Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1888-01-26
Saint Mary 5 Beacon

silence, not even Wn4SssAnh - 40
along.
We had reached nearly the middle
of the long artificial desert, where
street was same day BE. when Stan
dish stopped and caught me BY the
arm.
Elliot, what is that ?" he whisper
ed.
We both still and listened. From
the waste land beyond one Of the skel-
eton houses came fearful cry. wheth-
er of a child or an animal we could
not tell-a scream of mere pain and
terror, intense aud thrilling, neither
human nor bestial. Then there was q
deep, snarling growl, and the yell died
into choking gurgls and suddenly
fell silent.
"Come on" Standish gasped, and
ran with all his speed in the direction
Of the sound:
/ followed az fast as my shorter legs
and wind would take me over the
stiff, Shiny clay of the waste land, and
after a few minutes found him bend
ing over q little dark heap on the
ground at the edge of a puddle.
Have you got match?" he said
I nodded was too much out Of
breath to speak-and pulled out my
match boz. struck light, screen
ing il with my hand, ard we both
looked earnestly at the black lump at
our feet. -
bah T. said standish. as'he mop
ped the perspiratiOn from MS face.
"Why. it's only cat, and it sounded
like a baby !" 49,
It was the body of q large black cat,
still warm and quivering, but quite
dead. The throat was almost sever
ed and the blood had streamed out,
darkly streaking the thick yellow wa
ter of the pool. Of what had killed
it there was no sign or sound, only, in
the soft clay beside the puddle, there
were marks which seemed those Of the
poor eats feet, and other footprints
like these, but larger. Ipointed them
out to Standish.
81 see what it was" he said, as we
trudged laboriously back to the road.
The cat was ont there, and some
beast of dog caught and killed it
though what cat or dog should be do
ing there is more than / cay say.
What teeth the brute must have |!
Ugh l hope he's not waiting round
to take another bite T.
We got back to the road unbitten,
and went on our way in silence till !
said
"Standish, do you know, that cat
was very much like Macbane's ?"
"Do you know Eliot" was his an
swer, THAT is just what was going
to tell your
And not another word did he utter
till I left him'at..his.. door. and said
good night. PIE. .... .
Macbane was never good cores
pondent, but he duly informed us Of
tie date of his uncles expected visit;
and when the day came called for
Standish in the evening as before, and
we trudged off through another slop-
py mist. Standish, good, thoughtful
fellow, had brought with him, in his
overcoat pocket, a bottle of very fine
old Irish whiskey, which he had long
beer treasuring up for some festal &C.
casion, but now intended to devote to
the modifying, if possible, Of Mr.. Mac
donald.
Every glass he takes of this" he
solemnly assured me as we went on,
"will be worth a hundred year to
Macbane."
We did not go by the same dreary
road that we had taken before. Frank
declared, with a shudder, that the
last cry of that cat was still ringing in
his ears, and that he could not stand
the CHASTITY place again. l was fur
Their surprised at his unwonted ner-
vOusness, but readily acquiesced in it.
So We went a mile or 80 out Of our
way, keeping along endless strests of
shabby genteel houses, which were
sufficiently hideOus, but not appalling;
and about Q in the evening we reached
Woiseley road.
was surprised and almost shocked
TO notice the change that had passed
over Macbane in the few weeks since
| had seen him last. He did not seem
worse in health-on the contrary,
there was at times a nervous alacrity
about his movements which had not
remarked before. But his face and