The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-26

impossible, so I prepared to put up
again in the miser's hut for the night
The charred bits of wood where 1 had
last eXtinguished the fire were still
scattered about the hearth. 1 piled
them together, lit a blaze, and knelt
down before it to warm my stiff fin
gers. The light danced upon the bare
walls but instead of the cheerful dance
it had seemed the night before, it now
took on distorted forms, and 1 Won
dered whether the shadows were not
imps in the service of the Cunning
Man sent to spy out my doings. 1
could not free my mind of the thought
of him. Words and looks that 1 had
not noticed at the time came back to
me till I startled myself by speaking
aloud in the very voice he had used.
I hastily threw some more wood upon
the fire. 1t struck the side of the fire
place and one Of the old stones fell OUT.
leaving a black hole. The moment 1
saw it 1 knew what was inside; knew
as certainly as 1 did moment later
when l had dragged out an old leather
bag and thrust my fingers deep into
the gold that the miser had hidden so
safely. Then my first care was to
stamp out the fire, for with the fierce
joy of possession that made my pulses
throb to bursting there was born on
the instant a deadly fear of robbery
lie IidIllplli OL my UOISt OulS1OS
made me quake with terror l threw
myself down in the corner where I
had slept the night before,-slept hap
PLY and dreamed of Alice.-and there
l lay for long hours, shaking with the
cold and the dread and the passion
that possessed me. When at last I
slept it was to dream horrible Dreams
and the gold was in them all. I verify
believe 1 lived over that night the life
of the old OOinar and from the
time he found the cleaning treasure
in the underground darkness and
fought his way back with it through
wild animals and men as wild, to that
last night when he died for the sake
of 1t, with an awful terror upon him.
l aWoke from.that nightmare gasping
for breath, and found | had been
clutching the bag so hard that the
muscles of my fingers were set. 1t
was still dark, but [ dared not sleep
again. lay counting the long minutes
for an eternity, till at last the cold
dawn came and my house neighed
outside. l was stiff and felt cold, but
l got myself ready to set off. The bag
hampered me, yet | dared not let 1t
go from my hand for moment.
hungered for it with something of the
hunger that makes the drunkard drink
and drink again, though he knows he
is drinking his own death cup. The
formless terror of the midnight was
gone, but l was haunted with waking
fear no less soul-shaking that some
one, suspecting the treasure I carried,
might have followed me. Every tree
and bush L passed by the roadside
might be an ambush. [ dared not look
behind and l feared to look ahead
when, al the end of the nightmare
like day, l reached the house where /
had lodged three nights before, I was
as worn and jaded as though I had
been driven by witches. But even here
the rest that l was dying for was denied
me. The same woman came to meet
me, but, whereas 1 had thought her
simple and friendly before, my new
sense of suspicion saw something
trea cherous in her smooth smile, and
her words sounded crafty instead of
kind. When she began to question
me, as [ sat at supper, about my jour
ney, and how l had Jared in my in
tervieW with the Cunning Man, my
quivering suspicious leaped into GER
tainty. 1t suddenly flashed upon me
that | had walked into a den of thieves
perhaps accomplices of the very man
[ had gone to see. The woman was the
decoy, to draw travellers in and hull
suspicion with her CHEEKY manner and
for the rest, that was doubtless left to
the brutal husband who sat by the fire
slept no moment that night. [ lay
waiting for an attack, revolver in hand.
Once or twice 1 heard rustling sounds
in the darkness, and I clenched my
teeth and waited-waited till I thought
the sun had forgotten to rise and left
me in the grasp Of that horrible place
forever. At last l stole down before
the morning came, hoping to slip away
unseen, but the woman was up before
me, and, with mockery that seemed
f1endish, she cOurtesied at sight of me
and asked if 1 had slept well. l sup
pose 1 glared at her for she muttered
startled prayer in her own tongue.
and stood back, pale and disconnected,
while 1 got out my horse and rode
away-rode hard and fast. till sudden
ly my horse fell lame and would carry
me no further, though there was still
long days ride and more before me.
[ stood alone inthe wilderness with
feeling that I had been abandoned
by heaven to be the plaything OF the
| fiends of hell Yet even the utter de-
spair of that desolation was shot across