The morning times., 1896-01-12
/ V

The wGteiss waze slowly away. The
afternoon had been close and oppressive,
and towards eSee4ngta storm had come and
gone. Now and again a sheet of lightning
made the dark like day; but towards mid
night, 10 our Cbagrin, the occasional beacon
disappeared, and the clouds hung heavy,
close and low.
Again the stiffness of the previous night
was repeated, and, in spite of myself, l felt
my nerves twitch as the midnight hour
passed. We kept up our marches in turn.
At about a quarter past twelve something
grazedmy check and Iraisefmy la nd hastily
to ward IL pff.sI felt surc.from its soft feel,
that it had only been the wing of a night
moth yetspShe,f Dennis returned to my side
a minute afterwards, ] Inentioned this little
incidentvTr Tne orderly felt the tension of our
anxious weteh as much as did.
1T may have been moth "a nd 1t ma y have
BEEN. he began. theirs stopped.
Been what, Dennis?" l demanded.
II don't know" he answered thought
fully. Perhaps youl think it a queer
idea of mine to ask We the favor, sor,
but have ye- -ahpy objection to tyin' this
end of thread about your left wrist? The
other end is tied to mine, and I've meas
ured the length; the thread is about
taut when were ten PAGES apart. The
night is as black as a black goat; If one
of us was 10 disappear suddin like, tother
'ud know IL in rats whisper of time.
m!Dit-ay, or quarter of one-may be
valliblc to the one that's taken. It's worth
while, sor, if We don't mind; the thread
won't take up much room.''
More to satisfy the. mans whim than
for any other reason, l did as he asked.
The time went slower still after that; for,
with our ears strained to cate h the slight
est sound, we did not converse.
1t came to be my turn to walk from
where Dennis stood Reaching the allotted
distance of ten PAGES. 1 stood stin
moment. and made 4 survey as well as
could. Nothing was visible in the small
field of vision which was to be had from
there. Stay. Was there something yon-
der little darker than the night? No;
it was my fancy; my imagination was rum
ming riot. =,
IA that moment l felt slight pull on the
thread about my-wFist;e ethen, feeling with
my right hand, l found the thread was
broken. A. yard or ii or so hung down.
Still there was that extra ordinary silence.
ran Instantly 10 where had left Dennis
a minute before. 1t seemed impossible
incredible; the man was gone.
Ishouted, " DeaRisl Denhis!' but no answer
came-not the faintest sound of one.
raised my carbine and fired into the air,
with the object of rousing the camp, No
sound followed as l touched the trigger.
struck one of my remaining matches, and
saw. to my dismay, that the cartridge had
been withdrawn sf-s $500
l wiped the beads OF perspiration from
my forehead with the back of my hand:
then ran forward, still calliDg--calling out
the orderly's name. Not sound ensued;
the world might have heea dead etcrnally.
l found the place where Dennis had stood,
going back to do SO. Again / struck
another match and looked for the mans
trail. The way he had marched was TO be
seen. but nothing else. l followed it, but
it ended in 4 sandy mass of untrodden soil.
/ went back to the starting place. 1t was
plain there were signs neither of man nor
beast having passed there. forward or
backward. Without losing further time
went on ahead as straight as 1 c0ufevf
Fifteen PAGES in front stumbled over
! laid an eager hand upon it.
1t was the orderly>s carbine. 1 flung my
own away and pulled the trigger of the
other. There was no sound Treachery in
camp as well as ont, thought, as again,
went forward. 1 had no ammunition at
all; for, after finding my own carbine
empty, I had opened my pouch to take