, 1886-07-01
boundary of our several homes, and I

DOunuuTy Vi our several nOI1tb, ana i
will not kill you!"
u can not swear" answered the man;
N would sooner die than forswear the
blessed human face-even though that
face be my enemy's."
At these words my rage returned; 1
dashed the man to the ground, and l put
my foot upon his breast, and my hand
upon his neck; and he struggled for a
time-and was dead! l was startled; and
seemed to revive; 1 thought the cold,
blue eye fixed upon me, and the vile
grin returned to the livid mouth, and
the hafids. which in the death-pang had
grasped the sand, stretched themselves
out to me. 50 l stamped on the breast
again, and l dug a hole in the shore, and
/ buried the body. And now" said l,
II am alone at last" And then
the sense of loneliness, the vague, vast,
comfortless, objectless sense of desola-
ton passed into me. And.I shook-shook
in every limb of my giant frame as if l
had been q child that trembles in the
dark; and my hair rose, and my blood
crept, and l would not have stayed in
hat spot a moment more if i had been
made young again for it. l turned away
and fed-fed round the whole island;
and CRASHED my teeth when 1 came to
the sea, and urged to be cast into some il
limitable desert that l might flee on for
ever. AT unset l returned to my cave
l sat myself down on one orne of the
bed and covered my face with my hand.
1 thought l heard a voice; l raised my
eyes, and, as l live, l saw on the other
end of the bed the man whom l 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
I threw myself down. There, opposite
to me, six feet from my face, was the
face of that man againl And my courage
rose, and l spoke, but he answered not.
1 attempted to seize him. Heglided from
my grasp and was still opposite, six feet
from me as before. 1 flung my
self on the ground and pressed my
look up till the night came on and dark
ness was over the earth. then rose and
returned to the cave; l lay down in my
bed, and the man lay down by me. And
l frowned and tried to seize him as before,
but l could not; and l closed my eyes,
and the man lay by me. Day passed IN
day, and it was the same. At board, at
bed, at home and abroad. in uprising
and down-sitting, by lay and at night,
there by my bedside six feet from me,
and n more, was that ghastly and dead
th;po 49, co,J NO I loo1aI trpon tho
beautiful land and the still heavens, and
then turned to that fearful comrade, Il
shall never be alone again !" and the man
laughed.
At last a ship came, and l hailed it. 1t
took me up and l thought, as l put my
foot on the deck. Il shall escape from my
tormentor!n AS I thought so l saw him
climb the deck too, and / strove to push
him down into the sea, but in vain; he
was by my side, and he fed and slept with
-mo.As before! Icame home to my native
land. l forced myself into crowds; /
went to the feast, and l heard music, and
l made thirty men sit with me and watch
by day and by night. So 1 had thirty
mi companions. and one was more social
than all the rest.
At last l said to myself: This is a de-
fusion and a cheat of the external senses,
and the thing is not, save in my mind.
! will consult those skilled in such disor-
ders, and l will be alone again.
l summoned one celebrated in purging
from the minds eye its films and deceits.
/ bound him by an oath to secrecy, and
told him my tale. He was a bold man
--l - ~oAl .-J L. --~-. -
lief and release.
Where is the figure now?" said he,
smiling; a see it not"
And | answered.: at is six feet from
u.s."
Il see it not" said he, again; "and if
it were real, my senses would not re-
ceive the image less palpably than yours"
AND he spoke to me as school-men speak.
/ did not argue nor reply, but I ordered
my servant to prepare a room and to
cover the floor with q thick layer of
sand. When it was done l babe the
Leech follow me into the room, and i
barred the door.
"Where is tile figure 2 repeated
he. And l said: six feet from us, be-
fore!" And the Leech smiled. Look
ON the floor" said l, and l pointed to the
spot; what see your And the Leech
shuddered and chung to me that he
might not fall.
THE sand" said he, was smooth when
we entered, and now l see on that spot
the print of human feet !"
And | laughed and dragged my living
companion IN. See" said l, when we
move what follows us |"
The Leech gasped for breath. The
print" said he, ~of human feet ~
-Can you minister to me, then ?" cried
l, in a sudden, fierce agony. And must
l never be alone again z"
And l saw the feet of the dead thing
trace one word upon the sand; and that
word was-NEvER!-Bulwer Lytton.