Wichita eagle., 1888-02-11
than useless to resist, and Yet-

] burst inyoluntarily from my lips; not reso
lutte enough to summon aid
NV companions left hand was thrust will
! Lightning rapidity into his bosom, and will
the same movement the glistening blade OF ;
knife protruded through the right breast o
his cloak, and pressed against my side.
zone other sound like that, and l leav
yotf with this in your heart! Now let us g
on"
At last he broke the silence with one NOR
solemn, low, precise articulation.
"You came by the last traln!"
az did"
"At what time does the first morning trail
! pass heres'
Give O'Clock, think"
'sYou think! Come, boy, be sure"
Give o'clock"
'sGood In that case shall spend ex
asty four hours together, for it is now
O'clock
Now o'clock. Only /! That meant thai
only quarter of an hour had passed since
left my train. Impossible! 1t could not be
An hour-two hours-must have gone by
since then. And must | spend four hour
with himi Absurd! But this man did moi
speak truth; this man
A distant church clock chimed the hour
and then struck-one.
Something must be wrong with that church
clock Three was the hour it meant to strike
not l. But what did this man mean wher
be said eve shall spend exactly four hour:
together!' Could he mean that he would
leave me then, and escape from the district
by the early workmen's train! If he did,
would have the police on his track before the
sun was fairly above the horizon! He should
be locked up this very morning-iocked W
for a dangerous-that was if he were nc,
a Oh, how the cold bony hand clutched
my arm!
We were drawing near the road.
The railway on our right now ran through
deep cutting. The path we followed led In
ward from the edge of the embankment A
hedge took the place of the fence as right
hand Enclosure of the path, and between
hedge and fence there was entrance to a
wedge shaped grassy slope.
As we approached the entrance to the slope
between hedge and fence, bore somewhat 70
the left of the path, hoping my companion
would notice no break to the right. In my
over anxiety to keep to the path l must have
palpably pushed up against my companion,
for his right hand clasping still more tightly
my arm, and his left diving once more be-
meath his cloak
"Fool" he hoarsely muttered. $50 you
still desire to tread again the paths of man.
We shall see TO that ere long. Meanwhile
come my way"
Resistance was madness; but, as / yielded,
the last ray of hope of deliverance went out
in my heart. Abandoning myself to | knew
not what, | suffered myself to be led from the
path of comparative safety and probable sue
cor. In the power of this monster, bent on
heaven knew what, l might as well be in the
heart of an African jungle as in the lonely
hollow at the base of this old bridge. A
terrible calm came over me, like that which
l had read of experienced by men in the
clutches of some wild beast. Surely here was
no distant analogy!
AS we descended the grassy slope, and my
companion chose if by instinct the easy
downward path into the hollow, the deep
sepulchral voice that had uttered few words
during the latter part of our walk spoke In a
louder ton than before but still with the
same clear, penetrating emphasis.
''The pit before us Is opportune. Come,
get you down, young man. Here we shall
have no interruption, and l have much to
say to you--before 5 O'clock"
We stood in what indeed was little short of
a pit
YES. we are safe from interruption here"
continued my tormentor. "Now do as l bid
you, and, remember, at the smallest devia-
ton from my command your life is forfeited
before its time! You see that star over
head" pointing upward, sit is the North
-, Eiv N North star and
do not remove them until tell You"
bowed assent, for fear clogged my tongue;
and, raising my head, made desperate eff
fort to look steadily at the star.
He continued speaking.
"You visited the theatre known as the
Lyceum last evening. You sat at the left
hand end of the first row in the pit. l sat
within few yards of you, in the last box on
the lowest tier"
kept my eyes fixed steadily on the star.
But / started as / gazed upward. l dimly
remembered having seen once or twice be-
tween the acts a solitary, dark, gloomy face
in the box nearest me, which, whenever 1
had noticed it, seemed to be regarding me
earnestly. So wrapped up had l been in the
play, that, though | now remembered the
searching scrutiny of my face by the dark
eyes to the left, at the time had been prac-
tically unconscious of it.
Yes | watched you from the box farthest
from the stage, in the lowest tier of boxes on
the left side of the house l have occupied
that box many nights, very many nights"
he sighed YEARLY; but" he added with deep,
tremulous emphasis. Il have sat there, night
after night, in disguise; yes, in human,
earthly disguise!'
His voice rose, and gathered more awful,
vibrating intensely with every word. /
gazed upward still, but the star danced be-
fore my vision like phosphorus in a vessels
wake
In the glise of man have sat there,
In the garb of a mortal" he almost shrieke ed.
Then. his voice lowering to deep, quivering
uuearthly tones: Cast down your eyes, o
child of man, and know me for what | amp
| threw up my arms and staggered back
ward What was this | saw before me?
A dark, haSgard face, shining with pale
green light. Arched eyebrows hooked nose,
cleaning teeth. The tail, bending body
clothed in black flowing robe. A dark
skull cap on the head Two long arms
toward me; the bouy hands and
fingers shining with the same green light that
Illuminated the face. Thin green smoke as
cending from face and hands!
What was this-vision or reality9 Where
was lin dreanland Or in-hell!
The grinning lips moved
Il am--the Devil, Know now with whom
,Tou are dealing; with the King of Darkness
the Evil One-Satan-the Devil--can me
what you will!'
NJ. L.u.,L came in stertorous aspirations
l placed my hand on my brow; my brow was
cold and clammy. l moved my foot; the
damp grass was beneath it. i looked up
ward: the pale cold stars smiled mockingly
upon me.
No-I was not dreaming.