Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-19
CHAPTER XXI.

More than an hour had elapsed since the
Wanderer and UnorLa had finally turned
the key upon Israel Kafka. leaving him to
his own reflections. During the first
moments he made desperate efforts to get
out of the conservatory, throwing himself
with all his weight and strength against the
doors, and thrusting the point of his long
knife into the apertures of the locks. Then,
seeing that every attempt was fruitless, he
desisted, and sat down in state of complete
exhaustion. A reaction began to set in after
the furious excitement of the afternoon, and
he felt all at once that it would be i'm
possible tor him to make another step or
raise his arm to strike. A man less sound
originally in bodily constitution would
have broken down sooner, and it was a
proof of Israel Kafka's extraordinary vigor
and energy that he did not lose his senses in
a delirious fever at the moment when he
felt that his strength could bear no further
strain.
Israel Kafka's case is by no means a rare
one. The fact of having been made to play
part which to him seemed at once blasphem-
GUS and ignoble, had, indeed turned the scale,
but was not the motive. In all things the
final touch which destroys the balance ia
| originally produced state of unstable equil-
ibrium, whereas there is very often no connec-
tion between the one and the other. The
Moravian himself believed that the sacrifice
of Unorna, and ofhimself afterwards. was to
| be an expiation of the outrage Unorna
| had put upon his faith in his own person.
He had merely seized upon the first excuse
which presented itself for ending all, bs-
cause he was in reality past hope.
Israel Kafka may, therefore, be regarded
as mad or sane. In favor of the theory of
his madness, the total uselessness of the
deed he contemplated may be adduced; on
the other hand, the extremely consee utive
and consistent nature of his thoughts and
actions gives evidence OF sanity.
When he found himself a prisoner in
q norna's conservatory his intention under
went no change. though his body was broken
with fatigue, and his nerves with the long
continued strain Of terrible excitement.
| His determination was as cool and as fixed
| as ever.
These somewhat dry reflections seem
necessary to the understanding of what fol-
| lowed.
The key turned in the lock and the bolt
was slipped back. Instantly Israel Knfka's
energy returned. He rose quickly and hid
himself in the shrubbery, in position from
which he could observe the door. He had
seen Unorna enter before, and had, of
course, heard her cry before the Wanderer
had carried her away, and he had believed
that she had wished to face him. either with
the intention of throwing herself upon his
mercy or in the hope of dominating him
with her eyes, as she had SO often done be-
| fore. OF course, he had no means of know
| ing that she had already left the house He
| imagined that the Wanderer had gone, and
| that Unorna, being freed from his restraint,
was about to enter the place again. The
| door opened aud the three men came in.
Kafka's first idea, on seeing himself disap-
| pointed, was that they had come to take him
into custody, and his first impulse was to
elude them.
The Wanderer entered first, tall, stately,
Indifferent, the quick glance of his deep
eyes alone be:raying that he was looking
for some one. Next came Keyork Arabian,
muffled still in his furs, turning his head
| sharply from side to side in the midst of
the sable collar that half buried it, and evil
| IDENTIFY nervous. Last OF all the Individual,
who had divested himself of his outer coat
and whose powerful proportions did not es-
cape Israel Kafka's observations. 1t was
clear that if there were struggle it could
have but ore issue. Kafka would be over
| powered. His knowledge of the disposition
escape. The three meu had entered the
conservatory, and if he could reach the door
before they noticed him, he could lock it
| upon them, as it had been locked upon him.
self. He could hear their footsteps on the
marble pavement very near him, and he
caught gimpses of their moving figures
through the thick leaves.
With cat-like tread he glided along in the
shadows of the foliage until he could see the
L Al.
| left in 4 straight line toward the middle of
the hall, down which his pursuers were still
slowly walking. He must cross an open
space in the line of their vision in order to
get out, and he calculated the distance to be
trayersed, while listening to their move
ments, until he felt sure that they were so
far from the door as not to be able to reach
him. Then he made his attempt, darting
across the smooth pavement with his knife
in his hand. There WAS no one in the way.
Then came a violent shock, and ne was
held as in vice, SO tightly that he could
not believe himself in the arms Of human
being. His captors haG anticipated that he
would try to escape, and had posted the In
| dividual in the shadow of tree near the
| doorway. The deaf and dumb man had re-
ceived his instructions by means of a couple
of quick signs, and not whisper had be-
traved the measures taken. Kafka strug-
gled desperately, for he was within three
feet of the door and still believed an escape
possible. He tried to strike behind him
with his sharp blade, of which a single
touch would have severed muscle and sinew
like silk threads, but the bear-like embrace
seemed to coDfne his whole body, his arms
and even his wrists. Then he felt himself
turned around, and the Individual pushed
HIM toward the middle of the hall. The
Wanderer was advancing quickly, and
Keyork Arabian, who had again fallen be-
hind, peered at Kafka IRON behind his tall
companion with grotesque expression, in
which bodily fear and ! desire to laugh at
the captive were strongly intermingled.
| ITO be Continued Merit Su7lddu