He made an effort to speak, but his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and his jaws stuck together.

He could not raise a finger nor utter a sound.

The boards over his head waved like a shaken sheet, and the cabin whirled round, while the patch of light at his feet bobbed up and down like the reflection from a wavering candle.

He closed his eyes with a terrible sigh of despair, and resigned himself to his fate.

At that instant the sound of hammering ceased, and the door opened.