Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-05-08

Il
| usual touched my nerves ~ q low, heavy,
| indefinite sound. like the striking Of some
/ came from somewhere in the forest started
| from my mood of abstraction and observed at
clouds Fhs Sky w:
| blue, the air was ominously stagnant. the
dnsk ,S, wilderness appeared 70 be waiting Ia
| shelter and naturally enough / began plying
my paddle with all my-skill and power;
| but the chance of my finding a place OF
/ deed.
Soon enough great rolling black clouds came
foIihS up tIie western sky, attended by low,
gradu.llly increasing roar, peculiarly solemn
| and awe-inspiring. Now puff of wind, laden
come at times and SO un welcome at Their times,
rustled through the foliage; then a rafting
heard the ram rhythmicaily over the tops Of
the distant trees.
drove my canoe along as if impelled by the
storm, ana II was while going at bird-fight
| speed that whisied past low, decaying cabin
near the river bank The glimpse was like a
Hash, but in the low doorway of the cabin /
saw an old negro man sitting in a li5tless atti-
tude checked my flight at once, and. turning
my canoe about, pulled back and went ashore
glad enough To ask shelter. l barely had time
To maui my canoe up high and dry on the bank
ana walk 10 the cabin door before there fell
heaVy dash OF ram. The old negro had disap-
peared rom the doorway. nor was he anywhere
To be seen when went in. looked about, ex-
Pecting To ind him cruuching in q corner, but
ne was gone Indeed, upon a careful scrutiny
the interior of the cabin showed no sign that a
human being had been in it at any time for
years past. The floor was soft vegetable mold
IN which no footprints save my own appeared
no lire had burned in the rude chimney place
since some of the upper sticks of the fiue had
fallen in and slowly ratified upon the hearth,
nor was there any bed. or what could serve for
one in the sunken and musty place.
The room appeared to be a wing surviving
the wreck of a large, low cabin traces OF whose
other rooms numbered the ground hard by
This single apartment had been made of what
is called tat pine logs and covered with boards
OF the same hence its superior longevity. 1t
wa, was damp, mou1dy, evil-snelling place: but
the roof fairly shed the pouring rain and the
walls withstOod the believing wind.
was so glad TO find shelter that at first I
gave little thought to the strange disappear
ance OF the old negro, but when presently, des-
pite the noise OF the storm, heard that indies
cribable stroke sound, my Imagination caught
up the Acknowledgements again and busied itself
with the mysterious knife.
How that rain raved and dashed over the
deerepit cabin! Soon, too soon. it was night,
and still the torrents fell. The gloom was so
dense and awful that / could not bear it.
grouped about the chimney jambs and sue
Geeded In getting some pieces OF fat pine, which
/ ignted with match. BY the light tore
many more pieces from the wooden chimney
and SO kept up a blaze near which 1 crouched
If not in fear, ut least in utter discomfort.
