It was as if he had received some sudden and deadly stroke.

Yet he sat stiffly upright and there was no sound in the room but the rustling of the newspaper as he turned its pages.
Harry became conscious of some strange and subtle influence that had crept into the very air, and his pulse began to leap.

The others felt it, too.

There was a tense feeling in the room and they became so still that the soft beat of the snow on the windows could be heard.
Not a single eye was turned to a book now.

All were intent upon the Doctor, who still read the newspaper, his face without a trace of color, and his strong white hands trembling.