Explore "The Opal Serpent" by Fergus Hume on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
"Go back! -- go back, my precious! " cried Deborah, her first thought being how to spare Sylvia the sight.
But the girl, remembering that agonized cry which had awakened her, faint and far away as it sounded, pushed past the servant and ran into the middle of the shop. The lamp, held high by Deborah over her head, cast a bright circle of light on the floor, and in the middle of this Sylvia saw her father breathing heavily. His hands were bound behind his back in a painful way, his feet were tightly fastened, and his head seemed to be attached to the floor. At least, when the body (as it seemed from its stillness) suddenly writhed, it rolled to one side, but the head remained almost motionless. The two women hung back, clutching each other's hands, and were almost too horrified to move at the sight. "Look! Look! " cried Sylvia, gasping, "the mouth! " Deborah looked and gave a moan. Aaron's mouth was rigidly closed under a glittering jewel.