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The Hand Of Fu-Manchu Being a New Phase in the Activities of Fu-Manchu, the Devil Doctor
The Hand Of FuManchu Being a New Phase in the Activities of FuManchu the Devil Doctor Author:Sax Rohmer Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: " I'm Beeton, Sir Gregory Hale's man." Smith started visibly, and his gaunt, tanned face seemed to me to have grown perceptibly paler. " Come on, Petrie! "... more » he snapped. " There's some devilry here." Thrusting Beeton aside he rushed in at the open door — upon which, as I followed him, I had time to note the number, 143. It communicated with a suite of rooms almost identical with our own. The sitting-room was empty and in the utmost disorder, but from the direction of the principal bedroom came a most horrible mumbling and gurgling sound — a sound utterly indescribable. For one instant we hesitated at the threshold — hesitated to face the horror beyond; then almost side by side we came into the bedroom. . . . Only one of the two lamps was alight — that above the bed; and on the bed a man lay writhing. He was incredibly gaunt, so that the suit of tropical twill which he wore hung upon him in folds, showing, if such evidence were necessary, how terribly he was fallen away from his constitutional habit. He wore a beard of at least ten days' growth, which served to accentuate the cavitous hollowness of his face. His eyes seemed starting from their sockets as he lay upon his back uttering inarticulate sounds and pluck- iqg with skinny fingers at his lips. Smith bent forward peering into the wasted face; and then started back with a suppressed cry. " Merciful God! can it be Hale? " he muttered. " What does it mean? what does it mean? " I ran to the opposite side of the bed, and placing my arms under the writhing man, raised him and propped a pillow at his back. He continued to babble, rolling his eyes from side to side hideously; then by degrees they seemed to become less glazed, and a light of returning sanity entered them. They became fixed; and they were fixed upon ...« less