makes confusion, and is thrown out as soon as the eye of the Master
falls upon it. Alice revived. "Did I speak?" she asked. "No,--you said
nothing." "I am glad. I feared I had been foolish. It was a mere passing
faintness." Mrs. Sandford thought it was the _cause_ of the faintness
that was passing, but she prudently kept her discovery to herself.
CHAPTER XXVIII. Fletcher rose next morning betimes, after a night of
fitful and unrefreshing slumber. In his dreams he had sought Bullion in
vain; that substantial person seemed to have become a new Proteus, and
to escape, when nearly overtaken, by taking refuge in some unexpected
transformation. Sometimes the scene changed, and it was the dreamer that
was flying, while Sandford, shod with swiftness, pursued him, swinging a
lasso; and as often as the fierce hunter whirled the deadly coil,
Fletcher awoke with a suffocating sensation, and a cold sweat tri
