The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-07-19
M BlSB0F GRJBGBlFI
A NOVEL.
BY WALTER BEsANT AND JAMES R1CH
v.

~ ally lA11ISH III CIMe q
bit; said he fanc;ed nothing. Lost his
taste entirely. He pinned away and died
ma galloping consumption, before the
third month was due. Nobody ever
saw him drinking, but he was drunk
every night, regular, like the rest.
Perhaps it's only coincidence. Better
luck to you, MI. Lucraft."
This conversation did not reassure mt
and / determined to so over to Buck.
,lersbury at once and see my patron.
found the post against which l was
leaning when he accosted me; there
was no doubt about that, for the hares
and caulifOwers were still in the shop
window, only they looked disgusting
to me this morning. | found the street
into which he had led me, and then
then-it was the most extraordinary
thing, / could not find the door by
which we had entered. Not only was
there no door, but there seemed no
place where a door as l remembered
could exist in this little, narrow, wind
ing street. / went up and down twice.
I looked at all the windows. l asked
a policeman if he had ever seen an
old gentleman about the street such as
I described, or such q negro as Boule-
de-neige; but he could give no informa-
ton. Only as | prowled slowly along
the pavement heard distinctly-jt
gave me a nervous shock that l could
not account for-the internal "Cluck-
cluck!W Of the negro with the cold, soft
hands, the wrinkled skin, and the fiery
red eyes. He was chuckling at me
from some hiding place of his OWN,
where he was safe. He had done me
no harm that knew of, but | hated
him at that moment.
l was by this time no at all elated
at my good fortune. / ven craved to
have back again what l had sold. /
felt heavy at heart, and had a pre-
sentiment of fresh trouble before me. l
thought of the fate of those unknown
and unfortunate predecessors, all dead
in consequence of drink, evil course,
and %. L. Heavens! was I, too, to lie
miserably with delirium tremens, after
1 had sold my taste, and could only tell
brandy from water, like the cask which
might hold either, by the smell?
At half past One-the luncheOn-tima
for all who have appetites-the sense
this time without the giddiness. I went
to a tavern in the Strand and fell
sound asleep. When l awoke at 6
the oppression had passed away. And
now / began to realize something of the
consequences of my act, I say
thing, because worse, far worse, re-
manned behind. I was doomed, I saw
clearly, to be the victim of the old
mans gluttony. He would eat and /
should suffer. Already, as l guessed
from the clerks statements, he had
killed four strong men before me. /
was to be the fifth. l went again to
Bucklersbury, and sought in every
house for something that might give
me a clue. | loitered in the quiet city
streets in the hope of finding my tor
mentor, and forcing him to give me
back my bond. There was no clue. and
/ did not meet him. But L felt him.
He began his dinner, as nearly as 1
could feel, about Z o'clock; he took his
meal with d~eliberation, judging from
the gradual nature of my sensations;
but he took an amazing quantity, and
by 8 o'clock the weight upon me was SO
great that / could scarcely breathe.
How I cursed my folly! How I impo-
tently Writhed under the burden 1
had wantonly laid upon myself! And
then he began to drink. The fiend, the
s~coundrel! / felt the fumes mount
to my head; there was no ~exhilaration,
no forgetfulness of misery; none of the
pleasant ~gradations of excitement, hope
and confidence through which men are
accustomed to pass before arriving at
the final stage, the complete oblivion
II i~ntoTteation. / felt myself getting
gradaally but hopelessly drunk. /
struggled against the feeling, but in
vain; THE houses went round and round
with me; my speech, when I tried to
speak, became thick; the flags on the
pavement flew up and struck me vio-
lently on the forehead, and / became
unconscious of what happened after
ward.
In the morning / found myself lying
On a stone bench in a small white
washed room. MY brows were throb-
bling and my throat was parched, and
i'm my brain was ringing, I do not
know why, the internal ..Cluck-cluck!!"
OF the negro with derisive irritation. I
q not long to mediate; the door
opened and asconstable appeared.
Now then" he said, roughly, .sif
yeu can stand upright by this time,
come along."
It was clear to me now what had
happened. was in custody, in a Do
lice cell, and was going before the
magistrate.
dream Of that ignominy still.
though forty years have passed since
i was placed in the dock and asked
what had to say for myself. drunk
and disorderly.'
was charged by the constable
there were no police in 1S23-with be-
ing drunk and disorderly. Twenty