I remember every detail.  At first it seemed to me enormous—­this advancing shadow—­far beyond human scale; but as it came nearer, I measured it, though not consciously, by the organ pipes that gleamed in faint colors, just above its gradual soft approach.  It passed them, already halfway across the great room.  I saw then that its stature was that of ordinary men.  The prolonged booming of the clock died away.  I heard the footfall, shuffling upon the polished boards.  I heard another sound—­a voice, low and monotonous, droning as in prayer.  The figure was speaking.  It was a woman.  And she carried in both hands before her a small object that faintly shimmered—­a glass of water.  And then I recognized her.

There was still an instant’s time before she reached me, and I made use of it.  I shrank back, flattening myself against the wall.  Her voice ceased a moment, as she turned and carefully drew the curtains together behind her, dosing them with one hand.  Oblivious of my presence, though she actually touched my dressing gown with the hand that pulled the cords, she resumed her dreadful, solemn march, disappearing at length down the long vista of the corridor like a shadow.

But as she passed me, her voice began again, so that I heard each word distinctly as she uttered it, her head aloft, her figure upright, as though she moved at the head of a procession: 

“A drop of cold water, given in His name, shall moisten their burning tongues.”

It was repeated monotonously over and over again, droning down into the distance as she went, until at length both voice and figure faded into the shadows at the farther end.

For a time, I have no means of measuring precisely, I stood in that dark corner, pressing my back against the wall, and would have drawn the curtains down to hide me had I dared to stretch an arm out.  The dread that presently the woman would return passed gradually away.  I realized that the air had emptied, the crowd her presence had stirred into activity had retreated; I was alone in the gloomy under-space of the odious building....  Then I remembered suddenly again the terrified women waiting for me on that upper landing; and realized that my skin was wet and freezing cold after a profuse perspiration.  I prepared to retrace my steps.  I remember the effort it cost me to leave the support of the wall and covering darkness of my corner, and step out into the grey light of the corridor.  At first I sidled, then, finding this mode of walking impossible, turned my face boldly and walked quickly, regardless that my dressing gown set the precious objects shaking as I passed.  A wind that sighed mournfully against the high, small windows seemed to have got inside the corridor as well; it felt so cold; and every moment I dreaded to see the outline of the woman’s figure as she waited in recess or angle against the wall for me to pass.