A long period of unpopulated silence ensued, and through that silence, very gradually, came again to Valentine a growing sense of anxiety.

At first he fought against it as most men, perhaps out of self-respect, fight against the entrance of fear into their souls.

Then he yielded to it, and let it crawl over him, as the sea crawls over flat sands.

And the sea left no inch of sand uncovered.

Every cranny of Valentine's soul was flooded.
There was no part of it which did not shudder with apprehension.