The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-07-01

figure OF man approaching toward me.
looked at him and my heart misgave
me. He drew nearer, and saw that my
despicable prosecutor had escaped the
waters and now stood before me.
He came up with hideous grin and
his twinkling eye, and he flung his arms
around me q would sooner have felt the
Shiny folds of the serpent), and said,
with his grating and harsh voice: ~Ha,
ha my friend. we shall be together
still" I looked at him with a grim
brow, but J. said not a word. There was
great cave by the shore, and walked
down and entered it, and the man fol-
lowed me. 1--WE shall live so happily
here" said he; 1--WE shall never separate 2"
And my lip trembled and my hand
clenched of its own accord. 1t was now
noon, and hunger came upon me.
went forth and killed a deer, and
brought it home and broiled part of it in
fire of fragrant wood; and the man
ate and crunched, and laughed, and l
wished that the bones had choked him;
and he said, when he had done: ave
shall have rare cheer here I" But still
held my peace. At last he stretched
himself in a corner of the cave and
slept looked at him and saw that the
slumber was heavy, and / went out and
rolled huge stone to the mouth of the
cavern, and took my way to the opposite
part of the island; it was my turn to
laugh then. l found out another cavern,
and made bed of moss and leaves,
and l wrought table of wood, and l
looked out from the mouth of the cav
ern and saw the wide seas before me,
and said: Nov l shall be alone I"
When the next day camel again went
out and caught kid and brought it in,
and prepared it as before; so 1 roamed
forth and wandered over the island. The
sun had already set when 1 returned. 1
entered the cavern, and sitting ON my
bed and by my table was the man whom
1 thought 1 had left buried alive in the
other cave. He laughed when he saw
me, and laid down the bone he was gnaw-
ing.
"Ha, hal" said he; you would have
served me a rare trick; but there was
hole in the cave which you did not see,
and got out to seek you. 1t was not a
difficult matter, for the island is so small;
and now we have met, and we will part
no more!"
said to the man: "Rise and follow
me-" So he rose, and saw that of all
my food he had left only the bones.
"Shall this thing reap and 1 sow?"
thought l, and my heart felt to me like
iron.
1 assembled tall cliff. Look round"
said I; "you see that stream that divides
the island; you shall dwell on one side
and 1 on the other; but the same spot
shall not hold us, nor the same feast sup
ply us"
THAT may never be-" quoth the man;
"for L can not catch the deer nor spring
upon the mountain kid; and if you feed
me not 1 shall starve."
Are there not fruits" said 1, aand
birds that you may snare, and fishes
which the sea throws up?"
But like them not" quoth the man,
and laughed, $50 well as the flesh of kids
and deer"
Look, them" said 1, look; by that
gray stone upon the opposite side of the
stream l will lay a deer or kid daily,
so that you may have the food you
covet; but if ever you cross the stream
and come into my kingdom, SO sure as
the sea murmufs and the bird flies l will
kill you!"
descended the cliff and led the man
to the side of the stream. II can not
swim" said he. So 1 took him on my
shoulders and crossed the brook, and l
found him out cave, and l made him a
bed and table, like my own, and left
him. When L was on my own side of
the stream again bounded with Joy and
lifted up my voice. Il shall be alone
now" said 1.
So two days passed and 1 was alone.
On the third went after my prey. The
noon was hot and was wearied when 1
returned. l entered my cavern, and be-
hold-the man lay stretched upon my
bed. "Ha, hal" said he, "here 1 am; 1
was so lonely at home that have come
to live with you again"
1 frowned ON the man with dark
brow, and / said: $50 sure as the sea
murmurs and the bird flies, I will kill
you'll" l seized him in my arms; 1
plucked him from my bed; 1 took him
put into the open air, and we stood to-
,ether on the smooth sand and by the
great sea. A fear came suddenly upon
me. was struck with the awe of the
still Spirit which reigns over solitude
Had a thousand been around us, would
have slain him before them all. feared
now because we were alone in the desert
with silence and God. 1 relaxed my
hold.
Swear" 1 said, never to modest me
again; swear to preserve unpassed the
boundary of our several homes, and
will not kill you'll"
Il can not swear" answered the man;
Il would sooner die than forswear the
blessed human face-even though that
face be my enemy's."
At these words my rage returned; l
dashed the man to the ground, and put
my foot upon his breast, and my hand
upon his neck; and he struggled for a
was dead! was startled; and
as 1 looked upon his face l thought it
seemed to revive; 1 thought the cold,
blue eye fixed upon me, and the vile
grin returned to the hvid mouth, and
the hafids, which in the death-pang had
grasped the sand, stretched themselves
out to me. So 1 stamped on the breast
again, and 1 dug a hole in the shore, and
/ buried the body. And now" said l,
Il am alone at last!" And then
the sense of loneliness, the vague, vast,
comfortless, obiectless sense of desola-
ton passed into me. And shook--shOok
in every limb of my giant frame as if 1
had been child that trembles in the
dark; and my hair rose, and my blood
crept, and 1 would not have stayed in
that spot a moment more if l had been
made young again for it. l turned away
and fled-fied round the whole island;
and CRASHED my teeth when L came tel
the sea, and urged to be castintO some IL
iimitable desert that l might flee on for
ever. AT sunset 1 returned to my cave
sat myself down on one corner of the
bed and covered my face with my hand.
1 thought heard a voice; l raised my
eyes, and, as live, saw on the other
end of the bed the man whom had slain
and buried. There he sat, six feet from
me, and nodded to me, and looked at
me with his wan eye and laughed. I
rushed from the cave-I entered a wood
- threw myself down. There, opposite