St. Landry democrat., 1886-10-02

forget his divine prerOgatlve OF protect
ing the weak as to commence tlinging
his thunderbolts around while one so
fair, and alas! so frail, is exposed to
their dire Effects
"Decidedly the man is mad" thought
I, and involuntarily quickened my steps
to run.
Don't hurry" cried he, and laid his
hand on nv arm as if to check my
flight. This completed my panic, but |
had still sense enough left to reflect that
if the man were really insane the worst
thing I could do was to betray my
terror to him, and 1 strove hard to re-
tain sufficient presence of mind to get
rid of him without offending him.
Excuse me, sir, but as / see a house
to the left among the trees, | think l
will take shelter there, as | am sure we
are going to have a Storm
AS if to corrobOrate my words there
came just then binding flash, an ear
splitting clap of thunder. and few
large slow drops fell on my bonnet and
my troublesome companion bare head.
There speaks the voice of mighty
Jove,' cried that strange individual
with another graceful wave of the hand,
''but have no fears, madam, the gods of
high Olympus war not on weak mortals
like ourselves, but on each other
II don't care about getting my best
bonnet ruined, however, said |; there
are no milliners' shops on Olympus to
furnish me another. You, sir, as you
do not seem afraid of storms and have
no hat to spoil, had better 60 on to
town."
"And leave you to face the perils Of
the tempest alone?" cried he, gallantly.
"Never! We will face them together,
no matter how dreadful they may be. !"
And he Immediately began singing in
the same loud voice-unnatural loud,
it seemed to me-the old-fashiOned
song:
1--WE will live and love together
Through all life's changing years"
waving both hands in time to the music.
now grew seriously alarmed. Ii
this were not midsummer madness 1t
looked very much like it +; and walked
as rapidly as possible toward the house,
hoping to find there not only shelter
from the weather, but protection from
my unfortunate companion, who still
kept close at my side. But, as ap-
preached, was struck with the lonely
and desolate appearance of the demesne.
The yard gate was half open, hanging
from one hinge, the walk weed-grown,
the gallery steps broken and decayed.
l still pressed on, however, hoping
against hope to find some one within to
whom could appeal. But the deserted,
empty look of everything around soon
convinced me my hopes were vain. The
rooms were all open, some OF the doors
had been torn from their hinges and
lay on the dusty floors, and the staircase
leading from the hall to the upper story
was broken in many places, and looked
about to fall. l guessed at once it was
a dwelling that had been sacked and
partially destroyed during the war, and
had since remained untenanted.
But what a situation was mine!
Alone in deserted house, far from all
help, with strange man of whose in
sanity became more convinced every
moment. For now the roar and the
flash of the thunder and lightning were
almost incessant, the rain poured down
in torrents, strong wind swept through
the empty rooms and ratified the broken
windows, and the more noisy and vio-
lent the war of the elements became,
the more restless and excited grew the
stranger. He walked up and down the
long hall, tossing his arms, talking to
himself, and gesticulating violently,
apparently taking no notice of me, for
which was devoutly thankful, as /
sat on the bottom step of the disman-
tied stairs with my heart in my mouth,
afraid to move and almost to breathe
lest should attract his notice. Each
time he approached me shrank into as
small compass as possible, and
watched him with dilated eyes and flut-
tering heart until the length of the hall
again separated us.
Oh, how I prayed that somebody
would come, some storm-stayed wan
derer like myself, some field hand
seeking shelter from the rain, any body
to deliver me from my fearful position.
Would no one come from the college to
seek mep Had my fearful companion
no one to look after him? He certainly
needed a keeper. Then remembered
with feeling of blank despair that l
had told no one where was going, and
as for him, what did I know of his re-
lations or antecedents? So could only
sit perfectly still, try to keep my terror
down, and hope for some chance of
slipping away unobserved under cover
of the night which was now fast ap-
preaching.
In the meanwhile his excitement con-
tinued to increase in proportion to the
violence of the tempest. His pace be-
came constantly more rapid, his GEES
lures more vehement, his voice louder,
until finally he rushed up and down the