No merciful dulness of perception came to her.

Responsibility had awakened in her a nervous energy that made her realize the awfulness of their position with appalling vividness.

That they could possibly survive the night she did not believe.

And Death--Death in that fearful darkness--was a terror from which she shrank almost in panic.
That she retained command of her quivering nerves was due solely to the fact of Isabel's helplessness--Isabel's dependence upon her.

She knew that while she had any strength left, she must not give way.