PART FIRST

THE WHITE CAT

I

I came to myself with a disturbing sensethat something was wrong with me. Mydiscomfort, increasing steadily, resolved itselfinto two distinct factors—a pain in my sideat every breath and a throbbing ache in thetop of my head. I realized that I was in bed,and the first strangeness of it struck me. Icould not account for it. The wild, spicyodor of flowers came to me, adding to myperplexity. Then I opened my eyes.

The place was so dimly lighted that forsome seconds my sluggish wits were unableto interpret the blotches of shadow and thevague glimmering spots. These, however,gradually resolved themselves intocomprehensible forms. I perceived that I was ina strange room, large and airy; for even inthe obscurity I got a feeling of free, cleanspace, and of that chaste emptiness which isapt to distinguish the guest-chamber of awell-kept house. I heard, now, the steady,deliberate ticking of a clock a little way off,and somewhere below was a small grindingsound, so low as to be almost a mere vibration,like a coffee-mill in

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