The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1893-11-16

AOi COZ l HpldhS W my leeG ana
! looked around me with wide awake
and staring eyes
I could see nothing. Then from o
thicket little to my right came the
means of a man as if in mortal agony
and presently voice asked complain
ingly:
where's Mollie?"
Not knowing Mollie or her where
abouts, | was, of course, unable to an
swer, but as is usual in cases where
ignorance of the question preciudes
reply, I proceeded to PROFOUND a
question Of my own.
"Who are you?" asked.
For several moments there was q
dead silence, which L construed to
mean that the inquirer for Mollie was
doubtful about revealing his own
identity
The owls, probably attracted by my
voice, came futtering all around me,
and times it seemed as if they would
attack me and drive me away, an in
truder OF their own domain.
Then suddenly, touchingly, prayer
fully, came the voice from the thicket
once more.
ooh, Mollie! Mollie Molliel"
The voice was the quavering voice of
an old man, and so hopelessly tender
and helplessly beseeching that the cry
went straight to my heart. 81 am
coming" / cried, and walked as fast
as ! could ior the darkness toward the
thicket from whence the voice came.
A thousand thoughts ran through
my mind and every direction | had ever
heard about how to treat cases in any
emergency flashed through my memo
ry. Who was this old man, evidently
in mortal agony, alone and helpless in
the forest? Was his throat partly cut?
Was he shot through the body? Was
he manned and mutilated? L asked
myself over and over again. Then
terrible thought came to me. Perhaps
it was an escaped lunatic, blood
thirsty madman, with all madman's
cunning, lying III wait to fall upon and
destroy the pitying wanderer who
CHANGED to come his way, lured toward
him by his pitiful cries in the dark
ness.
AS I thought of this I stopped in
stinctively and peered around me eau
tiously. The dark thicket lay only
few steps in front of me. How easy
it would be for q man with a maniac's
strength to leap forward, clutch me by
the throat with his powerful fingers,
more cruel than the claws of the ferc-
est wild beast in the forest.
/ sprang back in terror. Nothing
moved, however. There was no
moan, no cry, only the tangled vines
and underground, and darkness in
front of me.
"Is there any one in distress-any
one needing help and assistance close
by?" | asked in loud but quavering
tones. There was no answer. | walk
ed as near to the thicket as | could,
and peered into the vines and bushes,
but could see nothing, and was about
to withdraw at safe distance again,
when voice in faint tones gasped out
above my head:
"Helpl Helpp
Above me J could only see the inter
lacing limbs of the trees, with r1t
here and there through which CHM
mering star peeped down from the
dark blue OF the summer sky. An
owl occasionally hew by, and solitary
fredy flashed her emerald light as she
winged her zig-zag fight through the
darkness.
Again and again from the darkness
above me came the cry for help, ana
in such distressing tones that it almost
set me wild with fear. The owls came
futtering around me, and the bats
darted on kissing wings on every slde'
Then again came piercing cry IRON
the thicket, followed by succession OF
them, until my ears rang, and the cola
sweat poured from my forehead
sank to the ground exhausted and hld
my face, for never can the WlldeSV inl-
aqination conceive Of the pandemohi-
um which reigned in the forest al 'h"'
hour.
How long lay there o' ne" 'ong