The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-05-29
\ QbaHfHI [[Y[F OF un1Iz
A1A : . IDOL
I H 81 !, An ln.l eRgn4l ,nll TALE
R OVER 1ALL, .
~ TIE TIsAcg GA sToan'
Ecopyrightl

a glimpse through the open easement
of the darker shadows of the trees, and
even of the CLASSY glimmer OF the river
az il slid silently by.
At last the sedative began TO take
effect. He could still see the light in
the room, but il had ceased TO annoy
him; he could see the flickering shad-
ows outside, but they grew ghostly and
distant; and at last he lost conscious
ness with his eyes resting on the ring,
and a vague wonder in his mind whether
he should ever again see the stone fash
into angry light. Something awole
him, for he woke with half start, but
after all he could only have been half
awake. His eyes rested on the ring
once more, and he had a vague wonder
ing impression that il looked different.
lie stared at it drowsily for a moment
and then he must have dropped of to
sleep again.
He woke again, and this time it was
with q start which left no doubt of his
being wide awake now. He stared con-
fusedly around for moment before he
could collect his thoughts, or indeed
secognize his surroundings, and it was
with n gasping sensation of oppression
that he did SO at last. The room was
full of smoke, which wreathed and
eddyed round in strange fantastic
rings and pillows. 1t seemed TO come
through the easement, and suddenly,
as he looked at it with stupid eyes Of
half comprehension, there was a flash
and a glow which lighted up the cham
ber with a vivid crimson tint. At the
same moment shout, and then n con-
fusion of cries broke upon his ears, and
he knew that it was fire. He looked
round for Bani, and as his eye wan
dered over the place it lighted suddenly
on the ring which he had not thought
of till that moment. 1t flashed back
upon him n dull, angry stare. He hello
Il closer to his face and examined II
by the light, which now streamed in nj
the window. Yes, the stone had some
thing of its old, fierce light, but it was
fading. Even as he looked at it the
glow seemed to grow dull, and sink
deeper into the stone.
. It was only for a moment that he
watched ii, for although sudden breeze
had come through the easement and en-
abled him to breathe moro freely the evi
dences of danger were rapidly increas.
ing on every side. The noise, too, was
increasing. There were shouts, cries
yells--a perfect babel of noises that
sounded from every direction. But now
there was no more than this. The fire
had evidently taken firm hold of the
ancient woodwork of the monastery
dried and roasted by the suns of hun
dred summers till IL was inflammable
as tinder, and now IL began to crackle
and roar with a voice that was terrible.
Dick tried to shout, but his throat felt
dry and his voice seemed TO make nc
sound. "Banil Bani!" was thrown
back in his face by the rush of overpow'
ering sounds outside, and he felt almost
despairingly that II could not posi-
bly, be heard beyond the room in which
he was. He raised himself up on the
couch, and the exertion brought cold
perspiratjon to his face and feeling OF
giddiness to his head, yet he persevered
He put foot TO the ground, and ms he
did so there came flash at the window
and blaze seemed to burst through an
open easement with an angry roar. lie
staggered to his feet, yet even as he did