The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-08-08

lie drank half a tumbler Of whisky
and tumbled into bed. His mind ran
riot.
MY ego's a bit assured" he said.
Il ought TO be careful"
And ere he fell asleep he talked
conscious nonsense. lncongruous ideas
linked themselves together; he sneered
at his brains folly, and yet he was
AFRAID. lie used morphine at last In
such a big dose that Il touched the op-
tic center and subjective lightnings
flashed In his dark room. lie dreamed
OF AT Home" where he met big,
brutal Burford wearing a great dla-
mond In his shirt front.
Bought by my conveyed thoughts.
he said. But. looking down he per-
eeiyed that he had a greater Jewel OF
his own. and soon his soul melted into
the contemplation OF It's rays. till his
consciousness was dlssipatcd by d.
vine absorption into the very Niryana
Of Light.
When he woke the next day II was
already late In the afternoon. He was
overcome by yesterdays labor. and,
though much less irritable. he walked
teebly. The trouble OF posting his
story 10 Gibbon seemed almost too
much for him. but he sent Il. and took
a cab TO his club. where he sat almost
comaiose for many hours.
Two weeks afterwards he received a
note from the editor. returning the
story Il was good. but
"Burford sent me a tale with the
same motive weeks ago. and ! accepted
H."
Esplan smashed his thin white hand
on his mantelpieco. and made u bleed.
That night he got drunk on cham
| payne. and the brilliant wine seemed
to nip and bite and twist every nerve
and brnin-cell. His ifdtabllity grew
80 extreme that he lay In wait for
subtle. unconceived insults. and medi-
lated morbidly on the aspect OF limo
cent strangers. He gave the walter
double what was necessary. not be-
cause IL was particularly deserved, but
because he felt that the slightest sign
" discomfort on the walters part might
lead to an uncomfortable outburst Of
anger on his own.
Next day he met Burford In Picoa-
dilly and cut him dead with a bitter
sneer.
Il darent speak to him daren't"
be muttered.
And Burford. who could not quite
understand. felt outraged. lie himself
hated Espian with the hatred Of an
outpaccd. outlailed rival. lie know his
own work lacked the diabolical GER
tainty OF Esplans-ll wanted the hne
phrase. the right red word Of color,
the rush aud onward march OF due
hnality. the bitter. exact conviction.
the knowledge Of humanity that lies
In inheritance. the exalted experience
that proves received lntuitious. lie
was. be knew. a successful failure. and
his ambition was greater even than
! Esplan's For he was greedy. grasp-
ing. csurient, and his hollowness was
obvious even before Esplan proved Il
with bis wring.Ig touch
He takes what ! have done and
does Il better It's malice. malice. he
urged TO himself.
Aud when Esplan placed his last
story and the world remembered only
10 forget Ia lis whlto-hot brilliance the
cold paste Of Buriords Paris jewel. he
felt he'll surge within him. But he
beat his thoughts down for awhile. and
went on his little. labored way
The success OF this story and Bur
ford's bitter eclipse helped Esplan
greatly. and he might have got saner u
other influences working Tor misery IN
his lie had not hurt him. For GER
tain woman died. enc whom none knew
ho knew, aud he clung to morphine
which. in IT'S increase. helped TO throw
him later on. Il works as one who
builds a dam higher and higher yet
against the rising waters, and the
crlah mus, Gene.
And al last 1t did come. for nuriord
had two stories. better far than his
usual work. In magazine that Esplan
almost looked on as bis oWn. They
we're on Esplan's very motives. he had
them almost ready to write. The sting
OF this last bitter blow drove him ca
his lettering balance; he conceived
murder. aud plotted Il brutally. and
then sub,ly, aud became dominated by
q. tin his life was the flower Of the
insane motive. Il altered nothing
when n reviewer pointed cut the closc
resemblance between the two mems
work. and. cxalting Esplan's genius.
placed the writer beyond all cayil. the
other below all place.
But that drove Buriord crazy. Il
was 30 bitterly true Tie ground his
teeth. and hating his own work, hated
worse the man who destroyed his own
conceit. lie wanted TO do harm. How
should he do q?
Esplan had long since gone under
lie was a homicidal maniac with one
d man before him. lie conceived and
wrote schemes. His stories ran to
murder Tie read and imagined means
Al times he was IN danger Of believing
he had already done the decd One
wild day he almost gave himself az
Tor this proleptlc death. Thus his
imagination burnt and famed before
his conceived path.
I'm do Il, III DO Il" he muttered
and at the club the men talked about
him,
Tomorrow, he said. and then hg
put u on. lie must consider the art OF
IT, lie lett Il to boUrgoon In his fer
Tile brain. And at last. just as he
, wrote. action. lighted mp by strang,
circumstance, began to loom big before
him. Such murder would wake q
! NLALl murlL MI 4. IN .u..-L m. .rll.- q