At times an immense unreasoning terror would come upon him all of a sudden, horrible, crushing, so that he rolled upon the bed groaning and sobbing, digging his nails into his scalp, shutting his teeth against a desire to scream out, writhing in the throes of terrible mental agony.
That day and the next were fearful.

To Vandover everything in his world was changed.

All that had happened before the morning of Geary's visit appeared to him to have occurred in another phase of his life, years and years ago.

He lay awake all night long, listening to the creaking of the house and the drip of the water faucets.

He turned from his food with repugnance, told his father that he was sick, and kept indoors as much as he could, reading all the papers to see if he had been found out.