irresistible empire.

In him, the homicidal craving must have amounted to madness, for, in
these hesitations, he lost much precious time: at any moment, Djalma,
whose vigor, skill, and courage were known and feared, might awake from
his sleep, and, though unarmed, he would prove a terrible adversary. At
length the Thug made up his mind; with a suppressed sigh of regret, he
set about accomplishing his task.

This task would have appeared impossible to any one else. The reader may
judge.

Djalma, with his face turned towards the left, leaned his head upon his
curved arm. It was first necessary, without waking him, to oblige him to
turn his face towards the right (that is, towards the door), so that, in
case of his being half-roused, his first glance might not fall upon the
Strangler. The latter, to accomplish his projects, would have to remain
many minutes in the cabin.

The heavens became darker; the heat arrived at its last degree of
intensity; everything combined to increase the torpor of the sleeper, and
so favor the Strangler's designs. Kneeling down close to Djalma, he
began, with the tips of his supple, well-oiled fingers, to stroke the
brow, temples, and eyelids of the young Indian, but with such extreme
lightness, that the contact of the two skins was hardly sensible. When
this kind of magnetic incantation had lasted for some seconds, the sweat,
which bathed the forehead of Djalma, became more abundant: he heaved a
smothered sigh, and the muscles of his face gave several twitches, for
the strokings, although too light to rouse him, yet caused in him a
feeling of indefinable uneasiness.