realized fully the loneliness of my situation
and the strange wilderness with which was
over in my mind all the weird disjointed links
OF the La FIeur legend. Suddenly / knew
fore? This La Fleur place, The old negro
p>haw! shook myself and glanced at the shut
terlcss doorway in which the blackness was
waverlDg IKE funeral curtain. Far and near
vague and throbbinS sounds formed a strange
undertone To the hldeous noise of the Storm
had brought in my blankets, my weapons
and my naturalists outfit and heaped them in
the dryest corner OF the room. Certain almost
human cries, probably wind-shrieks, caused
me 10 get my heavy pistol. a seven-chambered
revolver, and lay il close beside me. Ever and
anon the stabbing sound. as L may call it, fairly
startled me with its realism. Each blow was a
vertable assassination, so far as the sense of
hearing can distinguish such a thing. could
not keep my eyes Oft the doorway, nor could
control my imagination; still, far from being
frIShted or nervous, / actually enioyed the
picturesque sonbreness, not to say weirdness
OF my predlcaInent. Suddenly, for the merest
point OF time, | saw a face in the doorway, a
Snadowy, wrinkled, black face projected upon
the blacker background of the night shall
never forget those eyes, rheumy with age and
yet burning with dull delnoniac fire
snatched up my pistol and sat there watching
quite steady. intended To fire point-blank at
one of those eyes. In fact, / did, u few moments
heaven and earth. Away rolled the echoes,
breaking through the night and the storm i'm 81
series OF bounding crashes, dying the farthest
circle OF the horizon. / laughed outright for in
an instant L knew had fired at creature OF
my own fancy. What a tool was to give way
TO such idle FOLLY. slipped a fresh CARTRIDGES
into the empty cylinder of my revolver and be-
gan to spread my blankets. 1 would go to sleep
and let the three-edged knife proceed with its
work 80 putting the last piece oil fuel on the
suffering little tire, lay down to court slum-
Der 1t was not so easy to dismiss the legend of
fate OIL Marie La Fleur. Il story so imperfect and
yet so suggestive, haunted my mind with n
charm SO lnslstant and yet so nameless that
could not resist it, Then, too, always at the
moment when not expected, that dull. MUIR
derous sjabbng sound
permitted my thoughts TO dwell for a while
on the solitude iii whose midst / Law For
miles ana miles nothing but the hideous
swainps the suffocatine cane-brakes, the moss
huhg WOODS, the flowery giadeS, and the wind
ins, iOw murmurins river.
Slowly tie storm passed over and away, trail
fIf
heard ii grow weaker and weaker and finally
vanish into silence, leaving the dark ness with
out even breath 10 disturb IL. Then / fell
asleep with my pistol lying on my breast
have no means OF knowing how long my
slumber lasted, bat presently awoke TO find
that my little fire had burned to ashes No
phrase Is adequate to- my need as attempt to |
describe how dark it was-the black ness was
heavy, almost suffocatiug.
Much Io my DISCUS: L soon discovered that O. |
troop OF nying squirrels had taken possession
oil the rOoi and walls of the cabin and were
racing back and forth on a stout hewn beam
that iay from wall to wall overhead at about
the middle of the room. This beam being
directly above where lay, the little animals
nisking upon 1t umbied bits OF rotten wood |
down into my face and over my blanket. They
sqIeISed and scrambled and fought like lilipu- |
l!,'I demons Then, TO help the matter, an owl !
came and sat on the rooi-comb and hooted dis
nlaily. III may have been the birds mate, or
the echo of its hooting, but u horrible cnuckie |
or haifsdppressed outlaw came now and again
Iruin the surrounding wood.
went To sleep again, a. length, but started |
soin. strange sound had disturbed me- The |
nyIns squirrels Were not 50 noisy now in fact |
| heard theIn scranb ling gu. OF the cabin by |
every opening. was aware that a pale phOs- |
phu:e,cen- light had just faded IRON. the room |
dni 1 felt a vague chill in my blood and d |
>'',Tccly definite Consciousness OF fear as If /
had come near seeing something supernatural |
/ la quite still for some time, breathing In |
shallow, huttering way, trying to find out what
hat happened. suddenly it seemed q great |
ACsh had fallen on the woods. could hear
nothing but the uuli beating of my heart and |
Lhe bubbing OF the little river listened and
wondered. / could almost understand what IL |
Was that startled my sleep and yet it was q pro-
lound mystery. Presently became a ware of |
low. regular breathing sound and then some !
infinitely slight movement betrayed the pre- |
sence of another person in the room, near the |
door way. tried To grasp my pistol, but fear
had mastered me SO completely that l could
not lift my hand, and lay paraly zed. Strangely
enough my mind was ali the more active il
seemed. on account OF my bodily stupor and
INV thoug ItS flashed back over the strange
scraps ca the legend and dwelt with fascination
on the doings Of the knife.
Al at once a small fragment OF charred wood
III the ashes on the hearth gave forth q mere
point oil lame which family lighted the room
looked all around. There sat my gun there
lay my leather portfolio and other pieces of nv
out-hi, there were the moldy walls, the beam
overhead, the low dark doorway and nothing
The breathing had ceased